Same results with the Tera cat 7 double shielded round cable. Goodness should have done this a long time ago. Wonder if the Supra cat 8 is better? |
Yes the Tera Grand Cat 7 Ethernet cables at $11 for two 6 foot cables are said by some to sound better than Audioquest Vodka. The connector is also shielded! I am going to try some. Read some online Aphiles reviews saying this stuff bested the big dollar AQ Vodka.
Go to Amazon. |
Agreed! With no burn in my wife easily heard the difference. All cables matter, but I admit I missed the Ethernet cable thinking conventional wisdom was surely right and this cable could not possibly make a difference? Well, once again conventional wisdom is incomplete. Great little find. |
Sorry as I just ran a 25 foot length under my house directly from my main router right into my computer server. No need to terminate for me. Also purchased 3 foot patch cords already terminated for TVs and other home computers.
You would need a special tool available to cut, strip, and connect the wires to the proper jack. Best just buying what you need already terminated. |
We know it doesn't make sense to many of us, but just because we cannot explain it (yet) does not make the experience of better sound impossible. We cannot explain many things around us that are true and happening. Life itself...
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Thanks Al. I should say I replaced an old unshielded Cat 5 cable going through several junction points and terminations with a straight run of the double shielded Cat 7. No mystery I hear better sound quality on my streamed audio based on your post. |
The shielding alone will help in noise reduction. I think this is one area of improvement in my particular case. Best $15 I ever spent is all I know without a doubt! |
Possible, as it is a form of mistreatment and mistreating a cable will indeed cause problems in the future. |
Strange comment or conclusion based on AL's comments? We are talking about a cable that goes into a computer/server etc...
Anyway a better cable with improved shielding will improve most every computer based system . |
What brand computer do you suggest that is built not to reflect the sound of various Ethernet cables? What laptop, streamer, or desktop device is up to snuff to you? |
So you are not even using Ethernet for streaming music? |
Well until you get Tidal and stream with Ethernet how could you possibly know wether two Ethernet cables sound different? Goodness. Nothing like actual experience and evidence. |
Yes indeed the USB cable is very important. I just went to the Curious cable and LOVE it in my rig.
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So you like the Supra more than the Terra in the end? |
Thanks for the update! It is still affordable and perhaps I will try some.
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In some ways you are blessed Shadorne. No need to think about or upgrade wire, connectors, parts, tweaks etc.... |
Agreed! You tired, old, cable naysaying cavemen please let us, the enlightened, talk about Ethernet cable. Yes I did run 50 feet of Tera $30 Ethernet cable and sounds better than my also cheap cat 5 cable...period. IT has no answers, just adherence to conventional wisdom and closed minded thinking. Go away!
There, I said it. Most likely the most direct language this long time and active Agoner ever used. However you guys do tire me with your telling me I am not really hearing, tasting, smelling, or seeing something you have bias not to. |
Good point Rodman. I know some folks cannot hear the difference, what is beyond my understanding as why they assert everyone else, with every other system, must have the same experience and reality. Very narrow and closed minded. I do so tire of those who must have the rest of the world be just like them. They leave no room for truth or real experience beyond what they assume and in rare instances tested for themselves.
Back to Ethernet cables. Everyone in my home could easily hear the difference in the two I tested. Now if I had an average system, then perhaps the system would mask those differences making it hard to discern. I completely understand why some cannot hear differences. No surprise at all really. |
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Malpai, you are right and I usually don't bother. I guess I did not control my impluse well enough here. Self control will now take over. |
Shadorne, I actually agree with you! Great point on even the slightest movement of the head, seating position, humidity, etc...
That is yet one other reason A/B testing is useless. One needs to compare over long periods of time....days and weeks before they really come to grips with changes in sound with wire, tweaks, or gear. You really need to settle in and live with the new sound over a period of many, many days.
Sure out can hear some differences pretty quickly, but how you emotionally and physically respond over a long period of time is most important. What seems "better" in the short term may in fact be irritating over the longer term. |
I like the Tera Grand cat 7 the most out of the cat 5,6, and 7 cables I have tried. Great bass, wonderful meat on the bones, and natural mids/highs. Great in my rig. They cost next to nothing....same price as the stuff you buy at Home Depot etc...
I have only compared really low priced cables however. Amazing the differences however. |
My head hurts! I just know these cables can sound different in a least one instance.....my home, my system, and three sets of different ears listening in my home and on my system. This actual experience was and still is real and real proof. The rest of this is interesting, but no more than that. |
Jinjuko, you have not posted on any other subject or thread, you have no feedback, you just joined Agon one month ago to post here, and no doubt you do not have the audio experience needed to be credible here. Let us discuss our Ethernet cable preferences helping the audio community we love. Your goal, it seems, is quite narrow and off topic. This thread is for those who are audio and music enthusiasts who want to discuss experiences with various Ethernet cables . This is our audio community not simply a place for you to fly in and derail because you don’t like or understand our shared experience. Sure, this forum is "free" for you to dump on, but sometimes the right thing to do is not place a turd in the punch bowl.
