Better sound with ethernet cable?

Instead of taking Ethernet cable or Mesh router Take your modem/router next to system. I hope your home has telephone point everywhere or extending new OPC is more economical & easier.

Not really practical as then would have the reverse problem of getting Ethernet to my home computer.... Which is up the big wooden hill where the modem lives.

So in my case would involve a 75ft cable one way or another.

And I know for a concrete fact my home computer dl a lot faster on hard wire than Wi-Fi.

If SQ matters, go hard and don't go for  "less"

@david_ten

Hi David,

I of course always highly value and respect your opinions and experiences. And I recognize your point to the effect that wifi is shunned by designers of high end equipment, in favor of ethernet.

One of the reasons for that, of course, figures to be the potential for erratic operation and dropouts that can occur with wifi under many circumstances. And perhaps considerations related to internal circuitry are also involved. But in any event I would not extrapolate from that any expectation as to whether the wifi interface or the ethernet interface would provide better sonics in the OP’s Yamaha receiver, which as I mentioned provides essentially an entire system’s worth of electronics in one $700 package. And I wouldn’t be surprised if no difference was perceivable at all, assuming his wifi link is working reliably.

And as I suggested I feel that he would have a much greater chance of making a meaningful upgrade to his system by replacing some or perhaps even all of the functions of that component with something else.

On another note, re @erik_squires mention of erratic wifi performance with his Squeezebox Touch, fwiw I have had a Sqeezebox Touch in my main system for about seven years. I use it mainly for non-critical listening to Internet radio, and occasionally to play files that I have stored on a computer elsewhere in the house. All of this is done wirelessly, with the Squeezebox communicating with a wireless access point on a different level (2nd floor vs. 1st floor) and at opposite ends of the house. Yet in those seven years I have never had one single dropout. I don’t use "mesh" equipment, and I don’t use a wireless router. Instead I have a wireless access point, which I believe is significantly higher powered than the wifi provisions that are incorporated in most wireless routers. (The access point is in turn connected via ethernet to a SonicWall hardware firewall which serves as my router). I should add though, that my area is zoned two-acre residential, and the nearest neighboring house is more than 200 feet away. So my wireless connection has essentially no competition.

So under some circumstances, at least, it is certainly possible for wifi to work reliably, even when the signal must traverse multiple rooms and floors.

Finally, in regard to my earlier mention of not wanting to have wallwart power supplies anywhere near my system, the Squeezebox of course uses one. But I have it plugged into a good quality Hammond power strip which includes a power switch, that allows me to conveniently disconnect power to the wallwart when I am listening to my critical sources (LP and CD).

Best regards,

-- Al

Claims that Ethernet has to sound better than WiFi have as much sense as claiming that HDTV connected by Ethernet has better picture than one connected by WiFi. In both cases it is just compressed and buffered data. WiFi can be a real blessing preventing computer from injecting electrical noise directly into DAC.
 
DAC designers might avoid WiFi because of possible dropouts (and not the sound quality).
WiFi dropouts occur because of very limited number of channels since there are only 3 non-overlapping channels (my microwave oven operates on one of them). 5GHz not only has more channels but also poorly penetrates walls, making transmission more immune to outside interference. I had no single dropout on 5GHz for many years and my router is on different floor (basement). My 4k TV streaming also comes thru this WiFi.