It is certainly possible that an improvement could identify that there hitherto had been some limitation, whether ‘glare’ or anything else (e.g ‘veiling’, lack of perfect clarity, constrained sound stage, etc), had been present though not evident until the improvement happens.
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Hi @jsaudio,
In terms of gear placement, my system is similar to yours.
All my servers, NAS, switches, etc… are placed in a network cabinet, in a dedicated room. Meaning I have 12 meters or more of cat. 6a ethernet cable between the switch and the ND555.
Ethernet Cables didn’t make much of difference it terms of sound. But I left an AQ Vodka for the last 1,5 m anyway.
But adding an EtherRegen made an enjoyable difference. I placed it like so :
Roon Server----Cisco_3560—( 5 meters fiber )— EtherRegen—ND555
I wrote my first impressions here :
–> One step forward: ER +lpsu
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Appreciate your detailed reply @Thomas.
So you have the Cisco switch in a dedicated room/cabinet to which your NAS and Roon Server are connected. You also connect your EtherRegen to the Cisco via fiber and then the last leg being the Ether Regen(in music room) to the ND555 with the AQ Vodka.
I will need to listen some more with and withoutthe EE but it is certainly not an obvious difference in SQ.
Remember I’m not replacing an existing switch in HiFi room because currently there is no switch just a straight run from basement. So this adds another piece of equipment.
SQ effects of ethernet cables are system dependent.
There are some general patterns that cable X tends to be better (or not) than cable Y in most Naim based systems. But there are always exceptions depending on the person, hardware, electrical, room interactions.
Probably best to give it a week, play test tracks, take it out - listen carefully again to test tracks - then put it back in and then if still no difference, send it back.
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I think if a top-of-the-line streamer (i.e. more than $,$$$) does not do the job of an EE or ER then there must be something wrong with that streamer, but only if it is true EE or ER really improves the SQ as some members here claim.
All servers, NAS and all switches including the ER are in the network cabinet.
I won’t leave anything as noisy as a switch or NAS or whatever computing unit, any near of my audio system 
Well, I wouldn’t qualify that as “wrong”.
“Wrong” is a strong word…
Connecting a copper cable (ethernet) to the ND555 means you not only get the data, you also get the noise that comes with it.
Getting rid of that noise is not easy.
That’s why those low noise “audiophile” switches exist.
In fact, the reproduction quality of the ND555 is so good that using a low noise switch actually makes a difference.
I suppose that including a SFP port in the ND555 could solve the noise problem.
That’s what I try to do with my setup :
Roon Server----Cisco_3560—( fiber )— EtherRegen—ND555
And the EtherRegen could be replaced by any other switch as long as the switch is low noise and has a stable clock.
This could be an interesting comment for Naim R&D?
Not sure I would suggest anything. 
I believe they know exactly what they are doing and why. And I’m pretty sure Naim’s tech staff are familiar with fiber connections and their advantages and disadvantages
Hi @Thomas
Don’t mean to belabor this but if your switches including your ER is in the cabinet far from your streamer, what is the long run to the streamer? You said the last 1.5 meters was AQ Vodka.
Thanks for your replies and patience.
Hi @jsaudio,
From the network cabinet to the Ethernet wall socket I use ~12 meters, or more, of industrial grad cat. 6a ethernet cable.
Then, from the wall socket to the ND555 I use a 1,5 meter run of AQ Vodka.
Aha!you have a wall socket to essentially splice the Cat6a to the AQ Vodka.
Exactly! 
I have several wall sockets which I anticipated before the construction : ethernet, dedicated radial, etc.
I posted some pictures of my first steps into room treatment. They show the wall sockets :
–> Don’t buy new speakers – The listening room reality
Have you tested to verify that in your particular home network placing a switches, NAS or computer near your hi-fi actually makes an audible difference?
No, of course not. Why would I? 
One reason would be if you wanted to link your ER to the streamer with a Chord Music streaming cable and didn’t fancy buying 10m of it.
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I just wondered why you appear to be so sure that your NAS and switch are ‘noisy’ enough to have an audible detrimental impact on your audio system.
I certainly haven’t found that my switches and NAS devices cause any such problems.
Of course, it may be the case that my 2nd gen Linn Klimax DS is more immune to electrical noise then your streamer.
Possible problems include switch smps polluting the mains near hifi rack; direct interference in the EM field at very short range; more noise transferred along short cable; mechanical vibration.
But these are theoretical.
In practice it may sound worse, better or the same.
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Indeed! - theoretically it may sound worse or better. In practice, I have not personally been aware of any of these potential ‘problems’ having a ‘significant’ or consistent impact on audio quality.
As I didn’t test it, I obviously can’t be sure about the fact that electrical noise affects the streamer and NAC.
But I’m pretty sure that “noisy” they are. Electrically and mechanically noisy.
Is the ND555 immune to electrical noise? Clearly not. Not sure any precision device is.
My system, as whole, electronics, speakers and of course the treated room, is pretty revealing. I wouldn’t risk compromising that with switches and computers.
And I’d add that all that networking/computing stuff is pretty bulky and ugly. I can’t imagine having it in my listening room 
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