SOtM dCBL-CAT8M - Is this the new reference in LAN cables?

Responding back with some new info since my last post here on this topic.

I’ve been using an SOTM ISO-Cat7 filter and SOTM 30cm Ethernet cable between my router and my streamer for the past month or so. The streamer is an Ifi Zen Stream with an LHY 12-Volt linear supply.
I feel the presentation improved after adding the ISO-Cat7 as I already reported.
Of course, after awhile you just get used to it .. but my system has been sounding the best it’s been despite the entry level streamer.

A couple of days ago I purchased a used Etherregen of the forum. I’m currently testing it out, and I have to say I think it’s an improvement over the ISO-Cat7 filter.

I tried different configurations with and without the ISO-Cat7 and am currently listing with it coming straight out of the router via the little SOTM 30cm cable, then a Linkup Cat8 patch into the Etherregen, then out via another Linkup patch into the Zen Stream. I may take the SOTM filter back out to do more testing but so far this is pretty amazing as far as an improvement goes. I can only say it feels more relaxed and less strained.

My LHY 12V power supply has two outputs so I think I can also power the Etherregen off of it in addition to the Zen Stream. Currently just using the brick switcher that came from Uptone.

Very happy with this and with the continued incremental changes

thanks for all the valuable information

For what it’s worth , the rest of the stereo is:

Ifi Zen Stream > Triode Wire Labs USB cable > Denafrips Iris DDC > Triode Wire Labs SPDIF Coax cable > Border Patrol se-i DAC > Triode Wire Labs Spirit 2 RCA cables > Van Alstine RB10 tube preamp > Triode Wire Labs Spirit 2 RCA cables > Van Alstine SET 120 power amp > Supra Rondo speaker cables > Fritz Carbon SE mk-ii loudspeakers.

Sorry if this is off-topic.  I just got an Sotm dcBL-Cat7u cable and the iso-cat7.

I'm using a Paul Pang network switch and an Innuos Pulse streamer. Question is whether to put the Cat7u cable or the Iso-Cat7 filter first, into the switch.

The local dealer said that putting the Iso-Cat7 filter before the cat7u cable gives better sound. But in the literature for the dcBl-Cat7 and Iso-Cat6 package that Sotm was selling some time ago, it was recommended to put the cable first before the filter. 

I can try both, but with the cable being so stiff, it is quite hard to reach behind my setup to make changes.

Hi @in1voice 

I had a very similar setup to yours.  It was:

Netgear Orbi Satellite => ISOCAT7 => Cat7u => Innuos Zenith 3

I was in communication with May Park at SOtM at the time and this was the configuration she advised.  I did also ask her where a decent audiophile switch should go in this chain and she advised it go before the ISOCAT7.  So this seems to agree with your dealer's advice.

There's a big "however" here.

For me, this setup didn't really improve my SQ.  It was brittle, digital, sibilant.  Not at all what I was aiming for.  In desperation I bought an Uptone EtherRegen (not dissimilar to your Paul Pang perhaps), and put it before the ISOCAT.  But no improvement was observed.

I was about to sell the ER on again, when I tried taking the ISOCAT out of the setup, and BOOM:  magic.  The harshness disappeared.  It was day and night.  It appeared that the ISOCAT was undoing the good work of the ER.

I have since significantly upgraded my ER "ecosytem" (see below), each improvement bringing more.  

The ISOCAT was sold on.

Current setup:

Orbi =>  Startech FMC with Finisar FTLX1471D3BTL   =>  Phoenix Contact fiber cable   =>  EtherRegen  with Plixir BDC Elite LPS;  and AfterDark King clock with LPS and Oyaide BNC cable   =>  Cat7u    =>  Zenith

Hi lollipopguild, thanks for the reply. 

It seems from your experience, the ER is better than the IsoCat7.

In fact, I had the dcBL-cat7 cable for a short while, before I managed to get the Cat7u cable and the iso-cat7 as a set.  Comparing the Cat7 cable alone, versus the Cat7u and IsoCat7, there is a big improvement in smoothness and imagining. Things seem more holographic.  I will try to put the IsoCat7 ahead of the cable and see what happens. 

Certainly the ER is a tempting option!  Do the external clock make a big difference to the ER?

@in1voice , by the way, is this the full length CAT7u, or the short filterless version which comes with the red ISOCAT7?

Yes, the clock made an enormous improvement, and continues to do so as it’s only 2 weeks old. It can take up to a month, apparently, for the crystal to fully stabilise.

The EtherRegen is extremely good, and highly scalable. Version 1 can only be found 2nd hand, if you’re lucky. And version 2, when it arrives, will be highly sought after.

Saying all that; what I’ve spent on it, plus the LPS and the clock I could have bought an Innuos PhoenixNet with. I would also have had far fewer cables.