Obviously I'm missing something here....

[ffutures]

Here's the description of a Toslink fibre optics cable from SVP's site

This fiber optic TOSLINK cable connects audio/video components that have digital optical audio jacks at each end.

Connectors: Gold plated, 99.99% OFC (Oxygen Free Copper)

What is TOSLINK? TOSLINK cables are fibre optic cables that carry a digital audio data signal in the form of light pulses as opposed to the usual electricity signal carried by wire cables. This eliminates the interference to which wire cables are susceptable.

Digital audio inputs and/or outputs are available on many newer Dolby Digital (Dolby 5.1, 6.1, AC3, Prologic, etc) and DTS surround sound receivers, DVD players, CD players, minidisk players and recorders, MP3 and DAT recorders, professional Audio Cards for Computer Digital Audio workstations, Outboard AD/DA Converters and satellite dish receivers. Compatible with S/PDIF, ADAT's, DAW's and Dolby Digital/DTS audio devices using the TOSLINK interface.

I'm sure this is a stupid question, but can anyone suggest any reason why it should be considered worthwhile gold plating optical connectors?

Comments

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

Uhm...

Hmmm...

Because some stereo snobs won't buy anything unless it's gold plated?

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Bingo!

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

I knew somebody once who had little gold-plated titanium spike things upon which he rested his stereo equipment. It was supposed to reduce vibration, or somesuch.

[jackwalker.livejournal.com]

Well, just a guess: gold is extremely ductile, and can be hammered so thin as to be transparent. So a very thin layer of gold plating won't necessarily interfere with the transmission of light, but it might still serve to protect underlying materials from oxidation or corrosion.

[cdybedahl.livejournal.com]

Nope. The underlying material is plastic, which doesn't oxidize or corrode. And at the amount of light we're talking about in a fiber, any thickness of gold at all in the actual transmission path would be about as good as cutting the cable.

[cdybedahl.livejournal.com]

Because high-end-audio customers are used to equating "gold-plated" with "good", so by doing it the producer can jack up the price and get more profit.

If you meant worthwhile for the consumer, it isn't. Fiber optic cables for computer data transmission, which have a lot higher demands on them then TOSLINK cables have, are pure plastic from one end to the other. The main thing that makes quality differ is how well the connectors are welded onto the fiber.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Exactly - I must have looked at ten products from different suppliers, that's the nearest to a technical specification I've seen, other than length, and it's totally irrelevant.

[murphys-lawyer.livejournal.com]

Only gold-plated?

To stop distortion of the signal by mains hum, you need gold-plated, oxygen-free copper sheathed, fibre-optic cables made of 99.999% pure silicates harvested from the beaches of Goa under a full moon, smelted in a hand-blown furnace at Shinjuku, and woven by blind, brain-damaged nuns in Bolivia. It said so in my last hi-fi-catalogue.

Flanders & Swann, thou shouldst be living at this hour...