Tweaking the network, surprising results…

I’m a complete skeptic when it comes to Ethernet switches, “audiophile” CAT cables and so forth.

i was too... emphasis on ’was’... it matters

a cleaned up digital feed helps produce correct spatial information, provides the music a sense of natural ease, improves bass slam depth and tone noticeably

like anything in this hobby/pursuit, there are money-smart ways of achieving these objectives, and then there are empty-the-wallet methods

Yep, your experience mirrors mine. I now have lps on every component, my best power cords, everything goes into my BPT transformer based PC. I gave up on switches some time ago, diminished sound quality vs my lps powered Netgear Nighthawk.

Makes sense these optimizations work, lowered noise floor results in better sound in both analog and digital equipment.

Still pretty new with the whole "network" portion of audio but have been playing around with it for the last 6 weeks or so. Started out just running standard ethernet cable & moved from that to fiber with a pair of Ethernet to Fiber converters. Also added a switch just prior to the first converter.

So in short... Went from a single 50' ethernet cable from the router to the streamer to:

• 1 meter Audioquest Pearl ethernet cable from router to switch
• 1 meter Audioquest Pearl ethernet cable from switch to Ethernet / Fiber converter
• 10 meters of fiber
• 1 meter Pangea Premier SE ethernet cable from Ethernet/Fiber converter to switch

After that I upgraded power supplies (of the 1 switch & 2 ethernet to fiber converters) with ifi iPower X units. Was so impressed with the improvement from the power supplies that I upgraded the streamer power supply with a Nuprime LPS-212. Very nice improvement with clarity, detail, & soundstage.

Something else to consider that helped improve clarity was covering the short ethernet runs with expandable copper flex "tubing".   

Thanks for chiming in fellas,

it’s 1230am right about now and I’ve been sitting here for the past couple hours playing track after track of recordings that I’m extremely familiar with and I keep trying to wrap my head around how things have changed. The soundstage on some really good recordings has deepened substantially. “Yuko Mabuchi plays Miles Davis” / La&Oc Audio Society / Yarlung records / Qobuz, has gone from deep to WTF deep. There definitely are other things in the soundscape that have changed, need more listening to pick out what they are exactly….this is a pretty cool audiophile experiment.

Welcome to the world of hi-fi.  So glad that you were open minded enough  to try a few things. As your resolution  increases  changes ate way easier to hear. 

On the power side of things if you feel like it buy a furutech  receptacle  for your wall plug. That is huge as well

A free thing people will laugh at you but  use a Google quality  level and make sure your speakers  are perfect  and they are exactly  the same height.  Put a straight edge over the top of them and have the straight edge lined up on the two inside corners see if the outside corners are the same distance  from the straight edge. If not make sure they are. You are making sure the toe in is correct. Make sure the speakers are solid to the floor as well. 

Get that all done and as you get that done have a listen  each time. If interested you can pm me and I can keep you busy for a month or two of free upgrades and you will be amazed at the end result.  

Regards