Toslink cables...do they make a difference?

Alan thanks for the feedback. Much appreciated.

Coax might be better in somebody’s system but another person might have the opposite experience. Toslink might be better when you have long connections, ambient electrical noise or ground loops. Coax might be better when you have system noise. Typical coax should be either very short <1ft or long >1.5m to minimize jitter caused by reflections in the cable. Reflection occur on boundaries of characteristic impedance. Because of that cheaper cable might be a better fit than expensive cable (better matching characteristic impedance). It is a system thing and what works for one person may not work for another, unless they have identical systems in the same room.

Our advice is always based on our experience in our own system. If all we say is it is system dependent there would be recommendations ever given
Alan

One word- Lifatec. Optical experts, awesome service & excellent products. 

Ahendler, that's true but you can discuss matching between speakers and amplifiers, pre and power amp or compare sound of CDPs or DACs.  In case of S/Pdif cable it depends on so many factors that comparison is next to impossible.

- Characteristic impedance matching of 3 components
- Ambient electrical noise
- Slew rate of the source
- Length of the cable
- Ground loops
- System noise
- Quality of shielding

Any of the above, or any combination of them can affect amount of jitter.  Also type of the jitter, low or high frequency correlated or not, plays role.