The EtherREGEN thread for various network, cable, power experiences and experiments

[Discopants]

I recently changed my final B out ethernet cable from a chord C stream to an AQ vodka.

 

Immediate impressions were the differences were nil to very marginal in favour of AQ. The next day I thought it was a bit better again and possibly a tiny bit better again the following day, but all within the realms of am I imagining it... ?

 

I left it in , I had picked it up 2nd hand for a good price.

 

A week later I picked up a 2nd hand DIY Paul Hynes PR 3 regulated toroidal LPS with a captive kimber PBJ   DC lead. I’m feeding it with an early Isotek optimum power cord which is a shielded design , I bought it 2nd hand for about £50. There is an SR blue fuse in the plug. This was a very obvious and significant improvement over the little meanwell brick (which I also had on the same isotek power cord).

Five days later again after having dropout issues and reading other threads I put my old Cisco 2960 in front of the Etherregen and also powered this with another Isotek Optima powercord I think this one has an Isoclean fuse. This not only fixed my dropout issues it also gave another noticeable lift To sound quality (I’m amazed how many levels of SQ there are it seems never ending).

 

treble is more relaxed, bass too , I thought it was clean before..... wrong! more details there too, my sound stage has actually shrunk a bit though in height , my images are better defined and there is more depth but a noticeable drop in height.

 

I would equate the LPS and Cisco before ER changes to be the equivalent or possibly even a bit better than putting the ER in the system in the first place. I may also now actually be getting more benefits from the AQ vodka (trouble is I cant confirm that as the short C stream is now running from my cisco to the ER. I will now also look into going fibre between the Cisco and the ER.

 

I have all my system on isolation , stillpoints ultra SS under Rel Stentor iii. Double stacked black ravioli mk 1 with an oak cone top under my Lyngdorf TDAI 3400. Black ravioli big foot under Isotek Sigmas Gii power conditioner. BR small under ER, BR mk1 under apple TV 4th gen and just oak cones for now under the Cisco. Townshend speaker bars under standmount Proac tablette 10 signature monitors.

 

Perfect path technologies total contact, alpha e cards and omega emats. SR blue and orange fuses, liberal use of fo.q damping tape and a russ andrews ultra purifier (also under BR mk1 and oak cones).

 

The sound of the system now just amazes me the room fills with sound with 3 D imaging and very good tonality. I just know that there is still some more on the table and Im going to experiment with more power cords and isolation and a DC blocker modification to my power consitioner but Im keeping the budget for that to sensible levels. 

[Discopants]

There is a separate thread for troubleshooting,  I haven't tried fibre yet but on the troubleshooting thread making sure the SFP modules are firmly docked is mentioned a lot so try that and take a look at that other thread for more ideas.

[Discopants]

The reset button is different to the resetting the settings to factory default, which is what you may need to do as the 2960 is a managed switch.

 

I had to do it with my one (well the guys at work did it for me in 10 minutes) it would have been a right pain for me as I'm technically challenged with IT.

[Discopants]

4 minutes ago, Dutch said:

Not true, here in The Netherlands I can get the same deal now and earlier this year.

online dealer ? What is the price for 3 fuses ?

[Discopants]

I just tried an akiko audio castello grounding block here for the last few weeks had the Etherregen,  the TV and the Lyngdorf TDAI3400 connected to it. 

 

If it was doing anything it was very marginal. Thought it improved piano tone a tiny bit and bass a tiny bit but not convinced that I wasn't imagining even that. 

 

I do run 4 different power conditioners and star grounding and the Etherregen, guessing that I'm hitting stuff at source.

 

I still need to put my Chinese clock in the system.

[Discopants]

Supra is supposed to be better than most at the budget end and outperforms cables 4 or 5 times more expensive allegedly. I have AQ  vodka which I picked up 50% off retail 2nd hand i cant say it was noticably better than chord c stream that it replaced. Sablon has plenty of fans as you can see, I might try one of those 1 day.

[Discopants]

I've finally implemented OM3 optical connection between my cisco2960 and the Etherregen.

 

Wow fantastic improvement,  bass even more solid crisper treble better tonal accuracy. Just listened to Dylan, rough and rowdy ways I can hear the differences in gravel in his voice super clearly. 

 

These are the units I bought 2nd hand on eBay

 

Cisco GLC-SX-MM 30-1301-02 1000Base-SX SFP

 

Using 1m of OM3 patch cable.

 

Total cost to me for 2 sfp and the patch cable £11. Best bang for the buck ever.... I suspect I may be able to hear differences in the Etherregen to TDAI cables now , will swap between my AQ vodka and chord C stream and report back later. 

[Discopants]

First go, I went for the older tech as I like to recycle , knew the speed wasn't an issue.

 

I suspect if there is a difference in SQ it's in how much rfi/emf the sfp modules kick out. Can't see the patch cable making any difference. 

 

 

[Discopants]

5 hours ago, chungjh said:

Which cisco2960 did you use? There are many.

 

It's ws-C2960-8tc-l   8 port fanless unit (no longer supported by cisco). 

[Discopants]

What do audioholics think about Ethernet regenerator I wonder.....

 

Q

[Discopants]

Yesterday I had fibre ISP installed to my property which came with a new router and a SMPS and also the ONT box has a little SMPS. 
 

my previous router I have also running on SMPS. Everything else remains the same.

 

15m of cat 6a to a cisco 2960 8 port non gigabyte version. I use the SFP out to ER and a chinese BGTL clock. Linear power supplies on ER and clock an Oyaide word clock cable and audioquest vodka out to a Lyngdorf 3400. Isotek sigmas power conditioner feeds ER, clock, amp apple tv4k and my TV. The cisco doesnt sit on the isotek. I have DIY power cords and orange and blue fuses throughout.

 

the noise floor since switching to fibre ISP is much lower, that is either the router being quieter or its power supply being better or its the change from copper to fibre or a combination of all 3. I will never know but my system has never sounded better. I still have my copper ISP in place and have left it plugged in so I can A to B the delta is very clearly audible.

 

YMMV

 

I stream qobuz and youtube (apple TV just feeds out from the cisco via chord C stream to apple tv4k and even that sounds amazing without seeing the ER)

 

I have my whole system very well isolated from mechanical vibrations with lots of black ravioli products and copious use of fo.q tape. I have a coherent RTZ 1 with 4 leads to the Lyngdorf and a few other grounding tweaks elsewhere plus lots of other tweaks.

 

 

 

[Discopants]

Etherregen plus Ferrum Hypsos at 10.1V is insanely good.

 

Going to have to put a purple fuse in the Hypsos next I think