Chord Sarum Tuned Array Streaming Cable (not the Super or Sarum-T)
This bettered the previously used Chord Athem Streaming Cable, by being more complete in presentation of the sound stage, individual instruments, transient attack & delicate detail.
Switch was a Cisco 5-port (SG110D-05), but now a EtherREGEN which has taken everything to a new higher level.
The Athem is now between UltraRendu, running the SonoreUPnP Bridge and switch.
Also have a AudioQuest Vodka from wall to switch, and another AudioQuest Vodka from RaspberryPi 2, running Asset UPnP server, to switch.
An AppleTV is also connect to the A ports of the EtherREGEN with AudioQuest Cinnamon.
Hi PatM, I was not going to get into this thread (battle damage avoidance) as IMO its not as simple as it might appear, I have tried different cables on my Naim NDX & friends with Linn K-DSM & Cyrus X plus all different switches & found different (inconstant) results on the different streamers. The permutations can be endless, it’ll be interesting what HiFi Critic will have to say about this.
Anyhow, back to the thread, you now mention MeiCord. This was the one I eventually ended up with, so my two’penarth …
I have 1m from NAS to Cisco SG110D switch & 4m from switch to NDX
In my system & as agreed with the Linn & Cyrus owners plus my wife, we found it has a richer & open sound with space, clarity & definition vs the other cables under comparison at that time.
I later bought a BlueJeans Cat6 to go between wireless hub & switch, so I strung it up in place of the MeiCord going to NDX for a comparative listen; there is next to nothing between them, difference is small and subtle; the MeiCord is richer with a hint more fullness in bass, BJC has a hint maybe of more air/presence, anything else is indistinguishable or maybe just imagination.
I also like the MeiCord engineering in the RJ45 plugs & dare I mention the included test sheet.
OK, here’s a summary of my experience, with Roon Nucleus+ with internal Samsung SDD, Uptone EtherRegen x2 (but also Cisco 2960s used in evaluation), ND555 with 2x555DRPS, 552, 500, Shahinian Diapason speakers.
City centre location with lots of mobile masts and wi-fi installations in the locality.
The cables are listed from least preferred (1) to favourite (9). Primary evaluation with classical music, particularly female voice, cello, string quartets, piano, symphony orchestra, organ and choir, but then also jazz, rock, reggae, punk, new wave, swing, electronica and trance.
The comparison baseline is bundled Cat5e of decent quality.
Wireworld Starlight Platinum Cat8: much bigger soundstage than bundled cables, but stretched piano and guitar (extremely irritating), very dynamic, very low noise floor, good bass extension, but thin overall and with very little natural texture. Dreadful for classical music, more fun for electronica.
Audioquest Vodka: a fuller sound than the Starlight, soundstage not as broad and not as rhythmic, but with more texture. However, still not a natural reproduction of classical instruments either tonally and texturally, losing in expressiveness. Only OK for decay. Bass tight but neither particularly detailed nor especially extended.
BJC Cat 5e: Soundstage and noise floor not as impressive as Starlight and Vodka, but instrumental tones and textures slightly more realistic. Cleaner and airier than bundled Cat5e with a little more bass extension, but frankly not much in it. A thin sound overall.
Supra Cat8: A clean natural sound with no obvious strengths or weaknesses. Retains instrumental tone and texture, has quite a low noise floor, decent PRaT. A clean, slightly thin and recessed sound.
BJC Cat6: More open and detailed than BJC Cat5e, with greater bass extension, broader soundstage with better instrumental positioning and more textured reproduction of acoustic instruments.
Sablon Super Panatela: An interesting compromise though very fat and stiff. Low noise floor and wide out-of-speaker soundstage of “hi-fi” cables but with much less of the tonal/textural trade-off. Good detail and timing, but still some expansion of acoustic instruments and not quite there on the microdynamics of piano. Tempting but not enough for me. Some will love it, however, particularly those who prefer a smooth, lush sound.
BJC Cat6a: A very good all-rounder, with good separation, bass extension, layering and timing, realistic instrumental tones and textures. Good integrity of instruments. Good but not exaggerated soundstage width. Depth OK.
