Ethernet connection for best sound quality

@vinylshadow I have Empire streamer/DAC. It is hands down the best sounding streamer/DAC I have owned besting the Lumin X1 using it's fiber input. Unfortunately I may be selling it as a business opportunity has come up.

@ron1264  Thank you for your feedback. I've heard the Empire was as you experienced.

Best of luck with your business opportunity!

I have been researching streamers since I mostly use headphones for my music listening now since the wife of 37 years has issues when I listen to my 2-channel system due to loud listening levels. So, as they say, happy wife happy life.

My current headphone rig:

Headphones: Denon AH-D9200’s (closed back) and Senn HD 650 (open back). Contemplating buying the ZMF Caldera

DAC: Schiit Bifrost 2/64

Amp: Schiit Folkvangr with Mullard E88CC tubes.

I have been using my custom PC I built since I am still a gamer at the age of 57. The cost of the PC was over 5k and the most expensive part was the GPU (ASUS RTX 4090). The PSU is a Corsair AX1600i (80 PLUS Titanium) at $610 (USD). I believe the PSU is the heart of the system. The CPU is a i9-13900KS and I am using 32gb of Corsair DDR5 ram. The motherboard is an ASUS Z790 ROG Maxiumus Hero. Storage used is 2 Samsung 990 Pro 2TB on the motherboard and an 8TB Samsung QVO SSD. I connect my PC via USB to the Schiit Bifrost 2/64 DAC. I do not hear any audible noise when the music is not playing.

I use Tidal and Apple music for streaming. I have used iTunes for many years before Tidal and I like using it. I have connected my iPad Pro via the Apple lightening to USB adapter to my Schiit DAC. I have recently purchased a Mac Mini M2 Pro (16gb, 1tb SSD) as my streamer.  Comparing my custom PC to the Mac Mini M2 Pro I give the edge to my PC for sound quality. I bought the Mac Mini as an open box at Microcenter for $1,100 (retail $1,499), yes, I know Apple products cost money. I like the small foot print of the Mac Mini and I remember attending the stereo show in SOCAL (THE SHOW) pre covid and many of the exhibit rooms were using a Mac Mini as their music server.

I also own a Oppo 205 in my main system and after reading one of the posts I may use it as a streamer. There is a lot of talk on the internet about the Eversolo DMP-A6 as a streamer, it is currently on Amazon at $859 and I have contemplated trying it. I have been advised to try the Lumin U2 ($5k) or the HiFi Rose RS250A ($2,695). My thoughts are the streamer is sending a digital signal (not going to use the DAC in the streamer) to my DAC and the DAC should take care of the processing. Decisions, decisions.          

Reading this entire thread (almost) I've come to the conclusion that  I know less than anyone in the conversation and about that there is no doubt. All I want is to connect my HiFi Rose 150 to my audio system and since it also provides You Tube to the TV as well.

Have a tech coming over, he asks me to pick up the cables. Have the modem, from another thread supposedly picked the right modem. Need the cables from modem to the Rose, Rose to Preamp, Rose to tv.

Can't tell you what  is needed to bring in Tidal or Quboze. Not afraid to get upgraded cables  Don't want wifi, all hardwired. Anyone with a knowledge of this, your help would be most appreciated. 

The dealer I purchased from has other things to do that are apparently more important. The unit will be on the way to vintage before I can get it hooked up.

Ignoring the sound better magic or not, I was checking up on the specs that have emerged since I retired ( we used fiber almost exclusively anyway)

7,  7a and 8 standards are proposed but will use proprietary connectors. Not RJ45s

Prices on cables have come way down. ( beware of source) 

Plain old CAT-5, UTP is of course sufficient for anything in audio unless you need magic .

5e is a little better with bonded pairs.  6 and 6a have a center core for more consistent impedance. 6a is also a little smaller.  CAT 5 to 6a may or may not have an overall shield. 6 and 6a may have individual pairs shielded.  CAT 6 connectors fit RJ-45 but are staggered pins in the crimp.  You are still looking at 10 ee-13 error rates or less with layer 2 fixing any that may happen.  TCP/IP is absolutely reliable bit for bit.  As with anything, I would not trust Amazon/E-Bay etc that the cables actually meet spec. Unfortunately BJC cables are not shielded but they are tested to spec.  So I have no guaranteed source for shielded cable. 

So for the paranoid, or want it because it is available, or bragging rights, whatever, 6a shielded is reasonably priced now.  I noticed most of the Netgear switches all have shielded ports now.  If you believe you need fantastic speeds for your streamer, you can get managed switches so the Internet to your streamer has priority.    You can even get a D-link or Netgear switch with a sticker on it for 20 times the price that says "audio quality"  It may have a better power supply. If you buy a data-center class switch from Cisco, it may be cleaner. 

I noticed the older unmanaged 5 port usually used 5V, but most 8 port and manages switches use 12V.  A couple turns around a big fat ferrite will knock any RF off those cables feeding the switches.  

I may upgrade as I have a WI-FI repeater and going PoE reduces the wiring mess.

We can measure anything in a data cable. We can't tell you which measurements may cause an audible difference. We can't tell you how well your device ports were executed. We can't tell you how good your Internet MODEM and router are but they can be measured.   This is the same in analog cables. We can measure, but that does not tell us what we need to target. Too many unknowns on both ends.   Without measurement I can absolutely tell you, no cable can add any detail that was not in the original source. That is magic.