Toslink Cable

I'd not go overboard on this. Over braiding and oversized plug housings just make them more likely to come out of the socket or not fit into tightly packed socketry on rear panels - i use a simple £5 plastic one from Maplin between my TiVo box and amp and this works well. 

+1

(And no concerns with thoroughness of shielding or whether impedance is correct with optical.)

Agree,  don't go overboard.  The signal from a TV is not too fussy about the optical link,  unlike 24-bit 96kHz & higher PCM.  I have 5m of Mark Grant optical from TV to NDX & its nothing like the price of AQ.   The best optical cable at the moment (according to my A/V obsessed mate) is QED 'Performance'

Thanks for the replies -- much appreciated. I shall steer away from pricey Audioquest on this occasion. I probably got overly excited when my mate told me that the first part of the Ring Cycle was now available on BBC iPlayer. I actually saw Rheingold in Leeds Town Hall -- and rather liked it, but was too busy for the other "installments". And considering the length of Wagner, the rather uncomfortable Town Hall did deter me... My sofa at home is far more comfortable.  

I quickly googled QED Performance. What HiFi seems to like it as well...

Adding an optical cable from my TV to my ND5XS has been one of the highlights of having a streamer for me . I agree not to go overboard but changing from a John Lewis cable to a Van den Hul (£60ish)  was a marked improvement . Recently I installed a Chord C lite (£35) for my parents into their Unitiqute again improving on the JL cable , I'd say that the Chord is plenty good enough and a bit of a bargain in context of a Naim system .

I agree there's no need to spend too much. Possibly worth looking for one which gives the best connection, as some plugs seem to be a rather insecure fit, so some trial and error might be required. I use a Flashback cable, which seems to do a good job for about £20.

Timo posted:

Thanks for the replies -- much appreciated. I shall steer away from pricey Audioquest on this occasion. I probably got overly excited when my mate told me that the first part of the Ring Cycle was now available on BBC iPlayer. I actually saw Rheingold in Leeds Town Hall -- and rather liked it, but was too busy for the other "installments". And considering the length of Wagner, the rather uncomfortable Town Hall did deter me... 

I needed a 6m cable to connect by BT set top box to by pre. I used a KabelDirekt 6m Optical TOSLINK Digital Audio Cable - PRO Series from Amazon, it fits nicely with a satisfying click and sounds fine to me.
I also saw most of the Opera North Ring last year,

but at Nottingham (unfortunately we had already booked WNO Barber of Seville at Birmingham Hippodrome, so we had to miss Siegfried). It was really good to hear it not ruined by some crazy production, and don't worry about the length, four and a half hours of Gotterdammerung just flies by!

I use the Monoprice 'premium' between a Samsung TV and Teac Dac. Good quality for silly money!

I tried a AQ Vodka Toslink from my TV to my N272 and it made a huge difference over a $5 cable but so much detail  but I'm not sure if having the AQ Vodka HDMI from the cable box to the TV have and influence also