DesignaCable Belden CatSnake Cat5e: This is on a par with the BJC Cat6a but there are important differences physically and sonically which will influence which you prefer. Both are Belden cables. The CatSnake, which is for broadcast use, does not use bonded twisted pairs and has a much thicker, tougher sheath. It also uses stranded as opposed to solid cables. Overall, it is more flexible. Sonically, it has much more bass extension than the BJC Cat6a and great texture but is a little more congested and slightly less detailed. Wide and quite deep soundstage, though not like the 1-2-6 cables and maintains the integrity of individual instruments. If you prioritise instrumental and vocal tone and texture you may prefer this cable to the BJC Cat6a, assuming your system is able to control the bass in your room. But if ou prefer clarity and detail you will prefer the BJC.
DesignaCable Belden CatSnake Cat6a: More of everything: bass extension but also detail and control, excellent instrumental tone and texture, good PRaT, wide and deep soundstage etc. Sounds right, rather than leaping up and surprising you with special effects. Going back from it to anything else was always a disappointment. Best I’ve found and good value for money. I got it with the shielding floating (not connected).
None of my own listening involved blind tests, but I did subject an array of victims to them and there were no real conflicts with the above order, with the only split on the BJC Cat6a and DesignaCable Cat5e for the reasons described above. Generally, the classical crowd went for the DesignaCable Cat5e and the rock/pop people for the BJC Cat6a. But everyone preferred the DesignaCable Cat6a.
The DesignaCable Cat6a which also uses Belden cable ships for less from the UK and is superior in every way in my system. It is also more flexible and easier to manage. I definitely prefer it in my system and hope I made that clear above.
When I first used a streamer I was obliged to use Wifi to connect from an Asus router, but I was advised to try fancy cables from my NAS to the router, which I thought odd. I can’t remember the exact sonic details (this was four years ago) but:
The Chord C-Stream sounded better than the no-name Cat 5e I’d acquired somewhere lost in time, and the Meicord was better still, but clearly the winner was the Chord Indigo TA which was clearly more musical. It won the blind tests I conducted on my wife and (separately) best friend.
Another chum brought round his Chord Sarum cable to compare, but it sounded the same as the Indigo, only louder. Which was extremely odd.
Fast forward four years and a few major changes to the system I thought I’d try a couple newer cables out - Chord Signature SA and Audioquest Diamond, this time between a Cisco 2960 and the streamer where the Indigo now did service. The Signature wasn’t as good as the Indigo, and the Diamond disappointingly flat and lifeless.
I invited a couple of friends over for a musical evening and asked one of them to lug his Chord Music streaming cable over too. At the end of the evening we tried the Diamond out (again it was lacklustre) and then the Music. It was a bit of a jaw-dropper - one of those experiences that you can’t quite forget, though knowing the frightful cost, perhaps one would like to. It made the already great sound so much more real. We were in there with the musicians.
Anyway, my dealer loaned me a Music cable, which I again blind tested against the Indigo and the BJC Cat6 (on separate occasions) with my long-suffering wife* and the same old friend, and organs were sold to keep it permanently.
*said wife has subsequently refused to take part in any more blind tests as she always picks the wrong one financially.
I have tried some different cables : Meicord, Blue Jeans cat 6a, no name cat 5e, Hanna cat 7, Audioquest Forrest.
The Meicord is the most resolving and natural vs these, followed by the Blue Jeans.
I have today an Audioquest Vodka from router to Etheregen, Audioquest diamond from Nds to Melco and another one from Melco to switch. ( 2X 0,75 m).
These cables are on another level than the first mentioned.
The Diamond is a delight !
For more musical expression with the same balance and lack of harshness, you need to move up the Chord chain, each step being significant.
I used Meicord cables some years ago and found them great vfm but a bit clod-ish compared to C stream. Over the past few days I’ve compared C stream to Sarum T and finally Music and the last step is utterly tremendous.
£3 cheap cable from any company from any techie supplier. Can get as good cannot beat it. Zero dropped data (tested). technically how can you get better than perfect!
Used these things for years… it’s been humbling as you’ve got to have the right ears and context for determining what works and doesn’t. You are using equipment that was never designed for audio to be carrying your audio signal and don’t want your 5 figure streamer sounding worse than a portable CD player.
In 2019, I was given the opportunity with a range of cables from a big brand, one that is ubiquitous and glorified in audio circles. People like this brand because it introduces a spike in the treble that can be mistaken for more detail. That said, because the sound of systems vary as much as one room sounds different from the other, I will not mention that name.
