Most Important, Unloved Cable...

@almarg 

Of course AM radio is affected by unshielded Ethernet wires. This quite normal observation does not mean that in corollary the Ethernet signal has all kinds of digital static from the radio. Digital signals are extremely robust and there are error detection methodolgies to reject and retransmit packets of data in the event of interruption or data Tx collision from multiple devices (to the point of a hot swap of cable).

Your assertion proves nothing except you are gulible to the appeal of authority of your so called "experts". Your main argument is based on the idea that your "highly experienced" audiophiles are infallible even in the face of ludicrous claims:-

They claim that the sound output of great SOTA audio equipment SHOULD and CAN be audibly affected by changing Ethernet cables. It should NOT.

IMHO This is poorly designed or faulty equipment and there is no way around this because "high fidelity" is supposed to be as faithful as possible to the source audio and NOT extraneous factors. I contend that an audiophile should NOT use or purchase this type of equipment but rather find equipment that works properly - this is hardly an extreme position!

FACT: Also been in audio since the 60's.  That was a time of acceptance to trial and experimentation.  ( Remember the "POOGE" principles?  Progressive Optimization Of Generic Equipment. The Pooge concept was coined by Walt Jung, Chris Hollander and Richard Marsh in Audio Amateur.  The idea was to improve stock good sounding audio amps, preamps etc. by upgrading to higher quality components such as the component's hookup wire ( silver coated? teflon insulation?), caps (polypropylene?) , resisters ( metal film , switches ( silver contact?) , volume pots ( ALPS, stepped attenuators?)....by-passing caps with .01 mF caps, shortening the signal paths, improving the grounding layout, new circuit boards, better tranformers, etc.
 I "POOGED" my Dyna PAS tube preamp over several years with super satisfying results, taking out a lot of grain and bringing up the "you are there" feeling.  My best tube preamp ever - still have it and hook it up sometimes.
ANYWAY... I definitely hear differences between various speaker, interconnect, hookup wire in DIY components - sometimes subtle, sometimes none and sometimes glaring....sometimes positive and sometimes negative.  To me, making occasional trials with other wires is part of the fun of audio....and these trials with various ethernet cables is right up my alley.  As I listen to a lot of streamed music ( and films) I look forward to POOGEing my ethernet connection!!!
Let yuz know what I hear soon.

I love my poorly designed and faulty equipment!!

waterzlife-

Having fun with home audio is what it's all about isn't it?