What LAN cable are you use on the streaming system?

Doubt it - the dreadful RJ45 abomination might - the most horrible connector ever, not Naim's fault, it is down to some dude called Registered Jack. 

There are also RJ45 connectors with a CAT6 specification available ...

You should only use shielded Ethernet cables *IF* the whole cable path between the two Ethernet devices being connected carry through the shielding. If you're connecting a device directly to a switch or router then this is fine but if you have a proper wired infrastructure in your property that is cabled with UTP then using shielded Ethernet cables can be detrimental to the performance of that link (as the shield is unterminated at one end and then acts as an antenna and can affect the inductance / capacitance of the cable detrimentally).

Cheers

Phil

The RJ45 isn't that bad - it has a positive lock, the small contact area makes for quite a decent contact pressure, the connector housing is actually quite rugged and, when used for Ethernet, is electrically isolated from the internal circuitry of the devices being connected.

I can think of *MANY* connectors that are worse for various reasons ... SCART (the contacts fall apart after a few insertions and have no locking), eSATA (no locking and the connector itself isn't really up to the job of supporting the weight of the cable), SATA (perversely, has had locking added even though eSATA hasn't and the cable end connectors can deform and "wilt" over time), HDMI (generally no positive locking and the connectors are put under a lot of strain by teh hefty cables that are out there)...

Cheers

Phil

Hi Phil,

You mean if i connect the NDX and NAS to the switch, then no need use the STP, is it right?

Cheers,

marcobb

In a domestic environment there should be no *REQUIREMENT* to use shielded Ethernet cables at all but - assuming that the shielding is carried through between devices - there won't be any harm in doing so.

I have to say that I can't tell any difference between shielded and unshielded in my own system at home and my personal preference is to use unshielded wherever possible as then the two devices being connected do remain electrically isolated.

Phil

Believe it or not, I hear differences (not big, but clearly audible) between different ethernet cables, not only between shielded and unshielded but even between different unshielded Cat5e cables. Same does my (very good and trustworthy) Naim dealer as well as other users on Internet forums. I am no IT specialist or technician so I can only speculate on this. Of course it's not the transmitted data itself that's different. Maybe is has to do with RFI injections or error correction that affects the processor load. I think this whole streaming audio thing isn't really researched enough from a Hifi point of view.