Audioquest Cat7 cables

On a Dutch website for Hifi enthusiasts, there was a test/review of the AudioQuest Cat7 cables versus regular Cat5e/6. The conclusion was there was a clear difference in SQ in favor of the audioQuest cat7. Apparantly they are very good! Did not audition them myself.

cheers,

iver

I auditioned, then borrowed, then bought the Vodka cable. It makes a significant and positive difference. This, of course, makes no sense, but what can you do? I wasn't expecting to upgrade my ethernet cables but they were recommended by my (equally bemused) dealer.

Keith

When my system and computer were in the same room I ran a 16' Cat7 cable to my ND5 XS. Now that they are in different rooms I've run a 100' Cat6 cable between them. I can hear no difference whatsoever.

I have run various lengths and configurations of Cat 5 and 6 and never heard an audible difference either.

Thank you for the answers. So, with a NDX, U-Serve & NAS you will need 3 Audioquest cables if you want to go that way, correct?

//Jonas

Well you need to connect the nas to the uServe, and the uServe to the NDX.  Do you use a switch?

When you stream via WiFi, make sure that air humidity is sufficient. Otherwise your music might sound a little harsh ...

I have auditioned the Vodka at home and subsequently bought it. It seems to clean and tighten things up to an extent that is noticeable in my system. They shouldn't make a difference but in my case they do. Compared to the cost of the rest of the system the outlay is inconsequential . I don't know if it's RFI or what. I had chokes on before and these didn't make a difference.

that's funny 

Less neurosis  ?

With Cat7 each conductor has its own shielding. It supports 100 Gbit transmission, which is irrelevant in terms Naim gear. Does Naim gear even support gigabit ethernet, or is still at 100 Mbit?

I tried Cat7 thinking the extra shielding might matter, but I really did not notice any difference at all when I went back to Cat6 for a longer run.

I didn't know it was Cat 7. It could be Dog 9 for all I care. I wouldn't recommend buying (anything) on spec but if you're curious and can get a home loan, then why not? No harm no foul.

Actually - in you need five as the AudioQuest cables claim to be directional...

Seriously - audition the cables *WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF YOUR OWN SYSTEM* before you buy ...

Phil

Hmmmm ... a market for audiophile humidifiers appears to be presenting itself...

I suspect you've hit the nail on the head here Harry - rather than it being a specific "this cable sounds better".

I'm yet to be convinced but hopefully have an open mind...

Phil

Graeme, Cat5e is reasonably future proof for domestic use - ie its good for upto 1Gbps . If you want genuine higher speeds over normal domestic distances you are really better off looking at fibre - but the Snake oil merchants haven't cottoned on to that = and also not many consumer devices uses fibre yet - but that is the way industrial ethernet patch leads have been going for a few years now with higher bandwidths.

One of the main reasons of the higher Cat cable philopsophy is a standardized way to reduce loss and cross talk at very high frequencies (1gbps or higher over longer distances ie upto 100m.). Cross talk is what casues signal leakage in the lines that can cause signal distortion in extreme conditisons. Again if this happens occasionally you would notice it. I have counters on my switcxh for errors from cross talk - and I run Cat 5e. In the 18 months I ahve been streaming I have not had one bit out of billions and billions and billions of bits of cross talk corruption....

if a particalur patch lead sounds good  - great - but I would be tempted to find out what is happening under the covers .. ie have you a noisy switch? - is your old patch lead poorly twisted or poorly shielded -have you noisy common mode RFI etc - otherwise you may find the sticking plaster of some 'fancy' ethernet patch lead peels off when you change some part of your system or LAN in the future and certainly for me that would be fustrating - big time.

So don't worry if you have Cat 5e or Cat 6 in your house... that is good up 1Gbps the world over. if you are want 10Gbps (ie you are running your own mini data centre) then I would use bonded fibre or bonded Cat5e which is very common. Bonded simply means you have multiple patch leads in paralle that share the network load - but only do this on a managed switch if you know what you are doing or you will cause a network loop and it will grind to an almightly halt before you can say B*gger.

Seriously if you are paranoid - then I would future proof by putting trunking in your house - with reasonable accesability so you can replace cable / fibre within the trunk with what ever you want if for some reason it becomes obsolete in the future.

Oh my, a voice of reason among all this ethernet cable snake oil nonsense.  

Already available: 'Stein Harmonizer set'. ;-)

Maybe I can sell you some Cat - 9 cable. :-)

is that cat 9 tails

Or a new line of cables called fe(line) to complement Hi-line and Powerline?

Strange response ... it won't make any difference ... if you fill up a big buffer with PCM you can take out the cable and it'll make no difference - it'll still play the same way. This is like saying the cabinet you use to store CDs has an effect on SQ ... maybe it does, but most people will say it can't. Many companies sell products on the ignorance of consumers ... a well made cable is a good idea, but you don't need to pay a king's ransom for one. As many of us learned years ago - you can fool some of the people with oil of snake most of the time. 

By the way just had a cup of tea and it tastes so much better with my very expensive kettle ... it just boils the water better ... if you haven't tasted it then you don't know.