I find this thread now rivals the Padded Cell’s Best Jokes for laughs 
PS this is meant to be a compliment !
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Although the labeling was a good laugh .
Let’s forget the metering and go on posting our listening experiences with the cats&snakesssss…
I’ve undergone some sort of metamorphosis…firstly, I ditch my Vodka in favor of the BJC 6a…now I find the Catsnake 6a floating a vast improvement over the BJC. For reference, this is in a non-Naim system.
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I still have 2 x 8M of Chord Rumour 2 That I used with my Arivas for 14 years.
I now use NACA5 with my SL2s.
I use Chord Rumour X between my Nova and the PMC’s and I think it sounds excellent. V good value
I get a bass hump in my system with CatSnake 6a. Put Vodka back in, same sound signature, bass hump gone. Vodka stays.
I just tried again the Catsnake 6a floating vs the Vodka. So one week later.
The impressions remain the same for me. It’s not night and day, but the Vodka is more colorful, richer in tones .
Perhaps with the Cisco switch I would prefer the Catsnake, but can’t say, I have today only the Etheregen.
…and tighter.
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…the ‘bass hump’ description is interesting. In my setup, which certainly ‘does bass’, I found the BJC a little ‘bass shy’, the Catsnake tonally similar to the limited number of other cables that I have tried. I would say that the Catsnake seem to endow the music with more of a sense of the artists being there in the room.
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Let me throw something else into the mix: The way my cables sound, and the way the EE sounds is different depending on the time of the day - and what else is going on at home - with kids streaming movies, other people on the phone etc. 
So - while cable-A might be the best if there’s nothing going on, cable-B would be better between 8AM and 6PM.
So - when you guys do listening tests, do you control for time of day, day of week?
And are we sure that the best cable under those conditions is the best cable for all other times?
Or atleast the best cable for the times where the system gets most use?
Man! it’s so relaxing to go back to my Nth simple system: Rega RP6/Exact into Rega IO into Totem Kin Minis on my desktop.
To think that networking is even more fidgety than a basic vinyl system.
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I have a 6m data cable run from my switch, a HP Procurve, to my streamer. I have finally got around to replacing my long term, flat woven, no brand, cable that came free with my NAS. I have replaced it with a ‘white’ (most important that bit) Kink resistant Belkin Cat 5e cable. Both sound great.
The new White one does look better up against the skirting board though.
I’ve now fully tuned into the sound of my revised system with the ER, no Ciscos and new racking system (and my usual full loom of BJC 6a from wall socket to 272).
Sounds sublime.
I’ve just replaced the final ethernet cable with the Catsnake 6a (but put in the other way round for Gerben!) - and with a ferrite choke on it to make it more equitable comparison (for NigelB).
I’m going to leave it there playing music for a week or so before deciding what to do with it.
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Yes the artist and ambients also become very close here but not upfront. (With the catsnake) very plesant.
I tried the Catsnake 6a ‘the other way round’ and noticed more of a sense of the artist being in the room but unfortunately it seemed to be accompanied by a flabby out of control bottom end 
Yes, me too.
Just had a listen and the Catsnake is the same as it was when I tried it a couple of days ago - more bass, but too much bass and not controlled as well, and a generally more flabby messy sound than BJC 6a.
So unless it beds in within a week it’s heading for the AV system.
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I like the CatSnake 6a but the bass kills it for me. I agree, BJC 6a is more cleaner and orderly and just generally tidier. I just wished it had a touch more grit/life/zest then it would be 100% the perfect cable for me.
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I might try the BJC 6a ‘the other way round’ and see what that does. I agree about the lack of grit/life/ zest with the BJC 6a.
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Hi Chris
Is the otherwayaround, reading text from l to r streamer towards switch?
Yes, that’s right.
It’s unnatural!
Like those heavy metal lyrics that mean something else when you play the track backwards.