Do upgraded LAN cables/purifiers/switch box make a difference. What is recommended, if so?

@kerrybh, the dealer who brought you some quality switches to audition might not have fully understood the importance of using an unshielded cable as the final connection to your system.

I only suggested the inexpensive switch and cable as a quick test to see if you notice any improvement. If your dealer was unaware and used a high-end audiophile Cat 7 or 8 shielded cable, the switch's benefits wouldn’t be evident. I’ve encountered dealers who are unaware and just trying to upsell as much as possible. That said, I don’t know your dealer and mean no disrespect.

@steakster, after checking out photos of your system and reading one of your posts, I noticed you mentioned Fidelizer. I installed Fidelizer Pro and experienced an immediate and significant improvement across the spectrum. I was curious if you’ve tried his Hyperlink Network Switch or the Nimitra Streamer.

By the way, you might know me as lemonhaze. Audiogon seems to have mixed things up somehow 

Disinterested readers can please skip the follong non-audio paragraph below.

In mid-January, my wife and I will be skippering the owner and his wife around the southwestern Caribbean on a stunning Vision 444 catamaran for four months. It’s taken us nine years to prepare our leaky Irish stone cottage for sale, but it’s finally done. I’ll be buying a cat soon after the sale and my offer to you still stands.

Charles

"unless the last bit of cable is unshielded the noise (EMI/RFI) is allowed to travel along a conductive path and pollute the analogue side of your DAC"

@gournard - If the switch provides galvanic and noise isolation, how much EMI/RFI is likely to ride on a 1M length of shielded Ethernet cable between the switch and a DAC?  How about isolating filters like the Muon Pro, does the final pigtail of cable between the filter and the DAC negate all the purported noise reduction improvements?  Have you heard these differences by comparing a short length of shielded vs. non shielded cable from switch to DAC?

I am curious because I thought the purpose of shielding Ethernet cables was to protect against electromagnetic interference (EMI)? Also, don’t Ethernet connections inherently include galvanic isolation via transformers?

 If the switch provides galvanic and noise isolation, how much EMI/RFI is likely to ride on a 1M length of shielded Ethernet cable between the switch and a DAC?

@mitch2, Hi Mitch I do not know exactly just how much noise will be passed on to the next stage, just that it is and it is easily audible. To answer another of your questions:    Have you heard these differences by comparing a short length of shielded vs. non shielded cable from switch to DAC?  Yes indeed and as I have mentioned try and keep the cable length to 2ft. or less (0.5 to 0.6m) 

From my posts above whether the switch is an inexpensive or audiophile unit the reduction in noise is unmistakeable. All the benefits of lowering the noise floor are evident. I have no experience with isolating filters like the Muon Pro. I'm not pretending to be an expert on this but I do understand that any noise contained by the switch will, if connected by a shielded cable, defeat the purpose of said switch. Fortunately this conductive path can be broken by using a short unshielded cable from switch to streamer or streamer/DAC.

There is much on this topic to be found on the forum  'audiophilestyle'

🤔