Hi Eric:
Thank you for the very kind welcoming!
It is clear that we are on the same page about most all of these things. 😉
As for your thoughts on interference of sorts in the transmitted light signal with fiber optic:
a) I will ask John his thoughts on the possibilities. (I am NOT the engineer here and never pretend to be.) I do not think he has any direct measurement experience with various fiber cables, though certainly we have discussed the valid technical reasons for differences between single-mode and multi-mode.
b) The disturbances (PM and AM) induced by the parts and power networks associated with copper>optical and optical>copper conversions seem to be alluded to by you as well. And on that we do agree and have direct (measured and listening) experience with. This is surely the reason behind the widely reported differences users hear with different SFP module models and types.
One interesting ideas that may bring fruit later on:
1) Everyone is aware that SFP transceivers are offered with different transmission distance maximum ratings–from 5Km to 50Km. The greater distance rated units sometimes have better electronics–or sometimes the same as shorter rated units. But for certain they vary by transmit wattage. But when used for very short distances there is some risk of saturation/overload of the receiver end–hence you sometimes see the use of fiber optic attenuators.
Yet we have found that a series of high quality Finisar SFP modules–with different distance ratings–contain the exact same parts. The variation is due to flash programming of the transmitters to output higher wattage for the long distance units. We are looking into the possibility of reflashing the EEPROM on a particular model–to output very low wattage–thereby making it more suitable/less saturation/better performance for the short distances used in the home. I do not yet know if this project (low-priority for us now) will be successful.
Next time I may speak about an entirely different, non-optical, isolated transmission option that may be far more appealing in the near future. Besides your WiFi that is. 😉
Best,
–Alex C.