Toslink vs. RCA


In virtually every review of DACs and jitter reduction devices, RCA seems to be better than TOSLINK for the transmission of S/PDIF. This seems strange to me considering that a whole host of nasties like EMI and transmission line effects can be eliminated with optical transmission. Does anyone know why RCA is better?
jlambrick
Fpeel, the reason AT&T ST and Toslink are rare, because they require special facility to produce. Not for the DYI or old school cable companies. On Toslink, say Monter Cable, Audioquest for example, what they do is to OEM the cable and stamp their logo on it. On AES/EBU (XLR) and coax (RCA), some company just bought Belden wire, dress them up, and sell them 300X more ! Anyone can makes them ! I used to own Madrigal MDC-1 AES/EBU (XLR) digital cable and they are what I call "coloring". I am now using AT&T ST glass optical for my CD player, cheap 60 bucks - no coloring, imune to the components, trash-in trash-out, no interfernce problems, and quiet background. Also, my Toslink cable as I mention was bought for $19.99 connect from my DVD to my DAC, not as good as AT&T ST but it is better than $300/meter Madrigal MDC-1 or AudioQuest RCA.
Remember, lots of companies promote/marketing AES/EBU or RCA because they are not able to produce either AT&T ST glass fibers (only a few company in the world can produce this type of cable and none of them are in the audiophile industry even Wadia), nor Toslink.
What I am suprise is BNC cables, it is able to produce the sound almost as good as AT&T, or Toslink. Maybe because of the cable that I am using, not an audiophile product, but very hard to find (aerospace type). Again, not expensive neither compare to audiophile cables.

I am not trying to show-off my system but for your reference, my front-end are:

Wadia 7 transport
Wadia 9 DA
Panasonics DVD-RV31K

Regards

BTW. I speak the truth !!!
6chac, what you wrote parallels other's experiences I read. The REAL question is "Where can I buy a decent AT&T ST cable?" For instance, where did you buy yours? Any particular info I need for ordering? TIA.
Fpeel, Steve of great northern sound. Wadia AT&T ST glass optical cable $60 for 3 meters. Here's the link:

http://www.greatnorthernsound.com/

Steve is very helpful, leave a message, he will return your call.

Regards

ISTT
Called Steve at Great Northern Sound this morning. Found him to be very friendly and helpful. He has three different AT&T ST cables available. The first two were out of my price range ($400 & $900 as I recall). The third was the 3 meter Wadia and the price quoted was ~$60 including shipping. I opted for it.

Thanks again, 6chac.