Cat 5, 5a, 6, 6a, etc

Hi Bob,

See my three posts on the first page of the following thread (assuming you have posts sorted oldest first):

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/most-important-unloved-cable

I would not assume that a cable having a higher Cat number would necessarily provide better sonics than a cable having a lower Cat number, even if there is a difference. For example, a higher Cat cable is likely to have greater bandwidth than a lower Cat cable. Greater bandwidth will result in faster signal "risetimes" and "falltimes," those terms referring to the amount of time the signal takes to transition between its two voltage states. Faster risetimes and falltimes could very conceivably result in an increased possibility of digital noise finding its way around (i.e., bypassing) the ethernet interface circuit in the receiving device, and coupling via grounds, power supplies, stray capacitances, or other unintended pathways to circuitry further downstream, where it may cause timing jitter or other unwanted effects.

As you’ll see mentioned in one of my posts, a member for whom I have great respect reported several years ago that in his system a considerable sonic improvement resulted from changing a garden variety unshielded ethernet cable to an **inexpensive** shielded type.

I don’t use an ethernet interface in my own system, btw, although my DEQX provides one. Perhaps I will at some point in the future.

Best regards,
-- Al

Thanks Al.
I was just wondering if I should upgrade the ethernet cable from my ONT box to my router, and the cable from the router to my Memory Player Mini.
That is one long thread, so maybe the answer is in the remaining pages.
B

Ughh, I got to page 3 and gave up.
B

:-)

When I saw your previous post I was about to respond that pretty much all you were likely to find on the subsequent pages was a lot of controversy.

In any event, IMO whatever differences may result, if any, figure to be highly dependent on the specific designs and technical characteristics of the components being connected. Including (among many other things) signal risetimes and falltimes, which are almost never specified. So aside from the slim possibility that someone might have posted relevant experience somewhere involving the same or similar router, player, and optical terminal, your guess as to the potential benefit is as good as anyone else’s.

Best regards,
-- Al