What’s the award “most expensive item that solves no problem”?
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CatSnake
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It WAS a rhetorical question, I do know what the Super Lumina kit costs 
Obviously these high-end products do raise questions of VFM and for some reason cables generate greater levels of objection than an equivalently priced black box.
However, the way I consider the issue is by asking ‘could I achieve a similar level of improvement by spending the same sum in another way?’ If the answer is no, then the VFM consideration of a cable shifts.
Also, the RRP is not necessarily the price paid for the improvement. Nearly all of my high-end cables (Hi-Line, Chord Sarum T mains lead, Furutech mains lead, Chord Signature X interconnect and the Jundostream were all purchased at a fraction of RRP because they were pre-owned, ex-dem or at discount).
To return to the subject of the thread - I demoed the Jundostream streaming cable at Reiki Audio and in my home - comparing it to a bog-standard Cat5 giveaway, and the Rakustream (also by ReikiAudio). The improvement from the Cat 5 to the Rakustream was impressive enough, but the introduction of the Jundostream was transformational. I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say that the uplift was similar to that when I added a NPX300 to the NSS333. It was that significant.
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I hate to say this, but £3599, is the retail price and what I paid, on an item traded back in. 
I feel your pain!
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hmmm 7 strands in that cable does not make much sense to me.
Actually, for audiophile purposes only two strands of twisted pairs are necessary. Always wonder why boutique cables make the full 4 pairs
What i said earlier, @Gracie.1
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Thanks!
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By the way: these DC supercap modules are great for switches. Added more today to Buffalo and Cisco (both were modified for DC) and very happy about the improvement. Terrific cost-benefit ratio
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I am with you. Adding Sigma cable (Ethernet) was like a box upgrade. Digital cable yes … improvement - oh yes 
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That is interesting because the BJ Cat 6a is unshielded (UTP); there is no metallic shield or drain wire running end-to-end to carry high-frequency electrical ground noise or stray current from a router/switch directly into a streamer’s chassis ground.
When the NC300 series was released I attended a promotional event. Six 300 series systems with various speakers.
I noticed C Stream was being used in every system, and they ALL sounded superb. I now use a C Stream ethernet cable.
I’ve heard the NC300 series a few times since at HiFi shows. Set up by dealers, using expensive ethernet cables (they are obviously hoping to sell a few) that quite often don’t sound very good at all.
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There are all sorts of variables at play here, and quite a lot of decisions involve trade-offs between managing radiated vs conducted noise. All ethernet cables have signal conductors of course and high frequency noise (RFI/EMI) can be conducted along these, whether the cable is shielded or not, and can be picked up by them due in the absence of a shield.
If the device upstream from and directly connected to the streamer is a switch, unshielded is usually preferred as it doesn’t undermine the noise-blocking work of the switch by providing a shield-as-noise-conductor, though some listening rooms/areas are awash with radiated RFI… hence compromises and difficulty in arriving at a one-size-fits-all approach.
If the connected upstream device is not a switch, the conducted noise will be what it will be and will reach the streamer via conductors or shield or both; a shield will however help protect from radiated RFI on the last leg of the journey.
A shielded cable with the shield grounded only to the upstream plug is always better but no stock Cat N cable is structured like this.
Horses for courses, YMMV and all that.
…….. Naim streamers RJ45 ports are grounded … that’s downstream.
Most all broadband hub (routers) ports are ungrounded ……. that’s upstream.
The industry standard for an ethernet network is for a single one point ground.
No ref to upstream or downstream, just one ground point.
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I think they’re hinting at the fact that some of these special ‘streaming’ cables which do not adhere to ethernet standards, allow draining the shield to one of their boutique grounded switches… which is why they can’t call them ethernet cables any more, as they aren’t.
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Chord C-Stream, well made, reasonable price, frequently seen in Naim’s demo room 
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ATB, J
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I was speaking about network cables.
Yes, that’s correct te terminology. Ethernet standards dictate that any shield is connected to both metal RJ45 plugs; this is sub-optimal in the use case of a short switch to streamer connection installed for audio optimisation purposes.
This applies to any switch to any streamer, not just to an audio-optimised (I presume this is what you mean by boutique) switch. Easily demonstrated in the comfort of your own home!
Just pulled the trigger on a new Sigma V2 
Have to wait a week at least before first listen. Dealer gave me Alpha to try out in the mean time. I have to say that the Ansuz A2 that i have is more to my liking although the differences are subtle. Makes me worried that the Sigma will not be a big step up. We shall see.
I am relying and counting on all the Sigma fans here 
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