Yep, quite right Mike.
I checked the BJ website after I posted. Although both BJC 6a and Catsnake 6a use Belden cables they would appear to be different designs.
They both appear to rattle the best China though!
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Yes, but does special mean better in some audio relevant way?
My understanding is that the standard Belden Cat6 and 6a cables are less flexible solid core cables intended for fixed cabling. BJC get them to supply a more flexible stranded cable that is more suitable for use as a patch cable. So I doubt this was a sound quality optimisation as such, although Iām not saying that itās impossible for it to sound betterā¦or maybe worse!
Hereās more of the text BJC use to describe the cables:
āOur principal offerings for these three categories are all Belden-manufactured, bonded-pair cable. Beldenās patented bonded-pair technology goes beyond conventional data cable pair twisting and actually bonds the two conductors of each pair together for exceptional impedance stability and low skew, especially under real-world flex and strain conditions. For Cat 5e, we use Belden 1700A, a stock Belden cable. For Cat 6 and 6a, Belden doesnāt sell patch cord stock in its standard catalog (the cables you may be familiar with are designed primarily for āhorizontalā use), so weāve 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. With all of these cables, we use Sentinel brand RJ-45 connectors, manufactured in York, Pennsylvania.ā
My CatSnake 6a is Belden 1303 cable, its black covering, and can be had with different colored plastic covers for the connectors. The BJC I have is offered in many colors. Both methods work and are nice to identify each piece of kit so you know what to plug into what, when you are leaning over the back of a Fraim and trying to wire things nicely. I am using the CatSnake.
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I find the BJC 6a filters out the nuances, micro dynamics and textures. Iām really hoping the CatSnake doesnāt do this. I shall soon find out when i plug it in of course. One is winging itās way here.
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No. The Belden cables that BJC use are bonded solid core cables in all cases: Cat5e, Cat6 and Cat6a
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Hi Bailyhill,
Is your BJC a 6a version? If so have you done any direct comparisons between the Catsnake and the BJC cables?
Apologies if you have already covered this in an earlier post.
Iām not Bailyhill, of courseā¦ But I have compared all of them. The CatSnake Cat5e has more texture across the board than all the BJC cables and deeper bass, but the BJC Cat6a has more detail and a quieter background. I asked DesignaCable to make up the floating CatSnake Cat6a in the hope that it would offer the best of both worlds and fortunately it does. Then they added it to their product range in both floating and connected versions.
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Michael, thanks for replying to my query.
I am listening to the Catsnake 6a right now, specifically a 96kHz/24 bit download of Gregory Porterās Liquid Spirit. Some of the tracks are full on in parts and Gregoryās wonderful voice could tip over into harshness on those louder phrases when using the AQ Vodka. With the Catsnake in place of the Vodka everything is beautifully under control without sounding sat on and no loss of detail or air.
I am very impressed with this reasonably priced streaming cable.
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Donāt see why mixing Ethernet cables should be a problem, in fact some have found a mix to be optimal in terms of SQ (e.g. Darkbear).
I currently have a mix of AQ Cinnamon, AQ Vodka (a second shorter length between my two 2960s) and Catsnake 6a from the second 2960 to my ND5555. I am about to replace the Vodka between the 2960s with another Catsnake 6a.
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That is a gorgeous album! Thanks for mentioningā¦ 
You are welcome. Just be prepared to catch the odd ornament as track 4 rumbles on!
If you needed any proof the the Catsnake 6a does PRaT, just take a listen to the track āMirageā off Antonio Forcioneās stunning āLiveā album, pretty sure it is on both Tidal and Qobuz.
Antonio propels the track along with escalating speed of acoustic guitar plucking and it reaches a climax of lightening-fast playing. This track is now even more enjoyable due to the Catsnake 6aās spot on PRaT, and the music now makes perfect sense. You can fully appreciate what a superb musician he is.
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Off topic (and probably not everyoneās cup of tea) but this is a proper window-rattler once it gets going. Warning: one of my daughters brought this back from a Summer on Ibizaā¦
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BJC 6a use a 10GX Bonded Patch Cord 4PR24 cable from Beldon. Nothing in the slightest to do with sound quality. I actually find this cable quite filtered, a bit like listening to a cassette tape with Dolby C engaged. In a noisy system i can hear how it will appeal, my AQ Vodka smokes it, but itās not perfect either. Iām hoping the CatSnake will be a bit more kinkier?
On topic
With time on my hands (havenāt we all) I tried a few things out, for curiosityās sakeā¦
My network layout is that I have a gigabit Cisco 2960 acting as the heavy lifter central switch, a NAS sitting on another megabit Cisco 2960 on the edge, linked by a patch cable to a wall socket that then has somewhere between 20-30 metres of CAT 6 to the central Cisco.
The Cisco hub then links to the English Electric switch that only has the NDX hanging on it.
I have a few 1.5 meter cables: Chord C-Stream, Chord Indigo SA, BJC CAT 6, generic CAT 5e, Chord Music.
I have tried combinations between the NAS and the blue Cisco, that Cisco and the wall socket, the hub Cisco and the EE switch, the EE switch and the NDX. I think that was all bases coveredā¦
The short of it is that only the last link made any discernible and repeatable difference with the Music a clear winner there. If I were to be threatened with the comfy chair and Matt Monroās Greatest Hits, Iād say the generic CAT 5e and the C-Stream made things marginally worse anywhere downstream of the EE switch, and the Indigo marginally best between the gigabit Cisco and the EE.
Crikey Iām bored, and that is as dull a post as I think Iāve ever made. Bring on the vaccine!
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Hello Nigel
Yes I have tried both, and for me, the CatSnake 6a is prefereable. More hall/environment detail for one thing that comes thru. More like the real sound.
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Tuba or elephant? 
Have you considered replacing the Cinnamon with the Vodka? The Cinnamon was an awful cable in my system, I donāt know how anyone is getting on with that cable.
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