Wireworld Supernova 7 Toslink Optical Audio Cable 1.0M

From someone rather deep down the rabbit hole of audio gear lately but trying to keep expenses moderate I must say these cables are one of my better buys. Sure, ones and zeros are ones and zeros; but jitter must be a real thing because the difference between these toslinks and what radio Shack sells is significant. My old Yamaha CD C600 only offers RCA and Toslink outputs - no coaxial, so I had to spend some money to get them refined. Audioquest Yukons on the RCA were an improvement over stock RCA's, but these Toslinks are another order of magnitude in improvement in clarity, staging, instrument separation, tone - all the cliches about music enhancement. My Rotel preamp/power amp string uses the Sabre DAC whereas the Yamaha uses a Wolfson DAC. Sabre DAC's can be annoyingly bright and forward on speakers like my Klipsch Forte 3's, so I was using the Wolfson DAC in the Yamaha. However, these Supernova 7's have somehow tamed the Sabre DAC without sounding fatiguing and too forward, yet they are maintaining all the detail and dynamics, so now I am just using the Yamaha C600 as a "transport" for purely digital data piped in with the Supernova 7 to the Rotel preamp which is very much liking the quality of the data.This little excursion with a wire has now given me what I was looking for in my system without having to mess about with more expensive components.

These are excellent Toslink audio cables if they fit your audio equipment. These did not work for my Rega Apollo or my Chord Qutest dac -too loose and would not stay connected.

Here and there you read debates about whether the quality/design of a digital cable, going from source to DAC, makes a difference to the sound. I was using a short Audioquest Forest toslink between the Auralic Aries Mini and my EMM DAC. Even the local AQ dealer discouraged me from spending more money on the toslink. I have a Wireworld USB cable that works very well, so the $200 multistrand borosillicate seems a fair bet. No break-in period needed. Simple comparison between two cables. Obviously better soundstage, dynamic range and less vow-distortion (listening to Tori Amos “Pretty Goood Year”), clarity to instruments (much more distinct cello sound on that track) and bass. Definitely a keeper, and, considering the difference in sound, this is a great bang-for-the-buck purchase. Impact on sound is equipment dependent yes - if you know you have a good DAC with an excellent internal clock, this is likely going to be a rewarding upgrade.

Better than I expected

Yeah, this sounds great true story.