First, my system: Rockna Wavedream NET server (currently in the other room), Rockna Wavedream Reference DAC, Pass XP-32 preamp, Pass XA60.8 monoblocks, Duevel Bella Luna omni speakers, DIY treated room. Currently trying out a few switches - Axxess Switch, Matrix SS-1, Bonn N8 Pro, and NuPrime Omnia SW-8. Cables are all Veritas Ultima except for the network cables.
I wanted to talk a little about the new Tiglon network cables I've been enjoying lately. From what I can tell, Tiglon is well known in Japan after operating there for decades. Not so much in other places or least based on my USA centric view. I had never heard of them until a friend was visiting from Japan and brought a few things for me to check out. His Audio Technica AWKG headphones were the most visually impressive headphones I've seen in a long time. I couldn't even get the best fit on my head and they still sounded sublime, in a quirky way that gave them real character. After messing with those for a while he showed me what he said was his favorite new digital cable which is the Tiglon TPL-2000L Professional. He knew I was on the hunt for a network cable upgrade and I'm so glad he shared this brand with me.
I had been switching around between an Audioquest Diamond, Stealth Audio Black Magic v21, Chord Sarum, and Wireworld Platinum Starlight 8, hoping one would be a good upgrade over my much less expensive Curious Ethernet cable. They all cost around $2k or more while my Curious was only $600. They were all slightly better in some ways but none of them got the balance quite right. And at those prices I expected a clear improvement. The rest of my system is Veritas Cables and I recently upgraded everything to their Ultima line, which I am extremely happy with. But they don't have an Ultima ethernet cable yet, and they don't know when it will be ready. That just leaves their Connexa which is priced even lower than my Curious. While it has a very good reputation, it didn't seem likely to be the upgrade I'm looking for, and I didn't want to wait around for the Ultima whenever that might be ready.
After trying the Tiglon TPL-2000L Professional for a week I figured my search was over. Huge expansive soundstage, silent background, lush midrange, explosive dynamics, the 2000L has it all. I didn't know how much it would sell for, or if I could even find it here, but I knew I wanted it. My friend would not sell his to me but did offer to buy it for me back home and ship it over. Turns out we didn't have to do all that, since Tiglon just opened a USA branch. The website was not finished so I just emailed and got an immediate response. They happened to have a 2000L in the length I needed, and I was shocked to hear it only sells for around $1k. I had been expecting at least double that based on the other ethernet cables I had been trying out.
That could have been the end of the story. I used the 2000L for about a month and it only got better during that time. While browsing around Tiglon's Japanese website I came across a new ethernet cable they recently launched called the TPL-3000WT White Tiger. It is the new top model over the 2000L which remains in the lineup. I emailed Tiglon USA to see if they could get one for me, and it just so happened they had a batch incoming that week. Perfect! The price was around $2k which was still less than some of the other brands I had tried and not loved. The return policy was good so I figured I would take a chance.
So far it has only been a week or so. I can confidently say the new White Tiger is the best ethernet cable I've heard at any price. It's a keeper. Actually both Tiglon ethernet cables are staying, going into different systems. I still love the TPL-2000L Professional and it represents an amazing value for $1k. The White Tiger does beat it though, in pretty much every aspect. Sometimes the differences are small but cumulatively it makes a big enough difference to justify the extra money. I've never heard such pinpoint imaging from my beloved omni speakers. I also have a set of Marten Django XL speakers here at the moment (long story) and although they aren't omni designs like my Duevels, they still showcase that huge soundstage and lifelike placement that both Tiglon network cables show, but the White Tiger most of all.
In my other system, the difference is not as pronounced. Which is not surprising as the Rockna in my main system is just so resolving. So I'm happy keeping the 2000L there as it is still an excellent cable, and does show improvement there over any of the other options I had tried.
I still need to make a decision on the network switch. So far I'm slightly leaning towards the Matrix SS-1 for my main system and the high value NuPrime Omnia for my other setup. My experience so far is that the switches are all improvements over traditional commodity options, but also they seem to impact the sound less than the actual ethernet cables do. The upgrade in general is more important than the specifics of which one is installed. I hear a lot more variation swapping the cables out than I do swapping the switches. I don't know if this applies to every audio oriented switch out there but it seems to be true of this batch, they are all excellent.
To wrap it up though, the Tiglon network cables are excellent, and John at Tiglon USA was great to deal with. I recently overhauled all the other cables in my main system with Veritas Ultima cables and moved the existing Veritas models into system two, so I'm staying put with those. But I'm actually starting to slowly assemble another system using all Japanese gear. When that starts coming together I will be using Tiglon cables for that project. Based on my experience with their two network cables, I bet the rest are brilliant as well.
