Network Switches

The Telegärtner M12 Switch Gold sounds very interesting, but goodness it costs more than my switch, server, LPS, router, and cables combined! Look forward to the day this level of sonic improvement is more affordable with switches/filters. 

I have the EE Switch 8 combined with Network Acoustics ENO cabling and Ethernet filter. The combo is amazing, but not sure if it is up to the M12 in performance. Not done an A/B. I bet it is not, but perhaps a great option for far less money. 
@lalitk,

I bet you will know? What say you?

Telegartner M12 looks fantastic! Thanks for sharing your first impressions @lalitk !

A couple of similar options are Innuos PhoenixNET and the new Synergistic Research switch.

For those with a more budget oriented, this is what I have:

https://nandeaudio.com/product/silent-switch-ocxo/

Prices are in Hong Kong dollars, and I bought direct. The Standard version is less than $800 (US dollars), and the Extreme version is about $1,400 (US)

@grannyring,

We shared the same approach to ‘cleanse’ our home network by employing EE Switch 8 combined with Network Acoustics ENO cabling and Ethernet filter. And they have worked beautifully and effectively.

So what prompted the change? I have been exploring streamer / DAC’s that have adopted to latest i2S protocol (i.e. components supporting uncompressed audio over IP Network) thus eliminating the need to rely on aging USB/AES/SPDIF protocols. You may read about my new digital components in virtual system page,

https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/9445

Back to the topic on hand, a high performance switch like M12 made perfect sense since my new DAC/streamer relies heavily on the robustness of home network. The difference in performance between the two setups (EE8 w/ENO & M12) were far from marginal to fully justify the 3x cost of M12. With M12, everything is more spacious, more energy and openness; you’re certainly more engaged and emotionally connected to your music. The build quality of M12 is first rate (and exquisite) not to mention very robust M12 X-Coded connectors.

My evaluation is not complete as I’m bringing in JCAT LPS along with Signature LAN Cable that will go between M12 switch and Merging +player. I am hoping to retain the stock Telegärtner M12 X-coded/MFP8 IE GOLD LAN Cable between the router and M12 switch, which is quite excellent unless I can justify the 2nd JCAT Signature LAN cable :-)

https://jcat.eu/product/optimo-3-duo/
https://jcat.eu/product/signature-lan-cable-gold-m12-x/

I don't know if this has been posted yet but there's a person over in Germany who has this video on YouTube on how to get the most out of a network switch device and for most DIYers, it looks easy enough to do.

The Cisco Meraki originally went for over $1k but you can get them on eBay for about $100. HIs mods are worth a look:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBvkY034VBk

All the best,
Nonoise