English Electric 8Switch

Hi,

Those who already have EE 8Switch pls share their experience with the unit.
I would like to buy one. Home demo is not possible hence my request.
Thx in advance.

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Hi Zoltan,

I can only reinforce what I said in the opening post, because after a month and a half Iā€™m still totally happy with it - more dynamic, better defined bass, seeing into the music more. Itā€™s not game changer in the way a new source or amp might be, but in the context of my system itā€™s a real value-for-money upgrade.

Hope that helps, Nick

N.B. I use it only to feed my streamer, linked back to a Cisco 2960.

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Thank you Nick.
Regards.

Dear Nick,

Let me ak a further question:
How do you link 2 switches together ?
I also have a Cisco (not 2960) switch and would like to feed my NDS from EE switch and my NAS and router should stay on Cisco. Unfortunately - being not an IT person - I do not know how to link them up. I would like Naim app. to ā€˜seeā€™ my NDS, NAS and the router in the same time. Any suggestion ?

Regards,
Zoltan

I use Chord Streaming Cables (note: these do not conform officially with international Ethernet standards, but in practical Hi-Fi terms, just work) to link the Cisco with the Input port of the EE8 and then from one of the output ports to the streamer (an NDX). Any ethernet cable will do, with subtle (or not) differences in performance.

My recent testing has demonstrated to my satisfaction (to my ears so far!) that the link between the Cisco and the EE8 is way less important than the one between the EE8 and the streamer.

I donā€™t know what your system is, but Iā€™d start with a cheap and reliable cable both in and out (Blue Jeans or similar) and go from there as budget and ears dictate.

Edit: the EE8 comes with a Chord C-Stream ethernet cable, so thatā€™s one of the two!

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Dear Nick,

Thank you for your reply.
If I understand well my WiFi router and my NAS could stay on my 8 port Cisco as so far, Form a free port of Cisco I should run an ethernet cable to the input port of EE and finally from an EE port a cable to NDS. Right ? And in this case Naim app should see everything.
I am using Meicord cables and that Chord cable comes with the switch would do the trick as I suppose.

Regards,
Zoltan

Sounds good. Meicord make good cables.

In your opinion would the above mentioned connection work ?
Regards

Yep - that works.

Yes. Thatā€™s pretty much how I run my network, with the exception that I have an additional Cisco 2960 acting as an edge router, to which my NAS is attached (along with a few other home automation hubs).

You can use any spare Ethernet ports to connect the switches to each other. The Cisco you have, if itā€™s a Catalyst, probably has one or two separate ports on the R side, in addition to the 8 regular ports. This is likely to be a gigabit port, even if the others are slower 10/100 ports, and you would traditionally use this faster ā€˜uplinkā€™ port to connect to your network, leaving the reqular ports for peripheral devices.

Thanks so much for your kind help.
Best regards.

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If you have only a Nas and streamer to connect, you even donā€™t need the Cisco.
My Etheregen switch is connected to the router, and Nds and Melco can be connected to the switch. However the Melco has a direct Ethernet connecting, so only the Melco is connected to the switch.
I tried to put the Cisco in the chain, but found it better sounding with the Etheregen alone.
You will be able to try.

I got my EE 8Switch yesterday. I could not resist and put it into my system almost immediately.
Right out of the box it sounded ā€˜betterā€™ than my former Cisco SG110D-08 switch with Sbooster LPSU. It seems that I managed to get rid of some harshness/sharpness of sound wich was present from time to time with Cisco. EE used with its stock SMPS. So good so far. Not a game changer but very good piece of kit imho. Used with NDS/555DR and full loom Meicord Opal cables.

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Mine arrived yesterday, but I was out all evening. Will be playing with it tonight :sunglasses:

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Letā€™s know how it goes with the switch as well. :rofl::rofl::rofl:

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Overall, the EE switch seems to be a modest upgrade on the Cisco, whereas I felt the EtherRegen was quite a step upā€¦

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Possibly, personally I have never heard EtherRegen. EE seems well worth trying.

When did you get an EE switch?

Just yesterday. Not burned in. It was my very first impression straight out of the box .

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