Price, seemingly solid build quality

won't impress your audiophile friends other than that none as of yet

Just hooked up AR's toslink and digital coax. My system is definitely low end/entry level compared to the multi $K system listeners that frequent this site, however these cables seem to perform well and they look like they will last along time.

Fine build quality.

None.

Couldn't agree more w/Aaron from SD below regarding the physics involved. Just got a new Yamaha dts receiver and I was in a store when somebody returned the 3ft. AR toslink-to-toslink because they actually needed some other kind of connector. I offered 5 bucks for the "open box" (but clearly unused) cable and took it home. Sounds great. You pay more than 20 for this and you are buying smoke and mirrors. If you believe otherwise, pls refer me to the independant double blind tests w/statistically significant results that you can cite as proof.

rugged design, metal connectors,value

they aren't free

i've been using the ar pro-series toslink cables for a little over six months now and i must say they are the best value as far as cables go. i don't see how people can claim that other cables can sound better. all the cable does is trasfer a flickering red light from one end to the other. just a bunch of 1's and 0's. as long as nothing blocks the lights progress, the sound will be unaffected. i buy all my cables from accessories4less.com and have completely wired my entire system with ar pro-series interconnects (except for front and center spkrs: ixos gamma 6003). ar cables are definitely the best thing going right now for those who want a better cable than came with their components but don't wanna buy into the highly inflated and over priced line of monster interconnects. i can't believe the two $%@&*! who gave this cable a 1 star??!! the cables that come with your components deserve at least 2 stars because they do work! my advice is, if you're looking to upgrade and understand that cables don't really affect the sound but you are looking for well designed cables that won't fall apart, you should look no further than the ar pro-series.

Similar Products Used:

none

Transmits pulses of light for the entire length of the cable, cheap

No pseudo-physics voodoo marketing claims

Well, it's an optical cable. This one is great because it's cheap. The connectors look cool too. I got one from accessories4less.com for $15

Great quality, great looks, great value!!

NONE

I did the research. For what I wanted to spend, it came down to the supplied cables, Monster cables, or Acoustic Research cables. I figured, since I spent so much money on nice home theater equipment, I may as well get some decent cables to eliminate any "weak links" in my system. That eliminated the supplied cables. Now for the Monster cables, there were the low end cheaper cables or the super high quality cables which cost a pretty penny. All the reviews I read said the low end Monster cables were basically garbage and not worth the money. Now between AR Pro Series and the high end Monster cables, price was the decision maker from me. From the info I gathered, the Monster cables were simply not worth the price when compared to the performance / cost of the AR cables.

I have been using the cables for about 2 months now for both music and home theater. I have the following cables:

ht-170 audio coax digital cable - 3' = $12
ht-180 audio optical digital cable - 3' = $15
ht-120 s-video cable - 3' = $12
ht-160 a/v cable
(L and R audio + video - for VCR)- 3' = $23
ht-262 16 guage speaker wire - 50ft = $20
ht-153 subwoofer cable - 25' = $26

Bottom line - Acoustic Research Pro Series cables are the best value out there!!