At the cheap end there are good choices, such as bjc, c-stream, catsnake, etc.
And there are literally loads of streaming cables in high priced tier; sigma, diamond, music, ansuz, etc.
But what about great cables over £100 per metre but below £500? Are there any truly exceptional streaming cables in this price bracket?
To some people yes, to others, no .
By streaming cable I assume you mean ethernet? Different streamers/DACs, switches, other network connections and electromagnetic environment and personal taste may all affect the effect of a cable, as will your susceptibility to hype, so cheapest or most expensive might be beat for you.So are you trying to hedge your bets by picking something in the middle?
Just use decent quality UTP Cat5e or 6, ignoring any described as audio quality. Spend the money saved on new music.
Yes Cat5e or Cat 6 Ethernet patch lead is fine, ideally use one with the standard it’s attested to meet stamped on the jacket. Don’t just rely on products that state xyz tested with no clear attestation on the product itself.
You shouldn’t have to pay more than £5 a metre… anything else is gratuitous exploitation of people who perhaps are ignorant to what said patch leads actually do. If you see a lot of blah of interference, jitter, cross talk etc affecting audio, I would be wary and keep clear.
You may and almost certainly will find different patch leads affect the resultant sound from the attached streamer. This will be down to the streamer and its Ethernet interface, and is unlikely to be general across different streamer products and brands… so some trial and error may be required if you want to tweak. Another good benefit from the fact good Ethernet patch leads cost very little for the short lengths most use for home audio. Also consider WiFi if a recent product. Wifi has several advantages over Ethernet in this area. However some older audio products had poor wifi implementations that sounded compromised compared to Ethernet, so YMMV
CatSnake are very god Ethernet cables and are tested.
“ These cables are commonly used in hi-end HIFI systems to connect streaming devices within the setup. For example, your NAS or laptop to your router.
Premium quality Cat6a data cables. Manufactured with Belden 1303E Catsnake cable and quality shielded RJ45 connectors with a metal shroud
In order to minimise any unwanted interference each pair of conductors is foil screened; this then works in conjunction with the integral overall-braided shield to reduce EMI. You have the option above to have the shield ‘connected’ or left ‘floating’, this will depend on your equipment and personal preference. If left floating then this cable will not perform to Cat6a specifications, but will still function perfectly well as Cat5e, which is the most common type of specification in HiFi setups
The cable has two jackets; the first tightly holds the conductors in place so they do not move around. The second is made from a tubular style rugged PVC, this makes the cable durable and easy to coil
These cables are commonly used in hi-end HiFi systems to connect streaming devices within the setup. For example, your NAS or laptop to your router
** Premium Belden 1303E Catsnake cable*
** Shielded RJ45 connectors with a metal shroud*
** Precision tools used to crimp plugs*
** 10 colours of boot/gland available for identification*
** Cables with ‘Shield connected at one side only’ will have a Heatshrink label applied to the cable, at the grounded side.*
Field deployable CAT6a patch horizontal and building backbone cable; CobraNEt, eSnake, Ethersound, Digital audio over Ethernet; Support current and future Category 6A and 6 applications, such as: 10GBase - T(10 Gigabit Ethernet), 1000 Base - T (Gigabit Ethernet), 100 Base - T, 10 Base - T, FDDI, ATM; Compatible connectors Belden R301601 000S1 (T568A) and R301602 000S1 (T568B)
In our permanent quest to improve on what we do, we decided to improve our testing rig by employing a Fluke LinkIQ verifier. We can now verify that our Cat5e, Cat6 and Cat6a cables perform to the requirements of ISO/IEC 11801, at the lengths we state. All our cables now go through a thorough ‘real world’ test before dispatch. We use ‘Verification’ for short patch leads, and ‘Verification’ and ‘Live Testing’ for any cables over 40m, including reel-systems.”
I found the CatSnake to be better than the Chord Signature / Epic / Clearway streaming cables I was using previously.
DG…
Of all the ethernet cables I have tried- the free included one with a new HiFi purchase, Melco, Blue Jean Cable, Audioquest Cinnamon / Vodka and Belden Catsnake. The one with the best overall sound is……the Blue Jean Cable Cat 6A.
