Talk to me about CAT 6 in wall cable

@kirkwallace  Hmm, what you stated about CAT 8 makes me question whether I should forgo CAT 6 and simply install CAT 8 to get the benefits of the shield??

@skyy92677   This is what several folks have told me, stating that a hard wired solution off-sets the possibility of noise and drop-outs. I have dedicated electrical lines into this room already, just no digital connections.

Something to think about in terms of bandwidth. Before switching to optical fiber (Lumin T3X) I had a hardwired connection using 30ft of BlueJeans Cat 6a from the switch/router to a StackAudio SmoothLAN which throttles bandwidth to 100 Mbps.

Never had an issue with dropouts. But the point is you don’t need much bandwidth for Hi-Res audio, stability is key, and optical fiber seems like the way to go...and good patch cords with corning glass are inexpensive.  

@macg19 +1

@daveyf Cat8 is certainly an option too, but it is more costly and stiffer than Cat6, so harder to work with, as i understand things.  And both are more costly and harder to work with than good Corning glass fiber, which is obviously quieter from an EMI perspective than Cat8. Do you have thunderstorms in your area? If so, glass fiber eliminates the risk of electrical surges frying any equipment.

@kirkwallace  I do not have thunderstorms that are likely to fry my gear, so far ( weather change?? ). Anyhow, I spoke to my electrician this AM and he told me that there are a few CAT 6/ glass fiber combo cables available ( he didn’t know how to source them, unfortunately). Anyone know anything about these? 

@daveyf this suggestion piqued my curiosity.  So, I asked Gemini.  Turns out that it’s a good thing i wasn’t trying to do this for a living!  Optical cable is too fragile on is own to be “pulled” through walls. (I suspect it would be fine if you were doing a down to the studs renovation, b/c then you can lay out the cables without the need to snake, fish or pull them, but maybe even then it might not be recommended.)

Here is an edited version of what Gemini said:

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The cabling described by the low-voltage integration specialist is classified in the structured wiring industry as hybrid copper-fiber composite cabling. These engineered mediums are specifically designed to deliver both electrical and optical pathways within a single physical run, consolidating high-speed data transmission and low-voltage power distribution into a unified installation footprint. 

The physical installation of high-performance in-wall cabling requires careful consideration of structural mechanics and mechanical load. Standard unarmored fiber-optic cables (such as bare single-mode zip-cords) have exceptionally low tensile strength and are highly vulnerable to micro-fractures, pinch-points, and structural damage when pulled through raw wall cavities, framing studs, or conduits. As such, an integration specialist will strongly advocate for a composite hybrid cable run rather than pulling individual bare fiber strands.  
In residential networking and media integration, common composite hybrid cable examples are Structured Cable Products (SCP) HNC-EF-1 and the HNC-12 composite structured cables.

HNC-EF-1:
(1) Cat6 UTP 23 AWG Solid Copper (1) Simplex OS2 Corning SMF-28 Ultra

HNC-12:
(2) Cat6 UTP 23 AWG Solid Copper (2) Strands Multi-Mode Fiber (MMF) (2) RG6 Quad-Shield Coaxial Cables

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A quick Google search shows both of these products as readily available in the USA, at least in installer suitable length spools. I would think that HNC-EF1, the one with the simplex OS2, would be fine for your needs.

Obviously you need a router that has a fiber out port and an FMC at the streamer end (ideally with a LPS to power it, not a noisy wall wart).  And then Gemini warns against Cat8 from the FMC to the Aurender becasue the shielded cable can create a ground loop.

“Avoid shielded Cat8 (S/FTP) cables for this final link, as their metal shields can establish a conductive ground loop. Using a Cat6 cable ensures an absolute electrical break between the network and the audio ground plane, allowing the Aurender’s caching playback engine to operate in an uncompromised, low-noise environment.”

But i think many on here use CAT8 for this sort of purpose and don’t report any issues. I am not sure, but it may depend on whether the shield is attached at both ends and maybe whether the RJ45 sockets are metal framed or plastic.

But all this might be, I now realize, more expensive and unwarrantedly fussy than just going with Cat6 in the wall and using the double FMC optical “moat” that many of us deploy.

Anyway, when we get around to renovating in a year or 2, I am going to dive into this with a “low-voltage integration specialist.”