Sound quality differences in streamers

Many years ago, when I got my Auralic Aries streamer, it sounded better than my modded laptop, but not night & day better.  I decided to try an experiment.

The stock DC umbilical cord to the factory LPS looked really cheap and flimsy.   I DIY’d a new DC umbilical cord out of 20 awg pure OCC copper solid core wiring.  Huh!  You got to be kidding me! The same streamer sounded much, much better.  Totally leaving the modded laptop in the dust.   Later, I replaced the factory LPS with a more powerful after-market low noise LPS.  Another substantial jump in sound quality.   The sound quality jumped again when I plugged the streamer's LPS into a power conditioner.   This totally disproved the theory that it’s only 1’s & 0’s.     Of course, a high-quality, well-designed streamer with all the tweaks built-in is going to cost more. 

As @sns pointed out, those who already own expensive streamers don’t regress back down the food chain.  They only go up.  If the budget allows, it’s worth it.

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BTW, I don’t use a waveform monitor to listen.   My ears do that.  They know what a piano sounds like.  I listen to a real one often.

@mdalton     In your attempt to support your position, you stated that you were  guessing at an imaginary % based on a discussion thread that was in no way a credible statistical model for evaluation.  That’s a non-sequitur to say the least.

The elements for a good statistical poll include:

• A set of questions to ask (a questionnaire)¹.
• A sample of people to interview¹.
• A method of connecting the questions and respondents¹.
• Survey error reduction and positive social exchange².
• Short and clear questions, avoiding leading questions³.
• A mix of closed-ended and open-ended questions to gather diverse data³.

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I was trying edit my previous post when I business call came in.  I deleted it to give full attention to my client.

The so-called ’digital realm’ takes place on an analog carrier.

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The link below is a worthwhile read.  It is an enlightening discussion about 1’s & 0’s and square waves by AudiogoN veterans:

- Almarg (physicist & multiple patent holder, RIP) 

- Audioengr (Steve Nugent, former design-team lead at Intel Corp & holder of 22 patents)

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https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/square-waves-or-1-s-and-0-s

@devinplombier 

Thx for the laugh.   Your dismissiveness and bemusing discombobulations are reminiscent of William F. Buckley Jr. *   I’ll just ignore your passive-aggressive behavior.   I’ve dealt with worse arrogance in the corporate world and in academia – of which I suspect you’re a member.

The Intel reference was from Steve Nugent’s own bio.   Perhaps, you should contact him for not bragging more about designing the Pentium II.

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* Not a compliment.

@devinplombier

That old Audiogon thread veers into a ditch early on due to an argument over, I guess, the physical representation of a digital signal being transmitted over a wire?

What a strange comment.

Apparently, you might not be aware that there is wire in ethernet cables and coax cables - as referenced to in the OP’s question.   

Apparently, you might not be aware ’that old Audigon thread’ has content that is still valid today. 

Apparently, you might not be aware of the difference between an argument and a discussion.