Ethernet cables

[feelingears]

Hi, do you have your system all wired, or is there wi-fi in the signal path? Just curious.

 

My system could benefit from some "brightness" and so the Supra is tempting based on your report and @guidof 's posts. I just got some BJC Cat 6 (thanks @jtwrace - I found the same thing elsewhere) and they sound fine. Balanced, although perhaps the bass is fuller/a little less tight at first compared to the generic cables that preceded them. At $20 I haven't bothered to try swapping. Burn-in seems to have helped although I'll hear in few weeks...

[feelingears]

Also, post 1409 from the microRendu thread (sorry I don't know how to quote another thread):

 

FWIW

I've found that the fastest ethernet cable I installed sounded better. I tried a demo of audioquest, 6a, & Rosewill CAT7, (which is really not CAT7, but CAT7 with a CAT6 RJ-45 connector). Can't afford Acoustic Revive or Meicord. So I tried fiber & it sounded better than Rosewill. I couldn't tell the difference between Rosewill and A/Q. So i have a 30ft fiber run. Two TP-Link FMCs, 2 jameco LPS, & a $17 run of fiber cable is cheaper than many "audiophile" CAT6. Total price was around $120 shipped.

 

[feelingears]

Oh, thanks @Guidof for the recommendation. You were spot on. Also, I haven't compared this to the BJC Cat 6 cable, so I can't determine the accuracy of their comments.

 

Okay, now I can--I couldn't resist. I just got my Supra Cat 8s today. One meter for NAS to Airport Extreme. One meter for Airport Express to microRendu.

 

Straight outta Compton, they are slightly "better" than my burned-in BJC Cat 6a (turns out I got the wrong cable--I thought I ordered Cat 6 and in fact have a longer run of their Cat 6 in my wish list--sigh). And, I recall the BJC cable being better than the generic cable it replaced.

 

How much better? Subtle but not critical. Is it worth the premium to me? Now that I have them, yes. Am I keeping the Supras? Yes. Would I have bought them had I heard the two in my system beforehand? Probably--being an audiophile means I spend more on my audio tweaks than I do on, say, kitchen gadgets.

 

In my system, there is slightly lower, tighter bass. I like how I can hear a bit more electric bass string snap on one of my test tracks. And some extra high-frequency keyboard detail comes through on another track that I don't recall hearing before. But would you miss this stuff if you hadn't heard the cables side by side? Perhaps if you use the same tracks often and listen for detail rather just listen as background noise. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.)

[feelingears]

I have to smile when I see Sota Sapphire in someone's sig! Read all about 'em long ago but never heard one. Luckily you don't need Ethernet with that rig.

 

Cheers.

[feelingears]

Okay, now I can--I couldn't resist. I just got my Supra Cat 8s today. One meter for NAS to Airport Extreme. One meter for Airport Express to microRendu.

 

...

 

In my system, there is slightly lower, tighter bass. I like how I can hear a bit more electric bass string snap on one of my test tracks. And some extra high-frequency keyboard detail comes through on another track that I don't recall hearing before. But would you miss this stuff if you hadn't heard the cables side by side? Perhaps if you use the same tracks often and listen for detail rather just listen as background noise. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.)

 

Okay, at the risk of losing all credibility (and probably deserving it!), I burned my cables in 24/3 (3 days) and gave another listen. I'll just say that the sound was coherent and nicely detailed. High end was better than I recalled. But. Something was niggling at me. Yeah, it was my old gremlin, the bass. It just wasn't quite as separated as before in the attacks and decays of the bass guitar and upper bass/lower midrange.

 

So, I put the BJC Cat 6a cables back in and Bob's yer uncle as they say. Well, this is why it's a fun hobby although this one cost me a nice dinner out. Going back to the BJC, it sounds like I've lost some of the high end that is so smooth and extended with the Supras, but I got back the toe-tappin' head bobbin' bump. I can easily see people who like treble transparency going for the Supras. BJCs have more soundstage too.

 

I'll give the Supras another try after a while but for now, post less, listen more. Hope this helps, YMMV and all.

[feelingears]

Just ordered 3 foot runs of the BJC 6 and 6a. Relatively inexpensive investment for a fun test. I'll tell you what I find. From reading the thread, what I'm gathering is stock cable is a crapshoot, and the table appears to be rigged. The BJC is certified and consistent, making it a good reference for 6 and 6a to compare against other cables and each other. I'm curious to see what I find. What I know about the Supra is that I had a consistent upper midrange and upper vocal distotion on cetain recordgings that was driving me crazy. I tried everything to remove it, even upgrading from a Chord 2Qute to a Bricasti and changing and Aurender to the microRendu. While both turned out to be better products, they didn't remove the distortion. I changed interconnects and power cables, etc. I also swapped out stock cat 6, 7, and 8 cables, all with no luck. When I installed the Supras, it was fixed.

 

I like your solution(s)! Glad that you nixed that annoyance, but sorry it seems to have cost you so much time and money.

 

Part of what makes this fun for me is finding enjoyable differences if there are any. Before the mRendu, these were typically big moves like changing speakers. I got little changes out of cables and largely wasn't interested in toying around with other cables though there were differences (often negative with my Naim gear). But with the microRendu, subtleties have become more prominent. Very much so in some cases. I didn't expect to hear any difference with Ethernet cables, but there they are.

 

The Supras do some nice things. I will try them again after I burn them in on my network for a longer time as I heard a similar effect with bass on an interconnect cable: great high frequencies, great PRaT, smooth midrange, but recessed and blurrier bass. Maybe that's the way it goes, or maybe they need to burn in much longer. I dunno.