English Electric 8Switch

Very interesting comment! I think it is true.

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A long time ago Nelson Pass called Audiophiles the lunatic fringe.

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Thatā€™s why Naim so loves this Forum :sunglasses:

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Very true on here.

I hear itā€™s the second 555PS that really brings it to life

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My experience with the English Electric 8switch and ethernet cables

I bought an EE8Switch in September to replace a Netgear GS108 that distributed ethernet to my audio/visual electronics, after reading very positive reviews in magazines and online. My expectations for sound improvements were not high however as Iā€™ve taken several steps to isolate the hifi gear from my modem, router, computers, NAS etc. The latter are in a room on a different floor, about 40ft away. That part of my LAN communicates with the listening room stuff via a wireless bridge. The wireless element in the listening room also acts as an access point for phones, tablets etc used for control. It is about 9ft from the switch, DAC etc etc to minimise RF interference. In addition I have a fibre-optic leg in the ethernet run from the switch to the renderer/DAC (dCS Network Bridge/PS Audio DirectStream DAC) to minimise wire-borne interference. So I was very pleasantly surprised when I heard more detail, greater transparency and better separation of performers with the new switch. Definitely a good investment but only the start of the storyā€¦ā€¦ā€¦.

Inevitably Iā€™d read the posts on the Naim and other fora describing the effect on sound quality of the ethernet cables associated with switch. All my ethernet cables were generic Maplin (RIP) or PC World. As the consensus seemed to be that priority should be given to the final cable before the renderer/DAC, and that the DesignaCable Belden CatSnake 6a cables with floating shield were excellent and affordable I bought a couple of those to replace the cables from the switch to the first optical converter and from the second optical converter to the Network Bridge. I was underwhelmed: there was a thickness to the sound, more bass. Maybe there was some extra detail. Music sounded woolly and mid-high treble remained slightly coarse; a very different result to that reported in many of the fora posts. OK let them burn in for a few weeks. Sounded exactly the same months later. While tidying up my office hifi I came across a 3m length of Meicord Opal cable Iā€™d used there in the past and thought it would a good idea to use it to replace the generic cable between the wireless bridge and the switch. Bingo! There was a major improvement in sound quality: transparency, soundstage, bass definition, treble sweetness, etc, etc. I can only conjecture that a good upstream cable can have a significant effect on the performance of a cable downstream.

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Iā€™ve gone for reasonable matching cables throughout (AQ Cinnamon) and Iā€™m very happy. But yes, there was a notable difference when I changed the Router - switch cable, which was the last one to arrive.

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I similarly found that the Designacable Catsnake Cat6a gave a loose bass sound in my system, so it got relegated to TV duties and I reverted to Blue Jeans 6a.

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I have just ordered 3x 2 metre Meicord Opal for Christmas.

Very interesting! The more I hear about the EE, the more I feel I should get one. Just one question, did you replace the 108 and leave everything else in place (optical cable etc)?

Iā€™ve had good results with Fluke tested Cat 8 cables, i.e. solid core and Telegartner connectors (or similar). The cabling is less flexible than stranded but technically superior.

Yes, for my initial SQ assessment nothing was changed apart from the GS108 switch.

Given the subsequent results on SQ I found from changing the ethernet cables (1) between the switch and the renderer and (2) between the wireless bridge and the switch, I think Iā€™ll try changing the cable between my modem and router (which doubles as the remote side of the wireless bridge). Iā€™d be amazed if this has any effect on the SQ of the main hifi - weā€™ll see.

Yes, I am aware of the heritage and what SB say. We are going in circles and if I answer, I will get blamed again for answering. I already said what I think about this. (and it is not that as a customer I am coming away with the feeling that Chord are telling me the whole story and/or are on top of what they are doing or writing on the website)

Iā€™d be quite happy to put a couple of bob on the real reason EE are saying that their PS is better than any alternative is to ensure they have as many customers as possible for their PS upgrade, which theyā€™ll bring out when the 8Switch sales begin to level out.

Anyone who has heard the effect of a power supply upgrade on a network switch will know that what they are saying just isnā€™t true

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Merry Xmas! Theyā€™re my favourite cables, so I look forward to hearing what you think.

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Itā€™s the same as Naim saying that all you need is a cheap ethernet switch. Hopefully I didnā€™t listened to Naim :laughing:

The EE 8 Switch is a rebranded Silent Angel Bonn n8 switch.

Yes, it was been already many times covered. Apart the case, which is better isolating, nobody knows really what are the modifications in the EE vs Silent Bonn 8.

According to Hans B (in this very video) the PS is better

The Silent Angel can also be used as a vibrator in extremis.