I noticed I can drop a large chunk of change on optical cable for digital audio output going from the television to the home theater amp. Thick looking braided stuff.
I cheaped out and got a hunk of Sony cable from Targets.
Is the shortcoming on this 15 dollar piece of cable the fact that it might not be as durable, or will the expensive stuff yield better sound?
I figure it is digital, so as long as it is not dropping 1's and 0's ...it should sound the same.
Should I bust open my wallet, or save it for speaker cable or other interconnects?
Thanks for any knowledge that you may be able to share!!
Your insight serves you well. "High end" a/v cables are the "snake oil" of the 21st century. Toshiba invented the optical digital connection, hence "TOSLINK." Their data sheet can be found at
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which specs 3 different kinds of optical fiber:
1) APF, all-plastic fiber for "short-distance" data transmission (up to
40 METERS)
2) PCF, plastic cladding silica fiber for "medium distance" (up to 1000 M)
3) All-silica fiber for long distance, as in miles from Verizon to your home.
Obviously APF is fine for most any home theater (unless your components are spread out 120' apart). Premium TOSLINK cables can be purchased direct from a high-quality fiber manufacturer at
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for just $8. These cables are a mere 2.2mm (.090"), and as they put it "note our cable jacketing is thinner than our expensive competitors' because we feel the customer deserves performance, not extra fat."
Lifatec does offer clad TOSLINK cables for "rugged environments"...or customers who simply expect "good" cables to be thick. Likewise all other "monstrous" TOSLINK cables are merely sheathed APF to give the impression of quality and robustness..., which helps them justify their exorbitant price margins.
Bottom line is that $8 2.2mm Lifatec TOSLINK is just as good, if not better than any $100 Ginormous brand cable.
Same goes for most any other cable: a) Speaker: simple 12 ga OFC for $0.50/ft at
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b) Component video: Quality coax-based RCA cables from
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(or me). c) HDMI or DVI: again a digital signal, so most any decent cable is fine; I like the ones at
I would point out one thing about our cable hookup. After a year of having digital cable box we called the service out to check on something. The cable guy tested the signal strength and it was weak at the cable box. Now being digital you would think it either works or it dosent! you now the
1's and 0's Well the weak signal was causing me to not receive certian stations and I was never getting the on demand movie feature. I never knew I wes missing these features!!!
We traced the problem to cheap splitters I was using and cheap screw on connectors. They had been fine for the analog signal but when we switched to digital the couldnt handle it. The cable guy replaced all the splitters, gave me new cable with his crimped connectors and our picture didnt get better on the channels we had always recieved but now we were getting channels that were not coming through before and now the on demand feature worked...
Kinda flys in the face of i'm either getting my 1's and 0's or I'm not.... Signal streangth is important. Also a good cable guy who knows what he's doing and takes the time to do it right...
Not apples to apples. Digital optical cable connects digital sources like DVD players & Xbox 360's to a receiver typically 3-6' apart, passing a dedicated, efficient bitstream of 0's & 1's.
Meanwhile the multiplxed signal from Comcast to your home includes various low-bandwidth and high-bandwidth transmissions that all needs to be separated by your digital cable box. Your home, like many wired back in the 70's & 80's, have old RG-59 coax and low MHz splitters, that are insufficient for passing today's high-bandwidth signals--like trying to sip a milkshake thru a coffee-stirrer straw. The low bandwidth material (like the coffee) was able to get through; meanwhile the high-bandwidth material could not (like the shake). Once you got a bigger straw, the high-bandwidth signals finally got through.
Digital is all or noth> I would point out one thing about our cable hookup.
Not apples to apples. Digital optical cable connects digital sources like DVD players & Xbox 360's to a receiver typically 3-6' apart, passing a dedicated, efficient bitstream of 0's & 1's.
Meanwhile the multiplxed signal from Comcast to your home includes various low-bandwidth and high-bandwidth transmissions that all needs to be separated by your digital cable box. Your home, like many wired back in the 70's & 80's, have old RG-59 coax and low MHz splitters, that are insufficient for passing today's high-bandwidth signals--like trying to sip a milkshake thru a coffee-stirrer straw. The low bandwidth material (like the coffee) was able to get through; meanwhile the high-bandwidth material could not (like the shake). Once you got a bigger straw, the high-bandwidth signals finally got through.
Digital is all or noth> I would point out one thing about our cable hookup.
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