Ethernet Switch and Cables Mania

[JimDog]

Would be interesting to a fibre optic cable against a BJC ethernet cable and maybe an expensive one too.

Is yours a toslink, BF, or something else?

[BertBird]

I belief and know that every little detail counts, especially in a highly optimized system. You might not always immediately spot the impact on your whole collection, but definitely on the collection you know very well and at the same time challenging the system to it’s edges in dynamics, detail, timing etc…

[Mike_S]

My main system is connected via a long Cat 6 cable that runs through the floor downstairs to the office to the modem/switch, then along a ceiling through the garage then upstairs to an Apple Time Capsule switch then to the NDX2. God knows how many walls, joists, timber frames and whatever it touches along the way. System is broken, I’m going to go to Linn.

[raym55]

Its the VAT on hot food thats likely to have the biggest effect on sales.

[Dave]

Sorry to have to tell you but Music also benefits. It just gets better and better…

[Mike_S]

On a happier note, I see that my Apple Time Capsule has a decoupling base

[BertBird]

That’s what I feared…

[Simon-in-Suffolk]

And equivalently OM1 is a legacy fibre type and is roughly equivalent to Cat5 (but lesser capacity to Cat5e). OM1 is used typically for fast Ethernet (100mbps) applications.
With regard to fibre connectors, these vary on whether simplex, duplex and other considerations… there are 5 popular connector types used today. You would typically use the appropriate SFP to match the fibre connector type you require.

[Bart]

Your router likely has a switch built into it. Does it have a few ethernet ports on it? If so it has a switch built in. Nevertheless, adding a little 8-port external switch may well provide benefit.

[frenchrooster]

you can ask your dealer to burn in during 3 or 4 days 24/24 the Music, and after that period you can compare both .

[ElMarko]

I swapped out the Cinnamons 1.5m (SU/Switch and QNAP/Switch) for new BJC cat 6 1.5m, already had BJC cat 6 connecting switch to the AE Router and router to modem (US cable).

The BJC have been connected for a day and I didn’t notice any difference from the first listen. I’m listening to familiar tracks now and starting to wonder though. I did a lot of listening before I pulled the Cinnamons. Both sound great, not sure how much of a difference if any there will be. I’ll do some a/b testing in the coming days and see how it shakes out.

[Peder]

Start With…

• A lovely autumn-picture on Saturday-morning.

you can ask your dealer to burn in during 3 or 4 days 24/24 the Music, and after that period you can compare both .

@frenchrooster,…It’s a good idea,.so do we,for example,.with new Powercables (see picture below).

This heat-stove in the picture has two effect-modes…500 and 1000 watts.
And is running 12 hours per day.
Here we burn-in properly .

But after that,.the cable must “settle itself” in the music-system for a few days.
• Powercables usually 2-4 days.
• Ethernet-cables usually 4-7 days.

As you know,.we are now comparing Audioquest Diamond 0,75m vs. 1,5m.
AQ 1.5m had sat 40 days in the music-system. AQ 0.75m has now sat 5 days in the system,.it has improved greatly during these 5 days.
But it is still not as good as AQ 1.5m.

Before this test,.these two AQ Diamond-cables have sat in a music-system for about a year,so they were “burn-in”.

For those of you who do not know how an Audioquest Diamond looks like.
Here comes a picture of the 0,75m (which is actually 0,92m from contact-end to contact-end) that we are now testing.

This is a picture from January 2019,.we did not unplug it from the music-system and destroyed the tests for this image😉.

/Peder🙂

[easeback1]

For even inkier blackness, suggest you try a small octopus instead of a spider.

[Xanthe]

I thought about that, but you’d either only have the inky blackness for a short time (while the octopus is out of the water) or you’d have to run the cable through the octopus’s tank and that would risk the sound becoming over damped and loosing vitality.

[Peder]

I am sure that would be a nice comparison, but I don’t feel like fiddling with gear that much! I will compare it to my Netgear GS 105.

@DanielH,…It will be interesting to take part of,.because GS105 and GS108 are the same, except that GS108 have three sockets more.

For several years ago we found a switch that was better than GS108T.
This switch,.forgot the name,was then exchanged for a Cisco 2960 which was significantly better.

So if you compare Uptone EtherRegen…against GS105,then I get a pretty clear picture of how Uptone EtherRegen perform against a Cisco 2960.
Interesting .

/Peder🙂

[CrystalGipsy]

When I tried the Cinnamon compared to my BJC there was so little difference, if anything the Cinnamon was a tad brighter but it was not worth caring about. So I stuck with my BJC and saved the money for something else worth bothering about. This ended my interest in trying or swapping cables. I just dont see the point.

