taking a step back, i think part of the fun in this pursuit is trying stuff and finding out for yourself

used (or discounted demo) gear is a good answer... op can buy a used ’audiophile switch’ at a fair price... say 50-60-70% of full retail... try it, decide with his own ears -- if it doesn’t make a positive difference, turn around resell it for little or no haircut

as i ventured through my streaming journey since covid shut us all in a few years... i have basically tried everything worth trying (for me...) in this manner ... streamers, dacs, filters, switches, cables, all of it... and in my own mind, this journey has allow me to figure out what matters to me, in my system, what is of marginal, or just total nonsense, and so on...

yes, there is planning and effort involved, and care needed, also need patience, and some spending power to do this -- but for me it has been (and continues to be) a road well worth travelling

otoh, some of us aren’t really into the journey, don’t want to expend the effort, come here ask a question, just want the simple answer, then they get much input that is contradictory, vocal naysayers abound, and then frustration ensues ...

@mitch2 

Thanks for your reply,

I screwed up. The part above about getting the ifi power was supposed to be for you.  I’m going to order A Pair of 1.25G/s Bidi Gigabit Multi-Mode Fiber Ethernet Media Converter with 2PCS Bidi SFP LC Dual Transceiver Module Included, 10/100/1000Base-Tx to 1000Base-SX SMF RJ45 to SFP Slot up to 550M https://a.co/d/3XpXgoa

first and see if it made a difference and then upgrade the power.

@markprice 

Thanks for the reply. After reading a bit more and listening to the video that @jjss49 provided, I’m guessing that the difference is that switch’s have clocks in them and are reclocking the signal and that’s making the sound difference. I have an older 5 channel Netgear passive switch. I wonder if I’ll hear a difference. 
 

And speaking of the Ref 5’s, I swapped one of the 2 long port tube with a small one in each and have almost stopped using my subwoofer. 😁

@curiousjim 

that's interesting, the short ports work down to 35Hz and the long ports work down to 32Hz suggesting that the short ports would offer you less bass. If you look at my pics you will see I have similar positioning to you. I am about 12' away with a similar gap between speakers. I use 1 long at the bottom and 1 short at the top although I must admit I haven't tried 2 shorts. 2 long ports seem to muddy the bass a bit. My room is constructed completely different to yours, I have no hard surfaces, behind and to the sides of my speakers is carpet on chipboard with insulation behind, any a void behind that. I have almost no reflections in my room. It basically means the system comes 'alive' when you really push it. The manual suggests 2 shorts work better away from the walls. I personally don't use a sub and don't think I need to either. Enjoy!

@curiousjim 

A few years ago, Steve Plaskin (with AudioStream at the time) posted about using fiber converters and 1M of fiber as an isolation technique to reduce noise.  Based on that review, I purchased 1M of cable and two converters, and then later installed my entire 45-foot run with fiber since I figured having only one SMPS near my system was better than having both near my system.  Before long, I switched to LPSs.  I cannot remember how I came on the products that I used, and I am not the right person to ask about which specific converters would offer the best performance but these are what I used:

• converters
• fiber cable
• linear power supplies

For a while, I thought music sounded a little smooth/calmer using fiber from my router to my system, but then when I started trying other isolation products such as the Network Acoustics eno, and later the muon, the effect of using fiber seemed to be no longer necessary and I found that going back to Ethernet cable only for my 45-foot run (CAT8) may even sound slightly better, although the difference seems almost imperceptible. Your plan to start with the converters and then if you like the sound, add LPSs is a good way to start.  FWIW, the iFi power supplies I believe are highly filtered SMPSs but not LPSs.  That doesn't mean they are not quieter.  However, my understanding is that there is a big difference between the iFi SilentPower and the more expensive iFi Power elite.  Good luck.

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