Optical vs. Coaxial

Fragility is the main disadvantage to Toslink cables, but I have had one hooked up continually since '97 and it still works great.

As for a coax cable, really any good video cable will work just fine, the ones with the yellow ends. Those should be the recommended 75ohms. That is all a "digital" cable is anyway.

At any rate, very doubtful you would hear any difference between coax cables, or even coax and Toslink for that matter. Toslinke does eliminate any possibility of a ground loop hum.

Someone a few years back used a coat hanger as a digital coax connector, as a demonstration. It worked perfectly well, and sounded like any normal coax cable!

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I've heard wooden coat hangers dont' work as well so if you go the coat hanger route it's best to avoid those

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Let me first say you can get great coax cable from monoprice.com, and at the same time support one of advertisers of this site.


As for optical, they should last for decades of use unless mishandled. Do you have any kids who may be playing with the cables? I run no coaxial and have never replaced one of my optical cables in over 7 years.


Good luck,

--SimpleTheater

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Sure...too much light passing through them?

no.. the cheap ones are the ones that break. and im afraid my only expensive one is going to break as well... and if there is no difference between the two cables performance wise... Id like to find a good coax to work with.

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While many debate that there is a difference, it is typically so small as to inperceptable to 99.9999% of the population. If you have the open Coax jacks, then use them if you wish. Two advantages of coax is they are typically more rugged, and a little be less expensive, though can be subject to ground hum, especially if using a log of three pronged gear.

Hi Guys,


Ive bought a couple cables from monoprice a while ago and eveything went smoothly.


So i wanted to know if i would be allright buying 3 optical cables from monoprice, I mean they should last a while should'nt they? (keeping in mind they wil be handled properly )

Well my paradigm dealer tried to get me for 35 bucks for Audioquest coax... i went on to ebay and got it for 20 bucks. 75ohm

are there any audio/video cords that i should be looking for besides audioquest? i can afford this wiring are there any other rival companies around this price range taht can put out an equal if not better product?

I tend to use the Dayton cable from Partsexpress.com. Well built, solid connections, in the $20 range for a 2 meter cable.

If you want to splurge on a coax cable check out the Audioquest Hawkeye?

Not to take this thread off topic, but I've heard that, in a pinch, you can essentially use an RCA video cable (the ones with the yellow heads) as a digital coax cable. Is this really the case?

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yes

By what mechanism does a coaxial cable carrying a digital signal cause ground hum?

By connecting the reference grounds of the equipment through the sheild.

I use optical from my satellite to processor for electrical safety. You can get an excellent glass toslink off ebay. This prevents my expensive pre-pro from being killed by a surge over a sat coax cable. The glass toslink has lasted and appears more robust than plastic for around $40. I use coax for all my other connections.

its still a metal/electronic signal.


Optical is Light. light doesnt have metallic electrical properties.

Glass doesn't conduct electricity, coax cable are conductive. With a glass toslink there is no conductive path for a surge to follow.

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:thumbup: I use them too. Great cables for the price.


PartsExpress has some oddball toslink cables on closeout right now. Prices are really low.