[Peder]

It amuses me greatly. For instance I do not know what Peder has for hifi but assuming its naim what he seems to be saying is naim kit is not very good. The way to make it good is to spend 8k on a power cable. Only then can he be lost for words how good the naim kit sounds.

@garyi,… Now I get a little surprised,.I have NEVER said what you claim.??

However,.I think most here on the forum know,which has a deeper knowledge in music-system optimization.
That the infrastructure around your music-system is crucial,.to how the system performs.
In other words,.try to give your music-system so optimal external conditions as possible.

There,.dedicated mains,powercables,.powerblocks etc,etc will have significance.

I put in comments from another thread,.where Hungryhalibut and NigelB has upgrading their powerblocks.
@anon4489532 and @NigelB wrote…

“It is worth £300? On first listen, I’d say definitely yes. It’s more of the same really, but surprisingly more. Even more detail and insight into the performance, yet it all holds together coherently. It’s really rather good.”

“Bl**dy hell! How is it possible for a bit of plastic to make such a difference?! No, not ‘night and day’, nor ‘different league’, but not subtle either.
This ‘hobby’ of mine never ceases to amaze me.”

• Garyi,.As I said,.and as also Hungryhalibut and NigelB confirms above…infrastructure around your music-system is crucial,.to how the system performs.

And Garyi,.If you look in my profile,.I have described a bit about my equipment and experience and knowledge.
More just than that,.I don’t want to be on an open forum,this because of the risk of burglary.

I use my real name,.and Sweden is small,and many in hifi-Sweden know who I am.
A friend of mine had burglaries a few years ago,.and got rid of all his music-system.

But Garyi,.you have not written Anything in your profile .

/Peder🙂

[Xanthe]

As promised the Connectix Cables Test results…

Conditions:
All cables are 5m length
Cables run from a Cisco 2960G-8TC-L to a Naim NAC-N272
Only tested in the EMI / RFI electrical environment of my house
These results are specific to the above conditions and my not be applicable outside of these precise conditions.
These tests don’t indicate any characteristic of the cables themselves, rather they show how the noise shaping within the cable affects the 272. N.B. a part of this noise is environmental, local to my house, even other users with a Cisco 2960 switch and a 272 may well get different results - there’s no guarantee of consistency!

Startech Cat6 UTP
Reference Cable to which others are compared.

Chord C-Stream Cat7 SFTP
Lacked clarity, muddled background, loss of resolution, some loss of ‘emotional’ sense.

Connectix Cables Cat5e UTP
Softer presentation, but still ‘clean’ (unlike all the shielded cables I’ve tried), some loss of ‘emotional’ sense.

Connectix Cables Cat6 UTP
slightly crisper overall presentation, slightly more ‘bite’, greater emotional connection with no loss of delicacy or detail or change to background (no more and no less inky!)

Conclusion:
I was slightly disappointed that the certified Cat5e UTP gave less good results compared to a cheapo Cat6 UTP; but that’s OK, the certified Connectix Cat6 isn’t that much more expensive than the cheapo Cat6 UTP (about 25%).
I hear a small but quite noticeable improvement from the Connectix Cables Cat6 UTP, so it’s staying!

Just a reminder… YMMV (actually it probably will!).

[frenchrooster]

Peder, are you using perhaps linn kdsm, 2X tundra monos and M40?

[Peder]

Not everyone has the time, money or energy to try lots of different products in combinations together to find a result that works.

@Roog,…Exactly,.that’s why this forum is so good .

Here can they who test, try, evaluate,.share their impressions and results with others.
Those who do not have the opportunity to do so,.can only “pick the candy” from the table,as we say in Sweden.

But,.that which is boring…
Is,.that it is not uncommon for those who contribute with this,.that sometimes they be treated a little bit arrogant, ironical,and even mocking posts.
I remember that a while ago,.@Darkebear was really annoyed at this.
If I remember correctly,.he also deleted his informative posts.

And that’s boring,.because Darkebear has great detail-knowledge about music system-installation.
I personally have great exchange of his writes,.when he tests and tries at a level where I am myself.

• As an example: When I report a result,.as a friend of mine has spent many,many hours to come up with.
Namely,.which rubber-feet sound best during a Cisco 2960 in his hifi-rack.

Then its not nice to be met by comments that…

• and if people want to listen to different feet on a Cisco router then fine. I leave them to it.

•Changing the feet on a Cisco switch is as bizarre to me as anything Peter Belt suggested.

These two posts above,.I perceive as arrogant,ironical and mocking.
If you are not interested,.there is no need to comment,especially not as here in the example above.

But this thread has so far been good,.except for a few exceptions.
Just wanted to take it up now,.when I still wrote.

Nice Saturday night…
/Peder🙂