@ all
This is an Ethernet cable thread, hence the title: “Which brand ethernet cable do you use?”
Please create your own thread if you wish to discuss WiFi vs Ethernet and let’s get this thread back on track.
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I’m currently using AQ Diamond from modem to router to EE8 Diamond and Diamond from EE8 to my Streamer. I’m planning on a Sigma X to go from EE8 to streamer
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I wanted to mention that I’m using an EE8 switch right before the streamer @TheFlash
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With an LPS?
May be of interest to some on here.
G
Excellent. A short network cable to the streamer then.
My last post was delete because I am in the trade but I think there was a misunderstanding in my intent. I did not mention any products as this would clearly be inappropriate; I just pointed out that any £/€/$ investment might be better spent on the cleaning bit - the switch - than on the cleanliness-sustaining bit - the cable.
Analogies can be dangerous but one might be helpful here! And caveats are important: the relationship between price and performance is variable to say the least… but let’s press on:
If an audio enthusiast came on a forum and said they had a £500-ish pair of speakers connected by £1299 of speaker cable, some might raise their eyebrows. If they then said they were thinking of keeping the speakers but replacing the cables with £2800 worth of other cables, there would most likely be some forum friends seeking to help by asking the obvious: have you ruled out spending the same amount on upgrading your speakers? This is because the choice of speaker is likely to have more impact on sound quality than the cables. Not guaranteed, obviously, but likely.
My point is similar. I hope this helps you and is allowed under forum rules. 
Best wishes
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@TheFlash Which switches do you speak of?
And what are your thoughts on network filters?
Spot on
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@stavrose no LPS. It is plugged into an AudioQuest PowerQuest 707 power distribution unit.
There is a wide range of audio-optimised switches out there at different price points. And different performance points. And the two may or may not be related…
If we’re talking EITHER/OR I have never got on with passive network filters. They always seem to do something I don’t like to the sound more than something I do. The one that stood out for me was the CAD Ethernet Control but my own experience (others may have different ones to share) is that a switch (and decent power supply) makes a nicer difference at whatever price point we’re talking about.
If we’re talking BOTH/AND, at the risk of being controversial, I’d suggest that if a filter after a switch sounds better then the switch might not be doing the best job. Huge caveats here naturally and experiences/systems/ears vary.
All the best
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Ah okay, I just wondered if there were any particular switches that you rate highly.
My switch is the EE8 powered by a decent LPS. At used prices I paid about £600 ish for the two.
In terms of filtering, I use a Sigma v2 Ethernet for the last leg from EE8 to streamer, which has two filters built in. Given the well earned reputation and widely held adoration for the Sigma, I’m of the belief that filtering may therefore be at least as essential as a switch. More so in my particular case.
Having said that, the EE8 is fairly entry level, even with a decent LPS, and I haven’t tried anything high end.
At the end of the day I reckon the combo of ee8+lps+sigma is as far as I should sensibly take things in my relatively modest NC two box system.
The other filter I tried was the Eno2, which was highly effective but was made redundant by the Sigma.
I’m in the trade and there are rules.
The EE8 is a good switch though, as you suggest, it does benefit from a decent LPS too. There seems to be pretty much a consensus that a filter improves it, which suggests there is at least a possibility that there are more effective switches out there to which a filter makes less or no difference. In your case, the switch is part-cleaning and the filter is part-cleaning and the combo seems to work well for you.
Your approach and assessment make perfect sense: EE8+LPS+Sigma is a good package.
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You should also give the phoenix net a chance someday. I went from ee8/lps to PN
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It’s a curse of forums like this that folk will come along and suggest alternative ways to off-load your hard-earned budget, so I’m not going to join their number. That said, I too used a pre-owned EE8 into a NC streamer and went a slightly different route.
I’d played with various reasonably priced cables - BJC and Catsnake among them, but reading around it was suggested to me that although the EE8 was an excellent switch and its performance might be improved by a better external power supply, a more cost-effective option might be to try a dedicated switch with an upgraded PSU.
I eventually home-demoed a Reiki Audio Superswitch, which offered a number of different PSU options, which allowed me to determine the impact of standard switch with an iFi supply against more costly alternatives. The chance to improve performance in a number of steps was attractive (and budget-friendly). Comparing the Reiki against the EE8 there was a significant uplift in performance, even with the less expensive PSUs. Going to the better supplies improved things still further.
At this point I was still using fairly standard unshielded cables in the last leg to the streamer. Later, I went for more exotic variants, but the biggest uplift came with the switch. The posh cable was the icing on the cake, but the switch made the cake lovely on its own!
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Do you use Naim gear?
It’s hard to interpret your comments when we do not know what your system is.
Also, is it not normal for people who are in the hifi trade to be identified on the forum as “Trade Member”?
The title of Trade Member is for those who are Naim dealers or distributors on the forum.
Members of the trade who are not Naim dealers are welcome here but only in a strictly private capacity. While they can discuss hifi topics in general , they are not allowed to promote their commercial interests here on the forum. That includes making any references to their own business or products.
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I stream on two system and both use Innuos streamers, one into an AKM DAC in my Audia Flight integrated and the other into dCS Rossini. My experiences of passive filters is with these systems and others.
Which filters have you compared with which switches? We all have different experiences and preferences clearly, and my own have relate to my decades as a music and audio enthusiast not to my few years in the trade.
I look forward to hearing your own.
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Hagar dedicated CU with fat Lapp and Furutech radials to MSHD and Furutech switchless sockets - MCRU cable with Furutech plug and connector to M6, 4 Powerlines.
Fibre - EE Ethernet cable to EE7 (new today) router - BJC to EE8/Farad psu on Powerline - Sigma to ND555.
I’ve owned Hifi systems with floor standing speakers for 46 years - and the current sound quality I’m enjoying is beyond anything I’d ever dreamed of having.
The clarity of music reproduction, and the sense of the instruments and players being in the room where the music was originally played is fabulous, especially for the live jazz and blues that I mainly play.
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