Stilly77;669108 Wrote: > I will and thanks for the feedback Guido....besides the Touch, I have > two SB'3 and various laptop's / PC's so having a external DAC (my first > one) will be interesting. > > What's your feeling on optical cables? Plastic, glass ???
For years I assumed that coax was the way to go. Then I read Phil Leigh's post in which he questioned that conventional wisdom. So I thought I would give Toslink a chance. I first tried an Amazon Basic optical cable(about $8). I didn't expect much, but I was astonished at how different my main system (see below) sounded with this cheapy. More detail, better definition of individual instrument lines and, especially, lots more "air" around individual instruments and voices. A very seductive presentation, marred, unfortunately, by a hardening of timbres and overall rough character of the sound. But now I was on a roll. Hoping to correct the Amazon's cable weaknesses and preserve its virtues, I next tried an X-series coax by Emotiva ($19), on the strength of the excellent experience I've had with the balanced version of these interconnects. It sounded a lot more refined than my Have, but not as open and airy as the Amazon optical. Maybe an Emotiva Toslink ($16) would do the trick? I tried that. Close, but no cigar. At this point, I was determined to find a "better" Toslik. I turned to Lifatec. They specialize in fiber optics, including medical applications. I ordered 3 feet of their Silflex Glass cable ($70), on a 30 day return, full refund basis. This Toslink did it! Now I got the accurate timbres and tonal balance of the Emotiva coax, but also the infectious three-dimensionality and air of the Amazon Toslink. In my system, the overall sound signature of the Silflex Toslink and Emotiva coax are essentially the same, but the presentation through the Silflex is clearly closer to hearing live musicians perform in a real space. Each system is different. But if you feel adventurous, you too may want to give Toslink a chance. Best luck! Guido F. -- guidof MUSIC ROOM: Marantz TT 15S1 Turntable, Virtuoso Wood Cartridge -> Conrad Johnson Motif preamp Oppo BDP--83 Universal Player; Squeezebox Touch (digital out) -> Cambridge Azur 840C DAC -> Adcom GFP-750 preamp -> Music Reference RM-200 Mk II amp -> Martin Logan SL3 speakers DSpeaker Antimode 8033 equalizer -> REL T1 Subwoofer BEDROOM: Squeezebox Touch (analog out) -> Little Dot Mk III amp -> AKG K701 headphones SECOND BEDROOM: Squeezebox Touch -> Grado SR125 headphones ------------------------------------------------------------------------ guidof's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=40448 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=91322 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
