I wonder if it would sound better sitting directly on the shelf rather than on a resonant box? Presumably it has isolating feet for a reason. I’d imagine the power supply in the box - CD player? - would also have a potentially negative impact. I don’t know how sensitive these things are to vibration and EMF but it seems entirely possible. Maybe directly on the floor would be better?
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Hi Simon - I don’t think it’s doing anything fancy network wise, Audio Grade or however it’s described is just marketing rubbish as you well know. It’s appears to be a Bonn Silent Angel N8 (see pic) in a nicely machined box (the EE version).
This already has the standard board mounted crystal replaced by a higher spec TCXO version and some EMI absorption material placed in the case. Marketing guff aside, it’s just seems to be a tricked up standard switch, rather than any designed from the ground up solution like the Melco, Uptone or other such devices. No surprises there.
I’ve not had the chance for a proper listen since getting it but initial impressions (in my non Naim system) are that it doesn’t seem to have any particular signature, unlike sticking a Netgear switch in the same place which adds an edginess to the sound i don’t like.
Validating connections for data quality ? I assume you’re meaning a console type log in to get to the network stats. If so, doubtful with this switch !
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FWIW, in my system, I found both the Cisco and Uptone EtherRegen performed much better well away from the brain and brawn stacks.
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I see Hi-Fi Critic will be testing various switches - 2960, EE, Russ Andrews, Melco etc along with various network cables - should be an interesting read…
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The HiFi Critic test will be using a ND555 with dual PS555DR
… the cables will be Wireworld, Blue Jeans, Belkin, Belden, AudioQuest, Vertere, Meicord, Supra … it all has a particular ring of familiarity about it.
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Yes not surprising. I suspect that when it comes to cables the conclusion will be very much as found on this forum. Money spent doesn’t always equal results achieved and you can achieve just as much trying a selection of cables to find what works for you. As i put in my post yesterday which got lost in the thread ‘reset’, you could probably take a selection of off the shelf switches and like Ethernet cable preferences, find some that made your system sound worse, some that made a positive difference and some that had no effect at all.
On the other hand, just buy a 2960 and be happy 
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These have I/we tried…
• Wireworld.
• Blue Jeans.
• Belden.
• AudioQuest.
• Vertere.
• Meicord.
• Supra.
These have I/we tried,.of the ones that they shall be testing.
So it will be interesting to see,.if Hifi-Critic shares our conclusions.
It’ll be an interesting summer reading.
Stay safe…
/Peder🙂
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Age before beauty Gazza!
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Maybe, maybe not.
Personally, I’m really happy to have trialled an EE against my old 2960; a couple of weeks in and I’m finding it an improvement well beyond the £450. Not blind tested it with my wife, though. 
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My Cisco lives in the dining room, on the floor under the sideboard but on a slab of granite, which has little rubber feet underneath it. It’s powered from a UPS. The ethernet then runs through a hole drilled in the wall to the 272 which lives on the other side of the wall. I don’t like the idea of computer bits in the sitting room. I only have the granite because I bought it to go beneath my mains block, thinking it would improve things, but in fact it made them worse! I’ve no idea if it improves the performance of the Cisco but it raises it off the floor and it’s less likely to get full of dust. It also has a PowerLine lite, which I got as a gift from Naim on a factory visit.
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Hi Mike. I was looking up this ether regen thingy and a list of features that make it different is * 10GHz-capable ultra-low jitter differential flip-flops on both sides of the moat
I wonder what on Earth this might mean? Maybe @Simon-in-Suffolk knows? Thanks Simon! If you do know, could you explain it really simply please?
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It’s all Greek to me, Nigel. As far as I can tell, I t’s just about isolating components from each other and the A side from the B side. People have expressed all sorts of scepticism about the technical language about which I have no idea, other than noting that these are the usual vituperative armchair experts. All I can say is the little box works rather well. You’re welcome to come and have a play when the plague is over.
I got a chuckle when I saw the AQ Cinnamon in there.
Of course, as you say what matters is what it sounds like. The idea of flip flops and moats sounds rather like a nice day building sandcastles in Brighton beach, all rather enticing. I guess it has some strange technical meaning but it does seem a strange thing to promote to the average punter.
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Maybe it’s felt that the average punter will simply fork out on “auto-upgrade”, without asking those very pertinent questions?
It would be good if they were also to repeat the tests with a range of streamers/DACs
I fear that might make it just a bit too never ending if the cable maniac thread was a guide.
But at least we will know the LAN endpoints, something sadly missing & oft ignored in the maniac thread.
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It could be Cockney rhyming slang…
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I put ‘flip flop rhyming slang’ into Mr Google and this was the first hit.
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You are in danger of derailing this thread HH …