Just for reference, I found the Catsnake sound more closed in and not as open, especially with regards to the treble. imho 
To actually answer the question, rather than tell you not to bother, I am very happy with Chord Shawline from router to switch and switch to steamer. I had BJC 6 A previously and the Shawline just sounds nicer, a bit more natural and real.
Cables are funny things. What’s works with one system doesn’t sound as good in another system.
But that’s one of the nice and interesting things about this hobby, the variability of what’s on offer.
I’m very happy with where I am, like you are, but it’s taken a number of years to get here.
DG…
Entreq lowest series containing a small ground box. Very good ethernet cable.
Neotech NEET-1008 is also a good option.
Used Ansuz A2 would also be on my list in your seat (I have D2).
Chord Shawline sounded edgy, digital and rather bad in my system.
Borrow some and evaluate. Synergy is a tough one to manage by just reading reviews.
My current ethernet cables are a full loom of BJC cat 6a. Great cables. Amazing for the money.
I’m not in a rush to upgrade but if there was a really great next level cable (in the sub £500 tier) I’d contemplate trying it in the final leg of my Ethernet chain (i.e. connected to my streamer).
Some thoughts:
never heard anybody rave a about chord epic, so discounted that.
neotech 1008 - don’t like the idea of silver cable and I really didn’t like the copper 3008 version when I tried it.
shawline - can’t help think that it’s not going to be much better than bjc or c-stream.
SOtM cat7 - i know nothing about this cable/brand so it would be a punt.
Sablon, 7note audio, Jcat - again, not heard much about these cables.
Shunyata recently released replacements for venom and delta, called gamma and theta (£350 & £500 respectively). Tempted to try the gamma but not heard enough reviews to know if its worth it.
Like I said, not desperate to change, just casually considering the options.
Any recommendations?
I have personally found that silver does the opposite in digital cables that it does with analog interconnects. I wouldn’t avoid silver for its own sake for -digital- cables like BNC/Ethernet/AES-EBU/etc.
Please see some of my past comparisons in the following links:
In a nutshell, it’s a minefield out there, especially if you start adding isolators etc. But I would say that something reasonable like the Chord Clearway might be a decent cable to try and compare.
Ethernet cables do a lot … perfect for Fine tuning. Is it better … I think it gets better with jump into 2k range - but definitely not with every 2k cable.
The „up to 500“ range will be perfect for giving your system the dry important last push.
I would try
As you also struggle with the edges and gloss in … I estimate that you will love shunyata!
Is there a theory why an expensive cable could be better than a regular reasonable quality Ethernet cable? It’s not that analog sound-wave information is transmitted. It’s digital 0’s and 1’s. For as far as I know, the Ethernet and TCP protocols have Frame Check Sequence logic and re-transmission logic to detect- and recover from errors. I do n’t understand why an expensive Ethernet cable could improve sound…(I personally use WiFi b.t.w. and have never tried expensive Ethernet cables).
A digital signal is actually an analogue signal too that contains noise and all good stuff which is passed on into the DAC where it can mess things up. The data itself will be identical in and out but there is more to digital signal transfer than that which is totally audible in a good system. If you want to transfer an excel sheet then it will not matter though. Go cheap.
There is a lot to read on this if you want to dig deeper.
Absolutely 100% agree. In my experience audiophile snake oil is rife these days and a good old MeiChord Opal certified Cat 6 UTP Ethernet cable is more than up to the job here. I regret getting snaked in, knowing what i know now…
It maybe only 0 and 1 transfered through the cable.
But from all cable comparisons I made, the Ethernet ones made by far the most difference!
In simple terms, the way I see it, it’s the same concept as any other audio cable.
A ‘regular’ network cable is mostly designed for reliable transmission of data at certain speeds. Ones and zeros, etc.
An expensive ‘streaming’ cable is designed and optimised to enable best audio sound quality. Producers of these cables will spend a tonne of money on R&D to achieve this. The better the sound, the more money they can charge.
That’s why more expensive cables tend to be better. Of course there will be plenty of exceptions.
Absolutely, and the ‘audiophile’ ones have it wrong IME.