Premium Optical Cables

[MikePeters]

I needed new cables for my new yahama receiver so i went to bb and their premium optical cable are $52.99, wtf

i remebered this site from a business order i did before but didnt relize they would be so cheep, so i ordered 4 and with shipping it still came to be cheaper then 1 from bb


link

* Now i just need to find cheap premium component video cables and a hdmi to dvi cable

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

If you don't care what they look like and just care that they work, cablesforless has optical cables for cheaper. (Not sure on shipping for them)
partsexpress has dayton optical cables too for a little more than that

They also sell python component cables for pretty cheap.

HDMI / DVI cables for you too

 

[MikePeters]

thanx Soundman.

 

[solo717]

there are few stores such as

http://www.monoprices.com
http://www.4linkcomm.com
http://www.buyextras.com

All pretty good prices on cables...

 

[Dangerer]

radioshack is selling 12 ft optical cables with video rca jack for under 5 dollars. Also found some of their gold series 12 ft DVI cables for 12 bucks

 

[Tchen811]

how are those cables compare to those of Monster? Would I get a better quality with Monster?

 

[usernamemax20charact]

Originally posted by: Tchen811
how are those cables compare to those of Monster? Would I get a better quality with Monster?

Same quality IMO. I have Monster and some calbesforless stuff and the quality looks the same to me. I've also read that paying more for a well known brand (e.g. Monster) doesn't necessarily mean that you're getting better quality cables or that they'll perform better. Consumer Reports and PC World said the same thing.

So just go with the stuff from cablesforless. Haven't had any problems with them.

 

[deejayshakur]

Originally posted by: usernamemax20charact

Originally posted by: Tchen811
how are those cables compare to those of Monster? Would I get a better quality with Monster?

Same quality IMO. I have Monster and some calbesforless stuff and the quality looks the same to me. I've also read that paying more for a well known brand (e.g. Monster) doesn't necessarily mean that you're getting better quality cables or that they'll perform better. Consumer Reports and PC World said the same thing.

So just go with the stuff from cablesforless. Haven't had any problems with them.

agreed. you're paying for their marketing!

 

[spyboy64]

The real "premium" optical cables are made of glass, not plastic fibre optic. I have not looked extensively, but I did see some glass optical cables, 6 foot for $19 on ebay.

 

[Slick5150]

Considering the optical cable is simply carrying a digital signal, plastic v glass isn't going to make any difference whatsoever (unless there's something so wrong with the cable that the signal is degrading)

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: Slick5150
Considering the optical cable is simply carrying a digital signal, plastic v glass isn't going to make any difference whatsoever (unless there's something so wrong with the cable that the signal is degrading)

Agreed.

I've seen a test where for the electrical equivalent (digital coaxial) they used a coathanger instead of an RCA cable to transmit the digital signal and they got 0% signal loss using it.

I don't remember where I saw that, but the point is that for digital cables cheap is perfectly fine.

 

[Lemodular]

Originally posted by: spyboy64
The real "premium" optical cables are made of glass, not plastic fibre optic. I have not looked extensively, but I did see some glass optical cables, 6 foot for $19 on ebay.

Didn't know you can bend glass.....

 

[Randolphjo]

Thanks for the input. I needed cabling for the Onkyo HT-S780 Home Theater system I bought last week but I kept gridlocking when it came to buying cables. So many choices and so many prices. I just ordered all of the cables I need for my home theater system ((except speaker wire) from CablesForLess, so now I can quit racking my brain on what to buy.

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
If you don't care what they look like and just care that they work, cablesforless has optical cables for cheaper. (Not sure on shipping for them)
partsexpress has dayton optical cables too for a little more than that

They also sell python component cables for pretty cheap.

HDMI / DVI cables for you too

 

[hornet2060]

Originally posted by: Randolphjo
Thanks for the input. I needed cabling for the Onkyo HT-S780 Home Theater system I bought last week but I kept gridlocking when it came to buying cables. So many choices and so many prices. I just ordered all of the cables I need for my home theater system ((except speaker wire) from CablesForLess, so now I can quit racking my brain on what to buy.

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
If you don't care what they look like and just care that they work, cablesforless has optical cables for cheaper. (Not sure on shipping for them)
partsexpress has dayton optical cables too for a little more than that

They also sell python component cables for pretty cheap.

HDMI / DVI cables for you too

i have the 780 as well, haven't hooked it all up yet, but will be in a few weeks. let me know what you think of the sound quality, i am curious b4 i unbox it, and ease of install. i bought all my cables from partsexpress, they are a great company with reasonable pricing. good luck and take care.

 

[Pabster]

Monoprice is good. I've gotten several dvi->hdmi cables there, cheap, fast shipping.

 

[neovan]

i can vouch for monoprice.com. they have excellent shipping prices and their cables are really cheap too. I made a mistake and ordered some DVI to MP1 cables but actually wanted DVI to DVI. I called them up the next day hoping they had not shipped it yet (so I called in the morning at 9AM PST when they openend) and spoke to somebody who sounded sleepy but did change the order for me. Still very nice to speak to someone relatively easily.

