Thanks for those that helped. Now to report the outcome in hopes that it helps anyone else searching for information like I was.
After weighing all the recommendations from folks here and offline, I decided to run Cat 6 Ethernet. Not even the shielded Cat6a version. I chose Blue Jeans Cable brand. My handyman who is very practiced at fishing cable, ran it along with a $28 run of fiber optic cable simply as a contingency plan should ever wish to experiment with F-O cable.
I used no patch cables or wall plates. The Cat 6 clicks right into what was my comcast gateway’s (router/modem combo) last remaining Ethernet port. Some years ago we ran cat from that router to the Directv box in the living room (fished thru walls/attic also) and did use a wall plate. So we loosened the plate and just rand the BJ cat between the plate and sheet rock. The “unsightliness” is hidden behind a desk. Cat 6 enters the music room upstairs thru a small hole in the sheetrock under a low shelf that’s part of a built in. The hole is not visible even from my seat. The Cat clicks into my Zenith. Zenith to Lyngdorf integrated via USB cable. USB is Acoustic BBQ brand, Full-Rack, Double-Smoked. Made by AG member, Grannyring.
All sounds crazy good to me. Being brand new at streaming, I cannot compare it to other streamers, levels of Cat cable, fiber optic or even USB cables. But it exceeds my expectations and I am one pretty OCD, Audio-Nervosa, hair-splitting Audiophile. Lol. After only a few hours of playing around/comparing, I unplugged the CD player I was using as a transport.
After weighing all the recommendations from folks here and offline, I decided to run Cat 6 Ethernet. Not even the shielded Cat6a version. I chose Blue Jeans Cable brand. My handyman who is very practiced at fishing cable, ran it along with a $28 run of fiber optic cable simply as a contingency plan should ever wish to experiment with F-O cable.
I used no patch cables or wall plates. The Cat 6 clicks right into what was my comcast gateway’s (router/modem combo) last remaining Ethernet port. Some years ago we ran cat from that router to the Directv box in the living room (fished thru walls/attic also) and did use a wall plate. So we loosened the plate and just rand the BJ cat between the plate and sheet rock. The “unsightliness” is hidden behind a desk. Cat 6 enters the music room upstairs thru a small hole in the sheetrock under a low shelf that’s part of a built in. The hole is not visible even from my seat. The Cat clicks into my Zenith. Zenith to Lyngdorf integrated via USB cable. USB is Acoustic BBQ brand, Full-Rack, Double-Smoked. Made by AG member, Grannyring.
All sounds crazy good to me. Being brand new at streaming, I cannot compare it to other streamers, levels of Cat cable, fiber optic or even USB cables. But it exceeds my expectations and I am one pretty OCD, Audio-Nervosa, hair-splitting Audiophile. Lol. After only a few hours of playing around/comparing, I unplugged the CD player I was using as a transport.