I am seeing this sort of thing happen too much here in our community. It is absolutely ruining the experience once afforded by this site.
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Well I assume the only cable that was burned in was the Vodka? That will certainly impact the outcome. Please let us know about the run in time on the other cables.
thanks |
Sell what cables? Who are you are what are you talking about? |
@douglas_schroeder
Wonder if your review is ready as yet? Very interested for sure.
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Nobody heard miracles, but certainly obvious differences that any open minded and eared person can discern. If you can’t, then just play music on Any old wire and call it good. Just enjoy whatever system you think sounds great and no worries if you can’t hear differences in gear, wire, tubes, capacitors, resistors, transformers, fuses, and the like. You' re no less of an audiophile and I still respect you.
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Good for you to have an opinion. Not truth, but just an opinion. Funny how others must think as you for you to be content. No worries, chill and listen.
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Correct Al. Strange how folks assume they have more knowledge, experience, or wisdom on certain matters then all others or even certain others. |
You scare me and I would never take you up on such a ridiculous offer. Strangest thread I have been part of in all my considerable time here on the Gon. Doug, I must leave this thread and look forward to your review brother. |
I use a nice tricked out Sound Science Music Vault computer as my server. I use it to play some 1300 ripped and stored CDs and to listen to Tidal streaming. I use Roon also which is wonderful.
The USB cable used made a significant sound quality improvement/change. I ended up with the Curious USB cable. I tried several and the sound quality differences were easily discernible. The Curious cable was the most full bodied and relaxed and met my personal subjective sound quality needs.
I changed my ethernet cable from a Cat5, if I recall, to a shielded CAT 7 and liked the change. Again, more relaxed and natural sounding. Less of that digital glare we sometimes hear. The cable was purchased from Amazon and was very inexpensive. The sound change was immediate and easily discerned |
@david_ten Thanks for posting. Most interesting. I will look into the WireWorld stuff. |
I think, based on experience, it is close to impossible to translate what one hears to another’s set up. The Terra low cost cable is very warm in my system...not at all bright? Why? My system is different. I go directly from the modem to my Music Vault computer using the Terra with no switches or routers etc...
I found this cable far warmer sounding than the generic Cat 6 in prior use. My gear is also different from Doug’s. Sometimes what one hears from a given wire or component just does not translate in the same manner in another home and system. This must be particularly true with Ethernet cables? Certainly possible with all the various ways we all get the internet signal to our gear.
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You used poor quality cable and thus the test has limited learnings for most of us. Too bad really. Should have tried some nice Wireword etc..., By poor quality, I mean common wire and shielding sort of like comparing Radio Shack speaker wire to Lowe’s speaker wire. I would have been interested in Radio Shack vs Wireworld as an example. Why did you leave out the high quality cables made by Purest or Wireworld and others? Your test missed the mark important to audiophiles. |
Not attempting to do anything but learn what you did. I can’t read your mind and know what you did in the past or even what a “custom”cable is? What is it? No reason to attack and be rude. Your test is still ambiguous to me and others as we have no idea what the custom cable is. Simple to understand my point here right? |
I agree with @geoffkait
I use a Cheap Terra Grand for $10. Will be trying Wireworld. Based on my experience it takes time to really appreciate system changes. I would say at least 3-5 days of various listening sessions. So I will give it a week or so before jumping to a conclusion.
All of of this is so system dependent as to make your test rather limited in conclusions. Nothing wrong with your test or trying, but what is true in that one system is often not perfectly transferable to another system. Just the way it is.
If I don’t hear an improvement I certainly won’t buy another ethernet cable. I will certainly report back here. I actually have an open mind about this, but I realize what I report back on is simply based on my set of ears and my system.
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No, nothing else at play here. Just the experience of seasoned audio hobbiests who have been there, done that with gear and wire and acquired real experiential knowledge and wisdom. All the insults and verbal tantrums will not change this fact. |
Knownothing your points are spot on and I have learned to ignore those that just cannot hear differences and then make the mistake of assuming the same for all others and all other systems. Audiophiles around the world know better and really don’t pay attention to these rather few dogmatists. |
I did over the past week. Ethernet cables and the power supplies to our computers, usb cables, modems, routers, usb cards etc. Amazing how everything’s matters in digital. Everything. |
A couple of Ethernet cables and several linear power supplies. These play a critical and vital role in my overall enjoyment of music. Differences and improvement were easily identified and enjoyed. I am a big boy and can handle this on my own.
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