>Silent Angel - Bonn N8 Audio Grade Network Switch
>Cat 6 Ethernet cable (3 feet) ⬅️
>Antipodes DX3 Server
>Cat 6 Ethernet cable (3 feet) ⬅️
>Metrum Ambre Roon endpoint
Network Switches
Thanks for the advice but looking at the Ethernet cable offerings reminds me of the early days of USB cables. Some reviewers report "significant improvements" while others say the differences are small. HiFi Wigwam states that simply switching to generic CAT 8 cables would be an audible improvement. Then, as with all things audio, there seems to be a progression of sorts where certain cables start out as a great "bang for the buck" but are soon eclipsed by newer offerings, such as the $50 Supra CAT 8 cable that Audio Bacon liked early on but later replaced with the latest cable du jour, the $500 SOtM dCBL-CAT7 Audiophile Ethernet Cable, which apparently can be bettered by JCAT’s $1,100 Ethernet Cable. The Supra is priced right but from what I could find while it apparently sounds "nice," improves on off-the-shelf cables (OTSC), and has good tonal qualities, in comparison to others it may be a bit soft and less focused. I am considering moving the two TP-LINK MC200CM Gigabit Media Converters and Fiber Patch Cable to the server side of (i.e., after) the Bonn switch to hopefully reduce any noise coming from the switch. Michael Lavorgna at AudioStream didn't set his up that way because he needed to run multiple cables from his switch. If I move the fiber set-up, then I would only have one Ethernet cable between the second TP-LINK converter and my server, although I would have another between the server and my Roon endpoint (...ugh, where does it stop?). If I were inclined to spend $500 on an Ethernet cable, I would probably put it last in the chain, either from the second TP-LINK to my DX server or between the server and Roon endpoint, but I am certainly not going to purchase 3 or 4, $500 Ethernet cables! I found this (linked below) review interesting in that they compared several Ethernet cables (but not the SOtM) in a blind testing and came away with this;
http://www.audiodrom.net/en/special-edition-reviews/104-ethernet-rj-45-cables-shootout |
If I were inclined to spend $500 on an Ethernet cable, I would probably put it last in the chain, either from the second TP-LINK to my DX server or between the server and Roon endpoint, but I am certainly not going to purchase 3 or 4, $500 Ethernet cables!If I would want to experiment with just one Ethernet cable, I would start with a (hopefully) short run to your Roon Endpoint |
Fidelizer EtherStream Switch review by Srajan Ebaen // 6Moons: https://6moons.com/audioreview_articles/fidelizer/ |