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REVIEW: Sound Professionals Glass Toslink Cable

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Model: Glass Toslink
Category: Cable
Suggested Retail Price: $59.00 1.5m
Description: Digital Optical Cable
Manufacturer URL: Sound Professionals
Model Picture: View

Review by Todd Krieger ( A ) on October 05, 2002 at 01:04:32
IP Address: 208.176.169.126
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for the Glass Toslink


A couple months ago, a fellow inmate introduced me to glass Toslink cables. Now for a long time, I always thought Toslink was an inferior interface for two box digital playback. ST glass, S/PDIF coax (RCA and BNC), AES/EBU balanced, and I 2 S have always been deemed superior to Toslink for such application.

But when I was introduced to the WireWorld Supernova III+ glass Toslink cable, my thoughts of the interface have changed forever. Like ST glass, it cuts out a lot of RFI from the digital signal. But unlike ST glass, glass Toslink is devoid of the mechanical character that can get "grating" over time.

But the WireWorld did not quite have the ultimate bandwidth of the very best electrical digital cables. I then stumbled across the Sound Professionals website, and saw this inexpensive *glass* Toslink cable. So on a whim, I decided to try this cable. For such an inexpensive cable, the detail in the description of its construction caught my eye. (Nothing fancy, just plenty of info which may or may not equate to better sonics.) The cable contains 65 cores of glass fiber, making up a 105 micron diameter bundled fiber. With several surrounding covers of polyethylene and other materials. The cable is available in various lengths- I chose the 1.5 meter version.

When I got the Sound Professionals Glass Toslink digital cable, I saw that it was extraordinarily flexible (it droops like a piece of thin rope), and probably more-fragile than the WireWorld glass fiber Toslink cable. (Although the WireWorld doesn't have 1.5 meters as a standard length.) Like all glass-fiber cables, I handled this thing with utmost care.

But when I had the Sound Professionals Glass Toslink digital cable hooked-up between the JVC XLZ-1050 CD player (used as a transport) and the Prism DA-1 DAC (which at one time thought it having a Toslink input was a frivolous feature), I immediately realized I might have found a new long-term reference for digital interconnects.

In my opinion, the weakness of Redbook CD playback shows up the worst with large-scale orchestral recordings. And with such recordings, the state-of-the-art performance of the Sound Professionals Glass Toslink cable comes to glorious fruition. Playing the RCA Fritz Reiner/Chicago Symphony Strauss "Also Sprach Zarathustra" was a revelation. This is a CD recording whose complex passages often blend the harmonic textures of the instruments, resulting in a spectacular but bright splashing of sound. With this glass Toslink cable, for the first time, I could now hear what made this recording so legendary in the LP format. Those harmonic textures are now parts of the individual instruments themselves, and while less "spectacular," it now sounds a lot more like a hundred players playing their hearts out. And the ability to pick out background progressions which are normally lost in lesser Redbook playback. (I do hear an "analog" pre-echo in the initial brass chords right at the beginning.) And not only do I notice the instruments, but their individual timbral qualities as well.

For rock and jazz, the Sound Professionals Glass Toslink digital cable enables one to hear attacks and decays of percussion, almost as an independent entity from other players in the band. Once again, obscured in lesser Redbook playback. A great example of this is Steely Dan's "Babylon Sisters", where a cymbal is hit simultaneously with the background vocals singing "Shake It!!"- The attack and decay of the cymbal usually is obscured in Redbook CD playback, but easily picked out in a good LP system. With the Sound Professionals Glass Toslink cable, this is the first time I've been able to pick out that cymbal off the CD.

The sense of air and natural tonality brings Redbook playback as close to LP playback as anything I've experienced. (Save maybe that Wadia 7/9 system I heard 15 years ago.) It has no accentuation or attenuation effects on any part of the frequency spectrum. And sets a new standard for microdynamics.

The weaknesses- There could always be something better out there, but it's gotten to the point where I'd say the Sound Professionals Glass Toslink is the closest thing to a "Holy Grail" I've come across in digital cables. Not all transports and DACs will convert the Redbook signal to a Toslink signal in an ideal manner, so the cable might not provide absolute performance for all transports and DACs. (I find *far* more variance in optical interfaces than electrical ones amongst transports and DACs.) Not to mention the plethora of high-end transports and DACs that *lack* a Toslink interface because the "pre-glass" Toslink has been deemed "not worthy" for top-flight playback. The cable does change in tonal character with direction. One direction it's extraordinarily neutral. In the other direction, it can be a little "forward" in the midrange, which can be preferred in systems that need a boost there.

This obscure company called Sound Professionals markets the Glass Toslink digital cable. And is an example that great things in life don't jump out at you- you must search them out. And at $59, the biggest angst this cable will bring is the fact many of us have blown hundreds, and perhaps thousands, on digital cables which I can comfortably say are not as good. Some not even close.


Product Weakness: At $59 for a 1.5 meter link, this will make people who spent over $250 for a digital cable pull their hair out... Does require both a transport and DAC that has Toslink- Which unfortunately eliminates many "high-end" products. Cable is "directional"- Sounds a little "forward" in the less-preferable direction in my system. (But sounded virtually perfect in the preferred direction.)
Product Strengths: This could be the Holy Grail for digital cables. Brings two box Redbook playback closer to vinyl than any digital cable I know of.


Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier: Symfonia Opus 10, Marsh A200S
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): Supratek Cortese
Sources (CDP/Turntable): JVC XLZ1050 CD player for transport, Prism Sound DA-1 DAC
Speakers: Von Schweikert VR-4.5 Mod 5
Cables/Interconnects: Silverline Audio speaker cables, Belden 88281 interconnects with Bocchino Audio B9 RCA connectors
Music Used (Genre/Selections): Everything
Room Size (LxWxH): 19 x 16 x Vaulted
Time Period/Length of Audition: 1 month
Other (Power Conditioner etc.): Brickwall AUD20, Bybee Signature, Tripp Lite regulator for sources and pre, Shunyata Hydra for amp
Type of Audition/Review: Product Owner




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Topic - REVIEW: Sound Professionals Glass Toslink Cable - Todd Krieger 01:04:32 10/5/02 ( 40)