jabbadfatt

Hi all,

Wondering if you could tell me which of the above would produce superior 5.1 digital surround sound.

Cheers
Jabba

Kman1011

waht type of equipment, I would say you would be hard pressed to hear a difference.

jabbadfatt

Just a sony HT SL-40 (its in the UK) - nothing to fancy.....

I went out and bought a optic cable thinking the unit didnt come with anything but it ended up comming with a coaxial cable for the surround sound.... so I'm wondering if I should just return the optical or not....

jscout

You're not going to hear much of a difference over a short run. The drawback to optical is that the connection is easier to pull out and more susceptible to kinking. Basically, the audio is digital, so either it gets there or it doesn't. That said, I prefer coax with good shielding.

PJAceto

But optical cable does not need shielding. It cannot pick up a radiated signal since there is no metal conductor. Plus you get the benefit of isolating the grounds of the two pieces of equipment that you are connecting. Properly inserted, optical cable is no more susceptable to being pulled out of it's connector than coax. For a technical discussion of the issue, visit http://members.cox.net/pjaceto

jabbadfatt

Thanks for the info

PJAceto - Great link mate! Cheers.

jscout

BTW, I can say based on first hand experience that the optical cable is indeed more prone to being pulled out. I have my CD changer connected with optical and it has popped out at least once, granted I was moving stuff around, which doesn't happen often. Previously I had it connected via coax and never had a problem no matter what I moved. I had to switch because I added another component that didn't have optical.

I also remember telling a friend to check his optical connection after describing his problem to me. Sure enough, he came in the next day and thanked me. All things being equal in signal quality, I'll take coax and it's RCA connection any day.

svadas

What's a good cheap optical cable and where can I get it. My new player has only optical out, but I used coax on my older one.

DVD Josh

My favorite all-time response to the idiot BB employee trying to sell me on the benefits of buying a $70 monster optical cable -

BB: "See how thick the cabling is? Very well shielded compared to the bargain ones"

ME: "What are you shielding it from"?

BB: "Um...the more sheilding the better."

ME: So you are sheilding light from other light?

BB: Um....

I don't know if I was even right, but it sure stumped him. I was hoping he'd say "there's bad light and then there's good light..." We could have had some fun with that one.

steebo777

Any of the Acoustic Research ones at BB are fine. You shouldn't spend more than $20 for an optical cable.

SRGilbert

It's hard to beat hififorless.com 3ft cable only $2.24 + $7.42 UPS ground (you can combine and save.) I ordered a couple of cables from them, turned out ok for me!