Ethernet Cables

Monoprice Entigrade cat 8

OK, let's think this through...  What kind of ethernet cable is carrying the signal to the router and possibly to the internal switch in the house?  It's generally marginal semi-junk that is just sufficient to carry the signal.  Cheap copper.  

So what's the point in purchasing $500 ethernet cable?  Just use off-the-shelf cable that is rated above the speed of the connection.

@cdc2 
Just saying.....
If the ethernet cable in your house negate any benefit from the Supra or ViaBlue cables, then all the people that assert that one cable or another makes the music sound better, are wrong. It also brings into question the whole aftermarket power cables industry.

@tony1954

As it should.

Cat 6a/Cat 8 send data packets over TCP. There is no difference between a cable from monoprice versus a $500 cable. You are an idiot for paying $500 for a ethernet cable. There is no difference in sound quality because you're sending the packets over TCP/IP which has a built in retransmit if it doesn't get an ACK (acknowledgement packet). 

Can anyone really believe this bullcrap that extra copper in a cable is going to change the way something digital sounds? It's all ones and zeros. The $500 cable doesn't change anything about how TCP packets get transmitted through your network. Might as well replace your router and your switches as well because they  aren't built with enough copper. 

You can make a case that analog signals degrade and are affected by interference or attenuation (loss of signal across distance. Cat 5/6/etc have that limit as well, so does fiber, but if you're really concerned about signal interference, just buy STP (shielded twisted pair) cat cable that has foil that provides some cover. It's unnecessary for a home environment, but whatever.