That’s awesome. Keep her.
I agree it’s a human thing, but some topics I just don’t think are entirely applicable. We can agree to disagree on this, as I’ve tried outlining my feelings on it here and elsewhere.
That’s the crux, though, isn’t it? I don’t think I should like any particular one over the other in this instance. I honestly found no improvement between the first two I had in my system. Given what the EE8 was going into this, I was prepared to think it a farce as well. Well, not a farce, but certainly something I’d have to do without. That would confirm that my mains and environment are well sorted and are in no need of help by ancillary switches, which would make me happier knowing this in the end anyway. I still believe my mains and environment is better off than many’s on here. As I have painfully tried stressing, the EE8 does a very marginal, comparative performance ‘upgrade’ that I prefer, thus it will no doubt be subjective by nature. If it was taken away today it certainly wouldn’t upset anything, but I feel a few minor accolades within the big picture would be amiss. For others, it might be much more than that. Who knows?
Well, @Nick.Lees, I’d love to read your impressions; I’d love to read them even if I disagreed. I welcome those in the opposite camp to say whatever they wish. It’s everyone’s prerogative, period. I guess where I somewhat draw the line is when either camp speaks in absolutes as if science (in audio) is the final arbiter or conversely if subjective impressions is all one needs. Both, on their own, are woefully wrong.
It’s okay if you don’t want to confirm your actual experience by doing a blind test. Most here don’t which is why I don’t take too many reviews seriously. It just seemed odd to me you spent so much time with the detailed analysis without doing a proper blind test. Fwiw, I had no expectation that a switch would improve SQ but low and behold. And so it goes. I agree about having your mains set up. I have my SU on it’s own dedicated line with power line and ultra hbl and it sounds quite magical on its own in my network. I’ll eventually compare the ER and EE switched against my POE setup but given the reviews here I’m in no hurry and will likely have a different set up by the time I do.
Not that I don’t want to, it’s just not very feasible at the moment. And if my post is deemed detailed, it’s only because of what I heard, described as succinctly as possible within the limits of vocabulary. Maybe someday in the near-future I’ll post an addendum to this to include a blind test. My system as it currently stands is about as optimized as it’s going to get, so I don’t foresee anything changing and I don’t have the funds to do a proper upgrade of boxes to make a real sound improvement. So there’s that.
Anyway, thanks for the discussion. I hope at some point you do compare what you have. It would be ultimately interesting to find if your impressions are in alignment with mine within the context of your own system, room and ears/brain.
Man, you guys need to go fiber and really get this discussion rolling! No idea what any of these switches sound like, but going Cisco 2960-16PS (built 11/17) fiber out to an opticalModule and then Ghent Belkin 6A RJ45 to another opticalModule, and then fiber out from that to fiber in of an opticalRendu and my system has never sounded so good. Four fiber links! First two multimode, second two single mode LX. Cisco OEM on the first two, Finisair’s on the second pair.
No worries, this is just a hobby and the journey is all part of the enjoyment. I’d be curious of your findings a month from now if you were to swap things back to previous and see how that sounds to you.
No doubt. That is quite an outlay that should mitigate any ‘noise’ or ‘leakage’. Fiber does seem to have its proponents, and rightly so. Your example is quite a bit different than the original comparison, and quite a bit more in terms of money that, to me, falls well outside of a tweak. Yours is more of a solution, IMO. I certainly never qualified nor otherwise inferred the ER or EE as a solution. Nonetheless, I’d love to try out your example.
I do believe there is also somewhat of a generational issue playing a role here. I notice that the relative ‘youngsters’ such as @Suedkiez and myself are much more eager to find out why something works, whereas some of the perhaps slightly older folk are more easily satisfied when it just does (for them) and don’t want to bother as much with the how and why.
Those kinds of differences are hard to overcome. The younger guys want their evidence, proof, measurements and (blind) tests, and they are not easily swayed by a “It just works” approach. The older guys just want to enjoy their music and those damn kids to stay off their lawns.
Generational? Maybe. I was selling Hi-Fi, and writing for Hi-Fi Answers (under Paul Benson before he got the sack and went Peter Belt loopy) in the 70s, which saw a massive sea change in reviewing.
Reviews had been all about how stuff measured with sound a tacked on bit at the end. Then it started to change and my brief was to say how it sounded. Admirable as this was, it lost a lot of advertisers (particularly Japanese).
And it remains my attitude - I don’t give a hoot how it measures or why, just judge things on how I, in my room, my electrical environment, with my ears and tastes, hear it. And then back that up with a blind test (if practical).
It’s something that just sort of grew on itself over time. Probably wouldn’t make sense financially if just from the start. I was actually hoping to cut down on an opticalModule and sell it once I upgraded from the microRendu to the opticalRendu, but found taking one out added just that little bit of extra glare or hash. The eR may be all around better, but sticking with my solution for now as it sounds good to me and would make even less $ sense by selling and replacing with an eR. The oM’s and oR’s are on different circuits (oR a dedicated one) and rooms so that probably makes a difference too. The first oM powered by an Uptone charger, the second an LPS 1.2, and the oR a Sonore Power Supply.
Maybe that age is why I am at the same time perfectly happy keeping the EE without having to prove to myself either way, but also finding it difficult, having spent nearly all of my working life in software testing with reproductions and rigor.
Julian Vereker was born in Oxford, England. He was the great-great grandson of the 3rd Viscount Gort. His great-grandfather had been Consul at Cherbourg and his grandfather a naval commander; his father Charles became Professor of Political Theory at Durham University. Vereker therefore grew up in a lively academic family, which did not prevent him from becoming a rebellious adolescent in the 1960s. Though requiring four attempts to pass O Levelmathematics, he developed a passion for engineering, left Bryanston School at 16. He attended technical college in Liverpool, followed by the College of Aero and Automobile Engineering in London.
I have no experience with other audiophile switches than EE8 but it sure does sound better than Netgear GS105. It’s PRaT which improved most IME. Just better flow and easier to follow the music.
Thank you, @Patu. Flow and ease as you’ve described are quite fitting, especially the latter. There is something about, ‘easier to follow the music.’ In a general sense, instruments and sounds are each very delineated and layered rather than smeared or parts overlapping.
