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Ethernet Cables, do they make a difference?

I stream music via TIDAL and the only cable in my system that is not an "Audiophile" cable is the one going from my Gateway to my PC, it is a CAT6 cable. Question is, do "Audiophile" Ethernet cables make any difference/ improvement in sound quality?

Any and all feedback is most appreciated, especially if you noted improvements in your streaming audio SQ with a High-End Ethernet cable.

Thanks!
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almarg
9,670 posts
 
Jinjuku 4-27-2018
Question is, do "Audiophile" Ethernet cables make any difference/ improvement in sound quality?

I stated as follows in a post dated 4-24-2018:
As I’ve said in a number of past threads, the existence of differences does not necessarily mean that more expensive = better results.
I have never said or implied anything that would be suggestive of a high degree of correlation between cable performance and cable price, when it comes to ethernet cables. And in fact several of the improvements I and a number of others have referred to in this thread involved "upgrading" to inexpensive cables.

Regards,
-- Al


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jinjuku
226 posts
 
Member Bryoncunningham, who IMO is an especially astute and perceptive listener, and is very thorough in his evaluations, described realizing a substantial sonic improvement by changing from a garden variety unshielded ethernet cable to an **inexpensive** shielded type.


I would question the quality of the streamer that is so susceptible. Both the $4000 Cary and the $1600 851N were impervious. Broke no sweat with my 315 foot cable.

Also the 315 foot generic I made and the 3 foot Nordost both had sub 1ms ping times and both were able to transfer at a sustained 107MB/second.
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jinjuku
226 posts
 
And in fact several of the improvements I and a number of others have referred to in this thread involved "upgrading" to inexpensive cables.

My proposal is that gear that is susceptible to a change in a short length of Ethernet cable is faulty.

I'd rather have gear that works with in spec cable reliably, consistently, without variation.


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joecasey
484 posts
 
I have never said or implied anything that would be suggestive of a high degree of correlation between cable performance and cable price, when it comes to ethernet cables. And in fact several of the improvements I and a number of others have referred to in this thread involved "upgrading" to inexpensive cables.
This is true with everything not just cables.  As far as Ethernet cable, least expensive of 4 won big time in my system.

Less a factor for what?
I thought you're computer savvy??  Why computers improve performance from caching?   Why does online videos buffer data before play?
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