@curiousjim
First, a short answer to your question then a more detailed write up of my experiences comparing the AmazonBasics Cat 6 Ethernet cable to the Supra cable.
Benefits that I heard due to the cleaner sound from the Supra cable were:
- More presence to voices and instruments which sound more forward and distinct in presentation
- Richer tonality
- Less grain to the sound
- Better resolution due to a lower noise floor (This is audible when comparing a cleaner signal to one that is less clean)
- Easier to follow bass lines
- Pace seems faster due to more clarity and better definition to the leading edge of notes.
My detailed notes of my listening impressions:
To start off, the AmazonBasic Cat 6 Ethernet cable didn’t sound bad at all, but the Supra Cat 8 cable sounded substantially better. I don’t tend to waste much time going back and forth on tracks listening for subtle differences. I tend to focus on whether differences are pretty obvious to me. And, yes. These listening impressions are not based on blind listening so take these as subjective impressions.
My impressions of the Supra cable versus the AmazonBasics cable on tracks that I used for comparison.
More presence, voices and instruments are more forward in presentation and more distinct. Sounds is tonality richer. Less grain to the sound. - Too Much Alike, Robert Plant & Patty Griffin on Digging Deep: Subterranea
Easier to follow bass lines. - Smoke on the Water, Deep Purple, Machine Head
Pace seems faster due to more clarity and better definition to the leading edge of notes. - Route 66,, Depeche Mode, Music for the Masses
Felt that there was a tremendously more power behind crescendoes producing a greater sense of tension in the music. More clarity, smoothness, and finesse but also better precision and articulation on the faster paced violin solos. The sound of Lisa Batiashvilli’s violin is noticeably smoother and more pleasant in tone. The tone of her violin on the AmazonBasics cable seemed a bit coarse. Crescendoes are more powerful, but also less edgy in sound. Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto, 1st Movement, Lisa Batiashvilli, Staatskapelle Berlin
Typani have more fullness and definition. Again, the same type of power behind crescendoes as I heard in the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto. More finesse in how the interaction between instruments are conveyed. Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances, Op. 45, First Movement, London Symphony Orchestra, Vladimir Jurowski
The complex, multi-layered rhythms are are more effortlessly conveyed & much more easily understood. I hear this when listening to this recording on vinyl, but realized that following the rhythms in this track when streaming can sometimes be more difficult. It feels like it takes less mental effort to listen to this track when the Supra cable is in place. More fullness in how the voices at the beginning of the track are reproduced. Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes, Paul Simon, Graceland
Guitar sounds faster and more articulate. Layover, Michael Hedges, Breakfast in the Field.
I was listening to both on Sunday night and one interesting observation that I had was that I had a serious case of ’Let’s hear that again’ when the Supra cable was in my system and ending up listening to the same track 3 or 4 times. I was pretty tired when I was listening on Sunday night and the AmazonBasics cable didn’t seem to have that same effect on me. In fact, I was literally falling asleep when the Amazon cable was in, but putting the Supra cable in would perk me up. The Supra cable seems to convey both more energy behind the music as well as a smoother sound (less harshness).
