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Supra ZAC Toslink Cable Report

Posted by Duster on March 30, 2017 at 13:27:02:

I had been using a 35 foot Monoprice Premium Toslink cable for a distributed audio system for quite some time, and while I found it to perform well especially at such a low price, I considered it was likely a weak link in the signal chain, but was hesitant to upgrade it with a better product due to the expense of very long-length audiophile-quality Toslink cables. The main hesitation being the fact that the cable I wanted was a Lifatec Silflex Glass Toslink cable, but the longest-length available is 20 feet. The Supra ZAC Toslink cable is one of the few very long-length audiophile Toslink cables that caught my attention. In fact, their longest cable available is 20 meters (a whopping 65.6 feet) which gave me courage to buy a 10 meter (32.8 feet) cable based on the potential ability of the design to successfully transmit a high-quality digital optical signal at long distances.

In my experience, the build quality of the Swedish-made Supra ZAC Toslink cable is superior to that of a typical consumer electronics Toslink cable, with an unusual feeling jacket that is different to the touch than other Toslink cable I've handled, and the cable features a high-quality connector with robust strain relief. The cable is very flexible and easily routed, and the ice blue color is neutral enough to be easy on the eye when routed along the floorboard of a listening room.

I find the Monoprice Premium Toslink cable sounds comparatively reticent, with the impression of an incomplete level of resolution, in that images do not sound as fully formed compared to the Supra ZAC Toslink cable, which presents a crisper, more vibrant sounding signal with better dynamics, greater presence, and an increase in tonal richness without sounding hazy or blurred like some POF (Plastic Optical Fiber) Toslink cables. Whether or not the performance of the Supra ZAC Toslink cable as Supra claims is equal to that of a glass Toslink cable such as the stellar Lifatec Silflex Glass Toslink cable that I use as a reference quality digital optical cable for much shorter-length applications is unknown, but what I can opine is the performance of the Supra ZAC Toslink cable is worthy of the expense in my opinion, and offers the same type of audiophile satisfaction that a 22 AWG solid core copper Supra Cat7+ Ethernet cable provides upstream within the signal chain.

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