 

[Fallen Kell]

Originally posted by: Tchen811
how are those cables compare to those of Monster? Would I get a better quality with Monster?

Your extra 50-200% in price for Monster cables go to 1) profit, and 2) marketing... As for cable quality, any cable with the same approximate gauge (this is for actual wire cables) will perform on par with Monster cables.

For optical cables, well, let me put it this way. An optical cable will either work or it won't. The only real difference in optical cables is the bending radius and the end pieces. As long as you can bend it as much as you need for your application, then it could matter less if it is a $100 cable from Monster or a $14 from a generic brand, because the signal is digital, it will either not be transmitted correctly and you will not get any audio, or it will be sent perfectly and you will get audio...

Wish I knew the link off hand, but someone did a great test with digital transmission cables. He made a copper SPDIF cable out of two coat hangers with the ends stripped of paint and were soddered to RCA connectors. It had a 100% perfect tranmittion rate for the actual digital signal...

 

[Fallen Kell]

Originally posted by: spyboy64
The real "premium" optical cables are made of glass, not plastic fibre optic. I have not looked extensively, but I did see some glass optical cables, 6 foot for $19 on ebay.

Over the short distances (short as in less then 500M) that we are talking about, plastic is not going to make a differece at all. The real glass ones are used in data centers for running long connections between buildings in many places with distances reaching 3KM (over a mile). The only reason for glass in those cables is because the signal does not weaken as much over those long distances compaired to plastic. In the plastic cables, more of the light is diffused and thus lost causing the signal to weaken faster, which simply means it can not be used on a real long cable (where real long is measured in 100's of meters).

 

[Apex]

Originally posted by: Pabster
Monoprice is good. I've gotten several dvi->hdmi cables there, cheap, fast shipping.

I just picked up their DVI-HDMI cable. I was amazed at the pricing. No one can match their pricing for the 24AWG cabling. It's built very well too, and even includes two larger ferrite cores (to help with inteference) and net jackets (decorative).

There's a lot of competitors at the 28AWG price, but the incremental pricing on their 24AWG is really really good.

 

[Randolphjo]

i have the 780 as well, haven't hooked it all up yet, but will be in a few weeks. let me know what you think of the sound quality, i am curious b4 i unbox it, and ease of install. i bought all my cables from partsexpress, they are a great company with reasonable pricing. good luck and take care.

I'll be hooking up my 780 system as soon as I receive the cables I ordered from CablesForLess today. My speaker wire is due here today and I've already positioned my speakers - just need the rest of the cables to get here.

I'll let you know how the system sounds after I get the cabling (hopefully mid next week). BTW, I'm replacing a Bose Lifestyle 3 system with the Onkyo HT-S780 system. I'm making the switch because the Bose doesn't have an A/V home theater receiver. I'll be interested to hear the difference in sound quality (Bose vs. Onkyo). I guess I could use the Bose speakers with the Onkyo system if the speaker quality is not comparable.

 

[spyboy64]

At one end of the price spectrum you have the $3.25 6 foot optical from Parts Express. If anything is going to make a difference in sound quality, it is going to be going from plastic to glass. PVC jacket and metal collars won't affect the sound quality at all.

I am perfectly satisfied with my very basic optical cable, however, if I was going to upgrade, it would certainly be to glass. I would rather have a $19 cable made of glass than a $9 cable made of plastic.

While I won't try to dispute the argument that glass only makes a difference in runs of 500 meters or more, in "audiophile" circles, glass is considered to be the top tier of optical cable for home interconnects.

 

[MustangSVT]

Originally posted by: spyboy64
At one end of the price spectrum you have the $3.25 6 foot optical from Parts Express. If anything is going to make a difference in sound quality, it is going to be going from plastic to glass. PVC jacket and metal collars won't affect the sound quality at all.

I am perfectly satisfied with my very basic optical cable, however, if I was going to upgrade, it would certainly be to glass. I would rather have a $19 cable made of glass than a $9 cable made of plastic.

While I won't try to dispute the argument that glass only makes a difference in runs of 500 meters or more, in "audiophile" circles, glass is considered to be the top tier of optical cable for home interconnects.

wow.. just wow.. :roll:

 

[mikeford]

Glass is a different connector type isn't it? Thinking its called AT&T glass, vs plastic is Toslink, and that there is really no compatibility between them.

Audiophile circles believe in $600 power cords (ac cords that plug into the wall), and I have one friend with some patch cables that are like $4k a pair. None of this stuff passes the most basic of testing, when the tester and the test subject can't "see" the item under test. Look for the lowest price using good construction quality and materials.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: mikeford
Glass is a different connector type isn't it? Thinking its called AT&T glass, vs plastic is Toslink, and that there is really no compatibility between them.

Audiophile circles believe in $600 power cords (ac cords that plug into the wall), and I have one friend with some patch cables that are like $4k a pair. None of this stuff passes the most basic of testing, when the tester and the test subject can't "see" the item under test. Look for the lowest price using good construction quality and materials.

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=180-954

"It is fully compatible with all Toslink? sockets"