Sounds like a stiff challenge!
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Although you havenāt actually stated it (and I find the above post quite difficult to understand), I assume you are referring to the āTune Demā approach to assessing HiFi systems (N.B. you canāt asses individual components using Tune Dem as it requires an entire system to be functioning for Tune Dem to work, and there is no controls on inter-component interactions).
If you looked at a number of my posts (particularly those on the old forum) you will observe that I use the techniques of Tune Dem along with other techniques in assessing systems.
I do not rely on just one system or approach since, as with other incompletely controlled methods of assessment, doing so increases the chance of erroneous results due to the failure to use full experimental controls. The more different ways you inspect something, the more chance you have of finding important differences. I prefer to keep many tools in my arsenal rather than always relying on just one.
There is another adage that is also appropriate:
āWhen the only tool you have is a hammer, all problems begin to look like nails.ā
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But if they are effectively only nails, the hammer is all you need.
Thank you James for a very thorough report from your experiences and findings so far with the EE switch. It is very very much appreciated. I will have to read through your post many times to get a hold on things. It seems youāre quite happy with your decision in keeping the EE (new kid on the block?). I am about to order one myself with some Shawline Ethernet cables and after a trial period will give the forum my verdict too. .
Again, thank you so much for your time here to have posted your verdict. 
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I also highly respect @james_nās point of view, so also the EE is a Chord product, so it sounds like a respectable device to be considered.
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Iām looking for something to really beat my wireless connection. So far the Cisco or Ciscos have not. Hopefully a single EE switch will.
By the way, I just wanted to say that when I used the term ābandwagonā above, that was in response to being asked why I didnāt buy and try one of these switches.
But I really do appreciate the test reports and ideas of those forum members who try new stuff. Itās one of the most interesting and useful things on the forum - as well as sharing ideas for new music.
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There are several aspectsā¦ there is interframe timing consistency but that tends to governed by the router or media server on your LAN subnet. This timing is many multiples of the symbol clock frequency as used on the serial lines over Ethernet segments such as from switch to streamerā¦ so really the switch PHY clock has no real impact on this.
The transport dynamics of the TCP protocol can affect the processing on the end streamer. This is governed by the server bandwidth and latency. This comes more into play usually with internet accesses. Again the switch PHY clock has no bearing on this.
However the symbol encoding frequency on the physical Ethernet lineā¦ these are the minus, zero and positive analogue voltages on the serial line(s) are synchronised by the switch PHY clock. These modulated analogue voltages will couple to connected devicesā¦ and may well modulate then ground plane of the receiving streamer and radiate if there are aspects of the connection that are not purely balanced. This ācarrierā modulation acts like a micro FM transmitter, and if there is phase distortion in the original clock, then this will produce noise sidebands in the coupling ā¦ and likely cause perturbations in the Receiver (streamer) ground plane through electrical and magnetic coupling. This in turn can modulate the streamers clock and associated electronics by minute amountsā¦ this is what some of us can notice.
Why are you buying some Shawline Ethernet cables?
It comes with the switch.
More than one?
Donāt know, but probably not.
A single C-stream comes with the switch.
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Yes,.Tune-Dem,plus all other knowledge and experience I have,.in installing,optimizing,evaluating,creating synergy between system and room etc,etc when working with music-systems.
Sorry that you do not understand,.my Swedish friends from my forum,who have read my post,.understand it without problems.
Yes,.I have asked them on the forum after reading your answer 
.
But,.Iāve said it before,if we had spoke the same language,.I could have write a book about this.
But in English I avoid more complicated explanations,.as it is difficult with nuances etc.
The methodā¦
ā¢Linn also uses this method (Tune-dem),.when evaluating their individual products.
This method forms the basis for their entire development and evaluation-work
ā¢Fredrik Lejonklou (Lejonklou HiFi),.does the same,in his entire development and construction-work with his products.
I myself had the privilege,.together with the former Linn and Naim distributor in Sweden.
To be instructed in this method by the inventor of the methodā¦Namely,.Ivor Tiefenbrun himself.
This was already in the early 1980s.
Ivor also said many times during the 80ās and 90ās.
That he thought we were the best at this in Sweden,.with music-system installation world wide.
Something we were,.and are proud of.
Nowadays,.my feeling is that things have gotten worse with this in all countries.
Many retailers are not as knowledgeable anymore in system-installation,.or donāt have so much time for this.
Or to train us customers in this with system-installation.
Xanthe,.if we talk about the design and development-work of electronic products,so of course also other methods are used.
But about the last 20%,.before the product is finished-engineered.
Then it is listening-evaluations that apply.
We have three top hifi-designers in our group,.two of whom have their products on the world-market.
And the last one,.he only constructs for his own interests,not commercially.
But his music-system has been in many,many articles the last 20 years,.in our largest Swedish Hifi-magazines.
And for you to understand his skills,.he has among many things,constructed a Dac,.that sounds better than Linnās Katalyst-dac.
This has also been confirmed by several Linn-retailers in Sweden.
Itās he who has also designed my Linear Power Supplyās,.to my cascade Ciscoās 
.
And another in the group,.who is Professor of Sound and Acoustics,and is responsible for a large laboratory at a big technical university.
And often takes consultant-assignments,.in measuring on speakers etc in collaboration with the speaker-designer.
So this with measuring on products,.and other things around this subject,is not unknown to us,.as you probably understand .
But the funny thing is,.it is I who have installed and optimized even their music-systems.
Despite their very high technical knowledge,.and their access to the most advanced technical measuring equipment available.
And they are very satisfied with the result 
.
Especially the Sound and Acoustics Professor,.he called me and asked for help. Because he couldnāt get his system to play music.
This shows,.that we ALWAYS need each other,and each otherās knowledge and experience to achieve an optimal result.
Something that,.unfortunately,often seems to be forgotten on this forum.
Where there are often a fewā¦ātechnical specifications peopleā,.against a few on āthe other sideā.
This phenomenon does NOT exist,.on any of our Swedish forumsā¦!!
Where we instead working all together in kindness,.something we should all think about here I thinkā¦
Now itās late,.and Iāll have an espresso,in my just cleaned espresso-machine .
Stay safeā¦
/Pederš
Thanks once again for your time and trouble. The more I read abut switches the more important they seem to be. It is strange that there have not been more specialist switches like the EE until recently.
Hi Simon,
First up, I have little or no understanding of the workings of network switches, so please excuse this very basic question.
Iām using two Cisco switches, and have been very happy with the uplift in sound, real or imagined.
I lent one to a mate, who although similarly impressed, has now moved on to a Melco switch.
He did try my Cisco for general networking duties, but found the low port speeds slowed his network down. Apparently, the Melco folks claim that their switch deliberately runs at similarly slow speeds, and that the music sounds better as a result.
So, do you think there is any substance to this āslower speedā theory, and might that explain the success some of us are having with Cisco switches.
Or is it just a load of baloney?
Has anyone got the dimensions of the switch? Cannot seem to find them anywhere.
If it is the same as the Nuprime Omnia SW-8
ā¦ then its 154.5 x 85 x 26mm
Thanks, Mike. Just needed to check space on Fraim, before ordering.
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Orderedā¦and winging its way.
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