Yes.
BJC 6a.
Or a Catsnake if in the UK.
Hi Xanthe
Did you ever say which expensive Ethernet cable/s you used in your tests?
Jim
I can think of more interesting things to do.
Unless I have tried something for myself you cannot say if I like it. I would find a series of in room response graphs interesting. If I could see a huge difference between a ÂŁ3,000 and ÂŁ3 cable then I would be flabbergasted and would want to try the amazing ÂŁ3 cable at home.
Hi Jim,
i have been looking at this one and thinking of trying it. Do you know if there is much of a difference between this and the BJC 6a? The Catsnake is a little more expensive and i think the cable itself has a different part number. They also give a choice of a connected screen or a floating screen. Worth trying over the BJC?
Premium Belden 1303E CATSNAKE Cat6a Ethernet Network Cable. Flexible S/FTP-
I think catsnake is worth trying in the UK as it saves the courier cost from the US and is a very similar well terminated Belden cable.
I once bought a Ethernet cable from them but it was a dud or didnât sound good when first installed and I was too impatient to wait so I sent it back.
But they made me up a long jackplug to DIN cable recently that was very good value and sound very good and looks well made.
Very interesting postâŚwhat was your reason for choosing floating shielding on the catsnake6a?
There are three physical differences:
The CatSnake has a much thicker but more flexible sheath for broadcast use
The CatSnake has stranded cables
The CatSnake cables are not bonded
In my system the CatSnake has better bass extension and greater tonal/textural detail.
Itâs recommend to avoid earth loops etc. I have however never compared it with a cable that has the sheathing connected at both ends.
It avoids connecting a fully screened LAN into two earth ground points
⌠e.g. Naim RJ45 sockets are shrouded & connected to earth, most NAS & other servers have the same, question is are they connected to earth via their SMPS, I know mine is. then with a shrouded switch like the Cisco 2690âs all connected with fully screened ethernet, you have two earth grounds.
Am I correct in saying that the BJC cat6a cables also have floating shielding?
Correct, BJC6a has a floating screen, easily identified as the RJ45 plug is un-shrouded & all plastic.
Yup! As MIke-B has explained ![]()
Funnily enough, I have just checked out the bass performance of my newly installed Catsnake by playing Bela Fleck And The Fleckstonesâ âFlight Of Cosmic The Hippoâ (the Track 4 version off the album of the same name).
ErrmmâŚyes, I can confirm the Catsnake does bass. This track is mostly driven along in a ponderous manner by deep, deep bass but it also contains some harmonica and cymbals which are clear as a bell in the midst of all that bass. I never noticed this before when using the AQ Vodka.
The Catsnake has just got better and better and now clearly outshines my Vodka as the last link to the ND555. Gone is the slightly subdued presentation, it is now beautifully balanced with air around natural sounding instruments and vocals. Music is making more sense, not least because PRaT seems to have improved with the Catsnake.
I would urge @Stephen_Tate to give the Catsnake (6a with floating shield) a go. It is low cost (compared to Vodka, the cable, not the drink) and I believe Designacable have a returns policy.
Indeed. My next move is to replace the AQ Cinnamon (shield connected at both ends) between my (second) 2960 and my UnitiServe with a Catsnake with a floating shield. This will allow me to remove a little Lindy converter from the back of my UnitiServe, originally put in place to remove unwanted ground points caused by the connecting shield of the Cinnamon cable.
I am sure the Lindy converter does nothing for SQ (other than removing unwanted ground points) and as it is L-shaped it is a pain when moving stuff around and is nicely designed to get caught up and damage cables or the Ethernet socket on the UnitiServe.
Thanks - Iâve installed 20m of BJC6a between my router and NDX2âŚI note from recent posts that this is also has floating connections.
Thanks for your report here NigelB. I have just ordered one. ![]()
Thank you Michaelb.
Unsurprising, as I believe the BJC 6a shares the same Belden cable as the Catsnake 6a.
Only problem with the Cosmic Hippo track is that ornaments tend to fall off shelves and window sills.
Hi Nigel, itâs my understanding that the BJC Cat6 & Cat6a cables are not a stnd Belden cable but are custom made spec for BJC by Belden.
Their www blurb sez ⌠weâve asked Belden to manufacture special patch-cord-optimized Cat 6 and Cat 6a cable stocks for us which we terminate and sell under the Blue Jeans Cable brand.


