Hi Marty…….i took home the S100 and Phoenixnet. My initial reaction was i liked the S100 for an hour or so……but after a few hours i found it too almost sweet and sickly in its presentation. I took it back next day. The PhoenixNet by contrast was musical with an improved sense of timing over my Uptone ER………and it got better over a few weeks. The OCXO clock takes a while to stabilise. To be fair Melco have a more expensive-switch as well as the S100, i have not tried that one.
I had the melco switch on demo for a few weeks around 2 years ago.
Installed just before my melco N10, and set up as per melco instructions.
I found that it hurt the dynamics in my system, and everything just sounded slightly worse.
I even tried a separate power supply on it, but nothing changed.
The new more expensive melco switch is the same switch but with a separate power supply, rather than the wall plug power supply.
Hi Gazza, thank you for the insights. Your insight on PN timing is very helpful as I have been careful about not messing with excellent timing of Naim gear. I recall that OCXO clock inside was pretty special and the dedicated power management around it made a difference. I haven’t tried the S-10 either but that price tag is in another level. Plus having Dynaudio speakers with Mundorf caps in the crossover network, I really like that PN uses Mundorf caps.
It’s likely that I’ll move to PN soon.
If I may add one bit of insight, ethernet cables made some difference in the past but small variances among the group I tried, which included Wireworld, Cardas, and Shunyata (Venom X). Then i moved to Shunyata Alpha v2, that was like a component upgrade. There’s an article on Ear.Net on this, my experience has been identical if not a bit more impactful. Highly recommend it for a next step. Price level is craziness but well worth it. Can’t wait to hear how it will sound together with PN.
Hi Dunc, thank you for the insights on S-100 vs PN. I’m actually doing something similar, using it with a small linear power supply from iFi. I think it sounds a bit better than the OEM power supply out of the box. Not the most elegant solution but I couldn’t justify spending $1-2K on a better linear power supply then buying fancy power cables for it. Then it will become a S-10 level investment.
I’m not sure if there is any suffering on the dynamics in my system but overall I haven’t experienced a big difference on sound quality from Netgear switch to S-100 transition. I’m hearing vocals resolving better, but not a whole lot of improvement on tone, dynamics, and spatial information. Maybe it’ll be a similar experience with PN too but I still tend to think PN will add more just purely based on comparison notes of its users.
I guess I’ll have a comparison point soon since I’m planning to move to PN from S-100.
Obviously it wasn’t a total collapse of dynamics and sound, but i did feel everything sounded slightly worse with the melco switch in.
I then had the EtherRegen after this for a while, until i got the phoenixnet
I have currently a PN on testing … fantastic?
See here
Hi @Farthings-cat - I’ve a PN incoming and will probably run it from my Virgin Superhub, through my 2960 into PN then ND555. A few queries if I may:
Where do you use the supplied ethernet cable?
Do you connect a NAS directly to the PN or 2960?
What other ethernet cables do you use?
Many thanks,
G
Hi Graeme, I don’t have a NAS anymore, everything in on my Innuos Zenith.
My NDS is connected to the the PN (currently using melco ethernet but have just bought a audioquest diamond of an auction site for a very low price so will report back.)
Zenith is also connected to the PN. Using a melco ethernet cable here too. Assume you would plug in NAS to PN.
My router goes into a Cisco 2960 (not essential) using a chord ethernet cable (c stream from memory)
And then a melco ethernet going from Cisco to PN lan port
I bought all used so not too expensive but really good bang for buck versus buying an ND555 to replace my NDS…
The PN takes a while to settle in so be patient. I think it’s a really good switch and well worth the money.
Hope that helps
Gary
Many thanks. I’ve the 2960 already so will loop it in. C-Stream cables all round here too at the mo, so might as well stick to those.
G
Ps I haven’t used the included cable. I only bought the AQ diamond as it was cheap enough for me to sell on if it turns out to be snake oil but plenty have reported good results.
I may well experiment with different cable options but that will be when I get some time but I just set it up using what I had a mixture of chord / melco.
Ideally I don’t like getting into the micro deal - some people have ears that can hear a butterfly flap it’s wings in Asia… but in my system everything takes an age to settle in and I’m blown if I can remember the difference between swapping cables unless it’s obvious!
Gary
Yes, use the c stream cables and let the whole thing settle in. Experimenting with cables can come later if one desires.
The PN was a bit of a wow moment in my system.
Regards
Gary
I made the same choices as you.
Curious how you will find the diamond.
A little sceptical but for £275 I felt it was worth a punt. I’ll let you know how I get on.
Gary
I agree. I found with ethernet cables that a ‘full-loom’ of whatever brand sounds better than mixing, and that the C-Stream is hard to beat for this.
G
That is good value.
Worth noting but when I was last at the factory (pre-COVID) Naim were using a C-Stream to their ND555.
@Geko interesting. A year or so back I tried the C Stream cables but I could not even last a day with them in. The character change was just not to my liking. Shame as they are very good value vs sole of the more esoteric offerings. For reference I use a mix of Audioquest Vodka, Diamond and Catsnake cables.
I’ve come to understand that what works in one system doesn’t necessarily work in another. For me it’s all about balance. I’m looking for that ‘live music’ experience and some cables/equipment take you away from that towards the ‘studio’ experience. Nothing wrong with that of course.
I’d compare Chord C-stream to Naim’s Lavender cable. I think it has very similar qualities. Very live and musical but a bit over enthusiastic in presentation. The other cable I really like is Catsnake. Much more grown-up presentation but still very live and musical. I’ve tried more expensive Chord and Audioquest cables (Vodka etc.), plus a bunch of others but I find them all a step too far towards the ‘studio’ end of the scale. It’s always fun trying this stuff out as you can sometimes find that tiny piece of magic that sets the system alight!
Ageee
Any sign of your PhoenixNET yet Graeme ?