I just tried the WireWorld all week to see if it changed, it didn’t and gone back to the CatSnake will leave this for a while now and then compare it back to my original BJC cat5a. The WireWorld is back on its way to Futureshop.
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Same here, big time x factor, increased significantly my enjoyment of the music. I was less than thrilled with my new to me Ovators and now I love them.
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That’s great news.
Maybe they are revealing what the ovators can do.
Btw, Did you ask someone to dip your Naca5 in liquid nitrogen??
Blimey @Stephen_Tate, what a transformation. I think back a few months and your absolute frustration with your attempts to get streaming, to the point you were about the chuck it all in.
Now you seem to be loving streaming and the music coming from your ND5 XS2 (I believe), to the point you are able to offer informed feedback on the finer points of Ethernet/streaming cables. BTW, I am still loving my Vodkas too.
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He didn’t told you that he washes his ndx2 everyday 
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Just to throw my hat in the ring again.
I have a statement system, and have been tweaking streaming for about 10 years and not found an expensive cable I have liked more than basic and cheap cables, including all top priced ones I have tried.
So much so I am currently using Bjc cat6 and just ordered cat6a to try.
The cat fighting and arguing going on is rediculous.
People have different systems and different tastes in music and different goals.
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But my dear chap, you must know the formula by now:
cable thread = cat fight (where people who test and listen argue pointlessly with people who theoretically KNOW that cables cannot make a difference to SQ)
Well he’s changed his mind and back in the blue jeans camp.
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Yep, Stephen was always unpredictable.
At least he lets his ears decide.
For Ethernet cables particularly it’s always going the be a Cat fight…
Cat 5
Cat 5e
Cat 6
Cat 6a
Cat 7
Cat 8
Unclassified (no Cat!)
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I recall how he’d dismissed the BJC out of hand after only a couple of hours, and how I suggested he be less hasty. I really believe that it’s only possible to make judgements after using a new cable for a week or two. These ‘tests’ where people purport to make meaningful judgements after trying five or six over a couple of hours are, in my view, pretty much worthless.
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Good point.
As you too have ditched Vodka, I really owe it to myself to do a lengthy comparison of these to BJC. As it doesn’t cost very much to get some lengths of BJC (Cat 6 or 6a?) cables, why not?
Just need to watch out for obsessive traits developing.
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But what capricious ears he got!
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It’s like herding Cats!
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They have a Cat6b variant coated in flexible PEEK for lower bass vibes…
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@anon4489532,…Not if all cables are burn-in/run-in for exactly the same length of time.
And,.under the same conditions.
In our test this week,.all cables were run-in/burn-in for exactly 350 hours.
And the difference that you hear,.you can then take a decision about.
I have written at the beginning of the “Ethernet Switch and Cables Mania”-thread.
That all these cables will be better,.if they can be connected at least 4 days in the system,even after they have been burn-in/run-in.
But the individual differences between the cables are still there,.at a direct listening-test.
/Peder🙂
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One can have a pretty good idea on how a cable will sound from the start. You do not imo need weeks of listening. This so called burn in is pretty much overhyped. Yes they may become slightly better with time but they don’t transform. This (in my view) is nonsense. MY BJCs sound pretty much the same from the first time I plugged them in. It’s only where I’ve taken the switch out do the BJCs have come to my liking. As for this burn in, there hasn’t been, unlike my AQ cables, where burn in was noticeable, as they’re are more revealing, from my experience. In a overly bright system I can hear why the AQ Vodka cables would tip the balance too far and I am for one glad I don’t have a bright system. Those days with the Credos are thankfully gone.
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So, how do you explain saying after two hours that the BJC was really boring and much worse than the Vodka, and now a week later that the BJC are better and the Vodkas are going? You can’t have it both ways.
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For once Stephen I am in agreement. Personally nothing changed in any of the ones I tried out over time. Neither did my Blue jeans cables I have had in the system for 18 months. You might get used to them but that’s it, the same traits are there from the off, even then all the cables I have tested varied only in very small degrees which if not really listening for would be missed.
However i did notice one significant thing that mixing cables does seem to effect the synergy more. I had tried replacing cable from wall to switch with a cat7 that was used in my test in the other thread and is getting on for 18months old one as it’s close to other cables so thought it might help, but it lost the musicality and timing. Left it for 3 days but could take no more and the BJC is back in place and normal service is restored.
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I can differentiate between black boxes really easily, in a matter of minutes. But speakers take a lot longer. And cables take longer still. A lot of the differences are not large and I’m looking for naturalness and involvement rather than standard hifi terms such as bass, image detail etc. There is no way whatsoever that I could reliably say which cable was better after listening to five or six in a couple of hours. I’m not convinced anyone really can, and they just like to think they can.
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