my ethernet cable?


Hi all-

Another beginner question. So I am planning to set up a device (either an Auralic Aries or a Sonos with Empirical Audio's Synchro-Mesh and Dynamo power supply) to stream Tidal. When I was having a TV installed last year, I had the guy pull an ethernet cable to my stereo cabinet with this purpose in mind. I thought I was being smart to ask for him to get and install cat 6 instead of 5e, which was what he usually uses.

Later I read that cat6 can be a lot trickier to install correctly, and sometimes its safer just to go with 5e. (and I note the adapter plate on the wall actually says 5e.) And then I read this article from Blue Jeans cable about how most of the cat6 cable on the market is crap.

http://www.bluejeanscable.com/articles/is-your-cat6-a-dog.htm

So all of this has me wondering if I should buy some cat6 from blue jeans (or even 5e given installation quirks with cat6?) and have this redone? Or is there a way to test the quality of the cable I have and know whether or not it is up to the task?

It seems a bit excessive to replace the cable, but on the other hand, that will cost a fraction of what an Aries streamer does, or a year's subscription to Tidal, so I am wondering if I shouldn't make sure my fundamentals are all solid before proceeding.

Any advice?

Thanks!

Margot
mcanaday
I noticed that there are now cay 7 shielded cable available. Would that be an upgrade?
I noticed that there are now cat 7 shielded cable available. Would that be an upgrade?
Good question, Ozzy. I suppose that cat7 could sometimes provide a sonic benefit as a consequence of the double shielding it usually incorporates, which may reduce coupling of RFI and digital noise from the cable into the system. But I would expect any such benefit to be highly system dependent, and probably also placement dependent, with little or no predictability.

Regards,
-- Al
Oh, c'mon, Jea! It's just zeroes and ones -- why overthink it like that? ;-)

To answer your question, the extra 25' of my Monoprice run was in a jumbled mess in the basement. Perhaps not as detrimental as a coil, but the music is better now for sure with the neater, shorter, Blue-Jeans-ier run.