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Acoustic Research AP081 6-Foot Toslink Optical Molded Connectors

Acoustic Research AP081 6-Foot Toslink Optical Molded Connectors

List Price: $19.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Waste of a lot money and a really lousy picture
Review: I am convinced that the people who reviewed this cable are from the manufactures. You DO NOT need or want this cable. The cable that comes with your DVD player will work a lot better. In fact this cable will make your picture worse when you change from letter box screen to full screen. The picture will be fuzzy and have a lot of lines. When you use your regular cable supplied with your DVD player, this won't happen. No one who actually used this product could have given it a good review. I am telling you the truth on this one. Now, I do not bother reading reviews unless they are negative, the positive ones mean nothing. They are only hype.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Take it from a serious audiophile - these are good
Review: I am one of the great audiophiles of the world. I have spent over $7.5 million in the past 5 years on super-duper high-end equipment by high-end manufacturers that are so elite that you can't find a single reference to them anywhere on the internet, that's how high-end they are, let me tell you. And I have purchased many gold and platinum tipped cables, 10 foot cables which cost up to $120,000 each, searching for that magic cable that will take me to that next level of audio perfection. And I must say that these little $15.00 cables match the performance of any of the high-end thousand dollar cables I have used before.

For the perfect demo, there's a little 12 second, high-pitched, hyperactive yet quiet acoustic guitar solo on John McLaughlin's Shakti album, track 2, about 30 seconds into the track. And with these cables, that little solo is opaquified and, if your sitting in the sweet spot, you will see that the chrome tips brighten and transperify the treble to a such point of perfection, it is like seeing God. Of course, I have to add that I am using these cables with super-duper high end audio equipment valued at nearly $68 million. I admit that I enjoy listening to my system more than I like listening to music. I am constantly just sampling 10 seconds here and 15 seconds there on a Sade album, or on a Paco De Lucia album, just to demonstrate the high-endedness of my system. I have never listened to more than 15 seconds of a song on any of the hundreds of Super-Duper Audio Format CDs that I own. That's just me.

Anyway, I still recommend that you spend $100,000 on your primary cables, but these little $15.00 cables are something to try out, just for giggles.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good quality, good price.
Review: I bought the S-video cable set because my television has an S-video connector, but doesn't have component video inputs. These cables and connectors are very good quality, and the set includes the S-video and two audio cables, so it's all you need to connect your DVD player. My DVD player included a composite video cable, but it would definitely be "the weakest link" in my system. I didn't pay a fortune for the player, but I do want to see the best quality picture that it, and my tv, are capable of displaying.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A best buy for stereo analog interconnects!
Review: I bought these interconnects to connect my Marantz CD player to a high-end integrated amp. They replace gold-plated Radio Shack RCA interconnects. Boy did they make an immediate and huge difference!

I got better soundstage and imaging, smoother highs, more resolved bass and more revealing sound overall. This sounds clichéd, but I am hearing things that I never heard before including some background sound that I never thought existed. These are directional cables and the instructions tell you to install the cable with the arrow pointing toward (not away from) the source - which is correct! Wrong direction caused a huge hum in my system.

One of the previous reviewers is absolutely right - you have to get good interconnect cables and they do make huge audible differences. This is because the effects of capacitance, inductance and shielding from EMI/RFI noise are noticeable particularly on interconnects. (Whereas it is extremely difficult to percieve sound differences from any well-constructed speaker wire of 12AWG or thicker). Ideally you want an interconnect with low capacitance, good inductance (most do anyway), and good shielding. This Acoustic Research AP031 Stereo Analog Interconnect does just this!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Cables!
Review: I just got my first dvd player for Christmas, and got these cables to go along with it. I have been looking for good component cables for a while, and all I found were Monster Cables ..., and RCA brand cables (which a lot of people have complained about having problems with)... Then I finally found these ... Anyway Christmas day I hooked up my dvd player with these cables and at the same time through composite cables. The first movie I played was Primary Colors, and in the begining of the movie there are a lot of reds, (which as most people know reds especially bleed on the screen), but not when using component cables. But when you switch back and forth between component and composite cables you can really tell a difference. And you can also see a big difference between component and s-video, although most people say they can't tell any difference. In conclusion, if you're in the market for component cables go with Acoustic Research.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A good compromise
Review: I notice a much better picture with these cables vs. the component set that came with my DVD player. Those had little shielding and lacked gold connectors. The price of this set is a good compromise for those who don't want to shell out four times as much for Monster cable.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A good compromise
Review: I notice a much better picture with these cables vs. the component set that came with my DVD player. Those had little shielding and lacked gold connectors. The price of this set is a good compromise for those who don't want to shell out four times as much for Monster cable.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great bang for the buck
Review: I'm quite impressed with these cables and with component connections in general. Component is like S-Video, but with the two color differentials separated so that in addition to less jitter, you also get more accurate colors. These cables come joined together by their insulation, but it's easy to separate them as you would with any lampcord speaker wire. I ended up braiding all three cables together to combat RF interference and I noticed a little cleaner picture. While I'm fairly sure I would have got an even better picture if I had spent the money for a Bettercables set, I am happy with the AR for now. For [price], you really can't go wrong. However, if you're VERY picky about picture quality and don't mind spending more, go for Bettercables. I probably will someday.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: acoustic research a temporary fix
Review: o.k let's face it. these cables are about one step up from the free ones that come in the box. i recommend these to someone with a weak, starter system. basically, they'll do the job until you can spring for more sophisticated cables , i highly recommend audioquest by the way. the key to a good sounding system is to keep it simple, meaning the less components you have hooked up to your amp or receiver, the less distortion will be made. i have two jbl 10's, a harman kardon stereo receiver, and a sony mega changer cd player. cablewise, i have a paire of audioquest coral analog connectors, and audioquest midnight speaker cable, a ten foot pair, the shorter the better when it comes to speaker cable, also, less expensive. i consider my home system low end and a starter system at best. while i have sunk about 2300 dollars into it, and to most people, non audiophiles, that is a lot ogf money, it really isn't when you look at all your options out there. one could easily spend 25, 30 grand building a system piece by piece, of course, using middle to high end equipment, not the junk that they want to sell you in best buy or circuit city. remember, when buying expensive audio equipment, especially online, make sure you are buying new, factory sealed product with manufacturer warranty. you'll see some insanely low prices out there on decent items, and chances are that they have been used, demoed, or factory refurbished at some point. all in all, these cables got me through about 6 months of listening and they sounded well enough, until i could afford better ones.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: PLENTY OF BASS
Review: Pretty good interconnects, definitely better than out-of-the-box cables.
Changed to a pair of Ecosse Composer ... Cleaned up the sound considerably, especially the booming bass. If you like big bass - use the AR i/c.
The interconnect cables make a BIG difference in your system. It's a good place to spend some extra money. Besides, it's fun and easy to experiment with different brands.


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