6 Ft. Toslink Glass Digital Audio Constructed from 280 Individual Strands of Glass ensures The Least Signal Loss

Went to my local Circuit City and purchased a Monster Cable Fiber Optic cable which was the very first one I had ever purchased. I have purchased Monster Cable products in the past, mainly their speaker wire and traditional analog audio cable.This purchase however, did not sit right with me. I ended up paying $56 plus tax for the FO cable which did it's job, but thought I was crazy for paying so much for an audio cable that I connected to my PCI then went on Amazon and shopped for a cable. I felt a little overwhelmed since there was A LOT to choose from. Also, being new to the whole Fiber Optic experience, I decided to do a little research.The one thing that makes a difference when purchasing a FO cable is how the "light" will travel from point A to point B. Monster Cable sells their cable as DFO rated which to me, is misleading and a marketing ploy/scheme..When buying FO cable, two things are important, one is that it has TOSLINK which basically means that it has a sturdy connection that "snaps" into place, the other is that it is made of "glass", which carries the audio signal through glass for little to no interference and optimal sound reproduction.This cable also has gold plated ends which is another plus!So, let's compare here...This $20 cable has is made of glass optical fiber, the $60 Monster cable is not.This cable has gold plated ends, MC... not so muchThis cable is thicker, heavier, and is better made than the MCThis cable is approx $40 cheaperSound wise, there is a difference between the MC and this one.. this one reproduces a better audio experienceSave yourself a lot of money and for only $20, you get a great quality glass FO cable that definitely gets the job done... great value, quality product.. a no brainer.IMPORTANT - when purchasing this cable, please remember that when you receive it and want to install it, please remove the plastic ends as they are just for shipping and to protect the ends from dust and debris. You could damage the TOSLINK ends if you try to push the cable into the port without first removing the plastic ends (not to mention that you will also damage the port you are plugging into)Enjoy it, it's a great product!

Okay so i was expecting miracles from this cable but it did not happen for me. I was replacing a home depot optical cable with the goal of obtaining better audio quality with this "glass" one. The audio was a little flat to my ears with the HD cable, and although it seems like the audio is better with this one it is only negligible - if even at all.That said, I do think this is a quality cable but I think there are two factors that kept me from experiencing the "miracles" I was looking for. Number 1, I think that perhaps the HD cable maybe isn't so bad after all, and therefore the sound can only get so much better with this one, and number 2, maybe my sound system just isn't the greatest out there (it's a Sony blu-ray player / surround sound device - cost being around $500 from Best Buy - not on par with the really good equipment you would get at an audio only store (where you would probably pay $1000 or more to start with)).Anyway, I have no regrets and would make this purchase again. Perhaps i will reap the benefits in the future if I upgrade my sound system.Also, I did not experience any issues keeping this cable snugly plugged into my TV or audio device like some have mentioned here.Lastly, like someone else mentioned here.... DO NOT FORGET TO REMOVE THE PLASTIC PROTECTION CAPS FROM EACH END OF THIS (OR ANY) OPTICAL CABLE BEFORE USING IT. You WILL ruin the optical port on the device you are plugging into if you do not remove the caps.

This cable easily outperforms run-of-the-mill plastic fiber toslink cables and compares favorably with the kilo-buck Kimber Select 2020 coaxial digital cable that I own. This coming from someone who in the past would not even consider using toslink. Times change. I am using this cable in a very resolving system with big Magnepan speakers and have no complaints. The modest price is icing on the cake. Compare it to far more costly cables and prepare to be pleasantly surprised.EDIT: In response to some inquiries about my system, my D/A converter is the Eastern Electric Minimax Supreme which uses parallel 32 bit ESS Sabre 9018 chips, upgraded Sparko discrete opamps and an E80CC tube output stage. The connection between my music server and Dac is the highly regarded Kimber Select KS 2020 digital interconnect ($995). To think that this modest $20 glass fiber toslink cable can hold its own in such exhaled company is frankly astonishing and has caused me to reevaluate my decades old bias against optical cables. This glass toslink is highly resolving, smooth and musical and I recommend it without reservation for 16/44 and 16/48 digital playback.EDIT: I am now on my third toslink cable in a little over three years. The glass fibers used in these cables are supremely resolving but they are also quite fragile and easily damaged. The weak spot appears to be the base of the ferrule at each end of the cable. You need to be very careful not to put any stress on this area or you risk fracturing the glass fibers. A single broken fiber will produce random ticks and pops that sound like static discharge, rendering the cable unusable. Multiple breaks will produce a snowstorm of static that at loud volumes sounds positively frightening! I destroyed my first cable simply by plugging and unplugging it a few times. In the case of the second cable, which was 2 meters in length, the unsupported weight of the cable hanging between two components eventually resulted in a stress crack. It is important to handle these cables carefully and dress them out between components so that the weight of the cable is evenly distributed.

product showed up on time and was exactly what I ordered. No issues installing and still working great. I am using it with my Samsung sound bar. Thought it was a good value with a wide range of prices for this type of product.