Settled with Cat 7 Inakustik, which can be explained in any number of positive audio terms: I would simply describe these as ‘truthful’, as in the sensation of honesty you receive from someone speaking from the heart. Where you immediately know it’s right.
These I have corrected for length and directionality for each of the given interfaces.
Am keen to try Meridian’s Cat 7 speakerlink cable for additional revelations because that is another brand that knows what it’s doing.
My situation is a tad different in that my SU is not on the same floor as my modem. Routing the cable thru the walls required a 50 foot length of ethernet cable.
Running the SU on WiFi sounded like crap, so I first tried an older Cat5 cable I had kicking around for connecting my computers. It sounded a lot better that the WiFi, and the signal stopped dropping.
However, the overall SQ I was getting was still not up to what I would consider Naim standards, and I basically decided that streaming just wasn’t going to work for me if this was what it was going to sound like.
Then, I read a post on Steve Hoffman Forums from a guy that raved about a Tera Grand Cat7 cable he had bought, and I researched it. I ended up buying a 50 foot long Tera Grand Cat7 double shielded cable for a lousy 40 bucks CAD, and when I connected it, my wife (whom I use as an unbiased litmus test for this sort of thing), couldn’t believe the difference in the sound between the two cables.
The Tera Grand was so much better. The music was clearer, and more full, and the sound stage improved immensely.
So now, after essentially giving up on streaming, I have done a complete reversal, and I actually sold my Linn Unidisk 1.1 CD player (which was fabulous), and I’ll be going the ‘streaming only’ route.
When we move in a few years, and my modem is much closer to my gear, I’ll undoubtedly try some of the cables that other posters are suggesting, in a 6 to 12 foot length, and I’m sure the SQ will improve accordingly. But, if anyone requires a 50’ or 100’ length of cable to avoid a WiFi connection, the Tera Grand cables may be a good option.
I currently have BJC cables for all of my AV connections, audio ICs, and speaker cables; and they sound very good.
Hi all
Just ordered 2 s-ftp cat6a’s from cable monkey, to go between switch & Synology & switch & NDX - I’ll come back & put my findings on here when I receive them (got ftp 6 on both at the moment). As the cost is extremely little: no big loss
That’s good to know. I wasn’t aware of the CAT7 standards improvements. I just thought that BJC were the only really reliable digital cables. I was hesitant initially, to order the cable from Tera Grand, but the poster on SHF was a fairly reliable source.
I love it when I can get an audio item for $40 that actually works well.
DesignaCable Belden CatSnake Cat6a: Fully agree with this assessment. I’d also add that it felt as if the sound floor was reduced when I added this cable. Certainly richer, detailed with excellent soundstage and imaging. Also went with the floating plug design.
I have always run BlueJeans 6a for several years since a similar topic started on the Linn forum (I run a KDS) years ago.
I am now in the process of a front end change to a dCS Rossini and have started to spend some time on the relatively new dCS forum. The engineers are fairly active on the forum and the network engineer recommends Cat 6. He specifically mentions that it is unshielded and this is a key requirement.
I have just “downgraded” and ordered a 6 cable to replace my 6a. One additional bonus - increased flexibility.
Hi again guys
Probably a ‘daft question’ but; the cables arrived, put them in & thought “soundstage shrunk (-), ‘edginess’ gone from instruments (+), slight loss of detail” (-!) - do I need to leave them in to ‘burn in’ for a while, or what???
In my system, a BJC Cat 6a (2,5 mt),
connected between the ND5XS2 and the router, gave the best results compared to a LINDY cat 5e (1 mt) and a QED reference cat 6 (1,5 mt).
“instrumental tones and textures slightly more realistic.“
“because it introduces a spike in the treble that can be mistaken for more detail“
After a few hours ‘burning in’ (ears/mind getting used to - probably) the first quote above can be said for the Cablemonkey ‘Magic’ patch leads (6a S/FTP), & soundstage opened up.
The original FTP 6 (unbranded, but seems to be good quality) is best described by the second quote.
More time/listening to be done.
Synology DS218j 50cm lead to TP-LINK switch, 2m lead to NDX
To just add: who’d of thought something ‘carrying data’ could make the system sound so different
