Coaxal or Optical

B

Beermonster

Guest
What is the best connection? Coaxal or Optical.
And how much do these cables cost?
 
Depends on the application,and the cost of the ancillary equipment.
By that I mean that in relatively low cost systems,optical leads are likely to give as good a result as you will get from a coaxial lead,but as the quality of the gear rises,especially into high end gear,you will generally find that a coaxial lead,especially a properly terminated and expensive one,will give far better results.

Bear in mind also that optical leads can be quite delicate.

Costs...anywhere from cheap(i.e.£10 or less,to several £100/m).

Just as a guide,what sort of budget did you have in mind,bith for the leads,and partnering equipment.
 
I don't mind paying £20-£25 for a lead... I want to connect from the coaxal or optical from my DVD to the coaxal or opticak in on my Tohsiba 42" widescreen tv. Which has dolby digital.

Specs of tv
 
Ok....I see what you're after there.....in that application either will suit you just fine.
You'll not notice any significant differences between the 2 types via a TV....I use a coaxial into my Toshiba RPTV from a DVD player so the kids don't get their paws on my HCPC,but an optical lead would be just as good a choice.
 
Beermonster:

I've tried both types of connections, and i'm still happy with a coaxial connection for my CD-Player & HTPC.

After many months of trying both connections, different leads ect. i still came back to a coaxial connection.

Don't ask me why, it just seems better !! ;) (I suppose what floats ya boat, different equipment setups & rooms can make a difference.)

But then i do recomend one of Mark Grants Coaxial cables (not sure if he does optical cables ??) What i thought was an quality sound before, got even better with an MG cable !! :D

Cheers

Cosmic023
 
Originally posted by cosmic023
Beermonster:

I've tried both types of connections, and i'm still happy with a coaxial connection for my CD-Player & HTPC.

After many months of trying both connections, different leads ect. i still came back to a coaxial connection.

Don't ask me why, it just seems better !! ;) (I suppose what floats ya boat, different equipment setups & rooms can make a difference.)

But then i do recomend one of Mark Grants Coaxial cables (not sure if he does optical cables ??) What i thought was an quality sound before, got even better with an MG cable !! :D

Cheers

Cosmic023

For what it's worth,I use coaxial cabling on all of the digital interconnects for the upper levels of my system(HCPC to DAC/Upsampler,HCPC to processor,CD player to DAC/upsampler etc)and the results are much better than from optical leads,for a variety of well documented reasons,plus they do sound better!

The leads I use are either Kimber or XLO,although having bought some Nordost interconnects recently,i may well give that a try as well.

I do stand by what I said earlier though,in that on something such as a digital input to a TV,it really won't make any difference to the sound quality via a TV's DD processor and speakers.
 
Got a coaxial cable today, and the sound is vastly improved, better than the dolby pro logic. Although I'm only getting dolby 2/2 and not 5.1. Must need an external centre and sub woofer.
 
Originally posted by Beermonster
Got a coaxial cable today, and the sound is vastly improved, better than the dolby pro logic. Although I'm only getting dolby 2/2 and not 5.1. Must need an external centre and sub woofer.

If you've only got the TV's left and right internal speakers,then you will require rears and a sub...otherwise,pleased to hear it sounds better!
 
Originally posted by alexs2
If you've only got the TV's left and right internal speakers,then you will require rears and a sub...otherwise,pleased to hear it sounds better!
I've got the TV's interal left and right plus left and right rears.. And it sounds good, fires on all four.
The instruction book for the TV says Dolby 2/2 is indepenent front right, independent front left, independent left and right rears.
 
This is exactly the thread i was looking for....

i currently have an optical cable feeding a sony dvd to a sony home cinema amp. I will soon be upgrading my DVD to a DENON 2200, and would have upgraded the optical cable to a better one.

STOP - should I get a good coax instead?
 
I went for coaxial, it's fine, but as the plug is a bit big/long the dvd player sticks out a bit to far forward to shut the door on the cabinet :mad: . So i'll have to change to optical they seem less bulky.
 
Theres no difference between the sound quality of coaxial or optical...Id read lots of reports of coaxial being better...but I can't hear any difference.
Just go for a decent quality cable, whichever type you choose.
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom