Most Important, Unloved Cable...


Ethernet. I used to say the power cord was the most unloved, but important cable. Now, I update that assessment to the Ethernet cable. Review work forthcoming. 

I can't wait to invite my newer friend who is an engineer who was involved with the construction of Fermilab, the National Accelerator Lab, to hear this! Previously he was an overt mocker; no longer. He decided to try comparing cables and had his mind changed. That's not uncommon, as many of you former skeptics know. :)

I had my biggest doubts about the Ethernet cable. But, I was wrong - SO wrong! I'm so happy I made the decision years ago that I would try things rather than simply flip a coin mentally and decide without experience. It has made all the difference in quality of systems and my enjoyment of them. Reminder; I settled the matter of efficacy of cables years before becoming a reviewer and with my own money, so my enthusiasm for them does not spring from reviewing. Reviewing has allowed me to more fully explore their potential.  

I find fascinating the cognitive dissonance that exists between the skeptical mind in regard to cables and the real world results which can be obtained with them. I'm still shaking my head at this result... profoundly unexpected results way beyond expectation. Anyone who would need an ABX for this should exit the hobby and take up gun shooting, because your hearing would be for crap.  
douglas_schroeder
Well Soundlabs U-2 are super revealing speakers and with 100K+ of other gear let's hope wgutz is willing to step up, as with the quality of his gear there would be absolutely no reason for any differences not to be easily audible.
Did someone forget to put out the Roach Motels last night?
I don't now about the Roach Motels, but the can of yellow paint has been clearly opened and copiously used.
I don’t know anything about yellow paint but can I suggest someone has been sneaking from the bottle of stupid pills? 💊
1st, Jinjuku, please do come to my home in Denver while you are attending the Audiofest in Denver coming up in October. I live in north Denver.

2nd, I am not a gambler, especially since I now make less than I once paid in taxes.

3rd, I have two five meter 6A cables. One from Blue Jeans and one home made (with my friends). from Western Electric specialty made  ethernet that we subsequently cryo-treated. The Siemens connectors, each end, cost twice as much as the full spec Blue Jeans cable. And I would say the improvement is not "obvious" but more like a 2% improvement. So yes, a 2% improvement for 10+X the money may not be a financially balanced investment, but then better audio never made that claim.

4th, I run Teo, Audioquest Sky & Cheetah to my fully custom tube based pre-amp and amp. Disruptor USB from my laptop back to my Wadia DAC. I make minor changes to my equipment monthly. This month was gold pin tube sockets for the pre-amp tubes (just as an example). Last month was single resistor ladder separate mono volume controls, the 6th set of pots in my pre-amp.

5th, Al Stiefel, who started Audiofest, was my mentor taught me a bit about high end audio.

So, come on out and we can decide together if there are sound improvements in Ethernet.