Fiber or Coax

[LTW]

Which is better for a short run (6') to connect my audio from TV and CD to my home theater system. Fiber or Coax?

 

[Jim41]

Which is better for a short run (6') to connect my audio from TV and CD to my home theater system. Fiber or Coax?

Define "better"
1. Does it mean best performance, irregardless of cost?
2. Does it mean adequate performance at a reasonable cost?

I would use shielded twisted pair audio cable. It will provide adequate performance at a reasonable cost.

Jim41

 

[mike_s104]

I use both for different setups...I can't hear a difference. If the receiver is decoding the digital audio, then it should sound just fine with either.

 

[kb2vxa]

Why all the frackin' twists and turns when for only 6' simple analog shielded audio cable has served well for 80+ years? Take my advice, KISS and you can't go wrong; when an audiophile goes extreme he becomes an audiophool.

 

[talkpair]

I'll assume the signal is digital, based on the fiber optic option you presented.

For six feet between devices, use the cheapest available.

Your devices are happy with anything that passes the digital signal error free......The results are going to be the same whether you use coax, twisted pair, fiber, or a wet kite string.

I would only consider fiber optic if I were pre-wiring a house before the walls go up and wanted to future-proof the installation......Even that is a risky venture when you consider the opportunities for damage in a construction area.

 

[shaft]

Im assuming you are talking about the TOSLINK fiber cable to run. You can get it pretty cheap and Id run it instead of copper. Not trying to be an audiophile hipster, but for the option, you might as well. Plus its 1 cable instead of 2+ to run.

 

[shaft]

For good quality cables at dirt cheap prices, check out monoprice. I order all my cables thru them if I can. I have yet to have an issue with any of them.

 

[eorange]

I use both for different setups...I can't hear a difference. If the receiver is decoding the digital audio, then it should sound just fine with either.

Ditto. But remember the optical cable can't be bent around sharp turns.

 

[mike_s104]

Ditto. But remember the optical cable can't be bent around sharp turns.

Didn't think there would be a lot of sharp bends and turns from the TV to the CD player.

 

[PHOENIX_SCANNER]

Why all the frackin' twists and turns when for only 6' simple analog shielded audio cable has served well for 80+ years? Take my advice, KISS and you can't go wrong; when an audiophile goes extreme he becomes an audiophool.

Yeah, nobody can tell the difference between Digital Audio and analog audio....except anyone with quality equipment that understands that it makes more sense to let the processors in a high end receiver do the digital processing instead of a DVD player which has far inferior processing. Remember, the audio track on a DVD is digital to start with, so what sane person would think that having a relatively low-powered DVD processor convert a digital signal to analog audio then down a noisy analog line with RF interference would be more logical than simply passing the digital signal to a powerful digital decoder in a good receiver and letting it do it's job?

Of course, anyone espousing this logic probably still watches VCR tapes and can't tell the difference in picture quality between them and a DVD anyway, so the point would be moot for them.

As far as CD sound quality (again, understanding that some people probably still haven't made the move out of the dark ages to CD), the best sound quality there is a direct transport CD player which feeds to a two stage D/A converter, then to a quality receiver which is set up for a bypass of digital processing. Along with all of this, using high end cables is a MUST with analog to assure noise shielding, and this is an expensive proposition.

The typical home user is normally best served overall, but a coaxial digital cable to a good receiver, with the best cabling and speakers he can reasonably afford, but there are many variables.

As far as "KISS", I think making it known that one is a KISS fan, probably diminishes one's credibility right off the bat in terms of advice regarding quality sound, since not one person in the band was really very good at their chosen instrument, (I've been teaching guitar for about 25 years for a bit of context) and the music was crude, and forgettable. Compared to a truly great rock band from the period such as Led Zeppelin, they really stunk to be quite blunt.