My EQs were late arriving through no fault of Stack; held up by the UK Royal Mail, but Josh emailed to apologise.and to see what I thought of the EQs.
Very attentive; great customer service
Stack Audio-SmoothLAN Network Filter- WOW!
I just received this item that I purchased from Stack Audio after being impressed with the AUVA 100 Speaker footers.
For any of the Audio Streamers out there, my initial comment as to this item: The SmoothLAN Network Filter is WOW!
From first plug in, the soundstage deepened and widened immensely. How the heck this occurs is nothing short of amazing. I have tried many of the major brand ethernet filters, and some of them, maybe, did something. But not enough to keep them. I either sent them back or sold them. I did however keep an iFi Silencer unit.
My digital streaming consists of an EtherRegen sending out the signal via Fiber to my Lumin X1. I have the Stack Audio device going into the EtherRegen from the Modem.
And, since I have my Apple TV coming out of the EtherRegen it will be interesting to see if the Video improves.
Check out the review in EAR.
Stack Audio Smooth-LAN For Clean Streaming | The Ear (the-ear.net)
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Showing 7 responses by painter24
I received my Smooth Lan yesterday. Didn’t get to plug it in until I finished work, so about 4:30, so didn’t listen much. The SL was slotted in between my LHY SW8 switch and Innuos Zen Mini mkiii, replacing the Network Acoustics ENO. I kept the Network Acoustics streaming cable in place between the LHY and SL, and used the short cable that came with the SL to connect it to the Zen. Everything else in my system is unchanged. Apart from bass, all other aspects seemed enhanced; I’m not sure if the SL is creating a blacker background than the ENO, but I am perceiving more clarity/greater sense of 3D in the soundstage. Bass seems to have decreased somewhat, but this is literally playing after first plugging the SL in. I’ve left the streamer running overnight and will leave it doing so 24/7, and hopefully will do some proper listening over the coming weekend. My initial thoughts are that the SL is more pleasing to me than the ENO (which is around 3x the cost of the SL), but it’s early days and will give it some more time, and hopefully the bass will return. |
@audphile1 I feel that's what I am hearing now I've contrasted the two units; the ENO is downplaying dynamics compared to the SL. Honestly, I enjoyed my system with the ENO, and was engaged by it, but the SL, albeit on a short initial comparison, is giving me more I'll be swapping out the Network Acoustics streaming cable over the weekend as well, for the DH Labs Ethernet cable between switch and SL to see if there's any difference there. |
@teknorob23 ah ok, thanks for this. I knew the ENO was no longer available but didn't know there was a new version in the pipeline. Don't think I'll be trying it though; the ENO was around £700+, £900+ with the NA streaming cable; no doubt the ENO 2 will be similarly priced. After the SL, my plan is for the Auva 70's for my speakers, and more Auva EQ's for my components (have the EQ's under my DAC to good effect) |
@tksteingraber your experience with Josh/Stack Audio matches mine withe 2 purchases I've made with them so far. It's great to see. Just a quick update on my SL; I swapped the Network Acoustics streaming cable for my DH Lab Reunion after work, between LHY SW8 switch and the SL. Yep, better again. As per @audphile1 even though I've enjoyed the ENO, I have been missing something I didn't realize I was. SL makes the ENO seem a little, I don't know ...dull maybe? I'm surprised how much of a positive difference there's been (to me at least) between the ENO system and the SmoothLan, especially considering the gulf between their respective prices |