I have received the cable already and installed. To be honest, I cannot say they are any different sounding, but at the price, they look good (purposeful) and it’s nice knowing they are there.
Further listening required and they do not make things worse, that’s for sure.
So I have one .5 Mtr Cat 8 between switch and Meridian 210 and a 0.25 Mtr patch cable between 210 and Meridian 218. Meridian Speakerlink cables from the 218 to the DSP520-SE speakers.
I was impressed by the supplier efficiency and price too.
I would also urge others to not to seek answers about what is best when it cones to cables: not in a public forum. People come from so many different “places”, have so many different systems, different rooms, expectations and certainly don’t listen similarly, let alone the fact that most haven’t even experimented before making a judgement! I understand how that can happen but …
“Home system?” Using that description, i would hesitate to start up a discussion of cables and if they sound different. But if we are talking about some of today’s better quality audio offerings, systems that allow one to hear changes by altering the chain from front to back, then yes, experimentation is advisable because if one focuses one’s attention on the quality of the musical instruments, one will hear differences even with cables … including ethernet cables provided the entire music chain is of very high quality. In my own system, i can hear differences with every single cable i have tried.
I wouldn’t be a person to suggest that a Cat8 is going to always win over a Cat6. I have tried some cat8 cables that frankly were a bomb (not the bomb)m, sorry to say. It’s not going to be the rule that a Cat8 will impress you. But having tried a number of ethernet cables, including a number of super expensive Cat8, i tried a Sablon ethernet cable, and despite the fact that it was half the price of the other most expensive Cat8s i listened to in my “home system”, it remains my favorite. I wouldn’t say it wins by a country mile, but getting any improvement from a system like mine is a big deal and for me, worth the investment. I would suggest actually listening for yourself, and not limit yourself to the advice of others. Many who give it, mean well, and trying to save you! Others are just defending what works for them. But experimenting yourself, if you have a higher end audio system, despite what the nay sayers suggest, is in your iwn best interests.
Or maybe it’s in your best interest to accept that there’s no reliable evidence to suggest that Cat8 will make any difference at all, but plenty to suggest that acoustic memory is poor and that expectation bias is real. Of course, YMMV, but if you listen hard enough I’m sure you’ll be able to tell a difference - it’s identifying the source of that difference that seems to be deeply problematic for some people.
Just as long as your equipment can handle shielded cabling, otherwise you will be introducing ground issues into the audio chain. I would never randomly recommend such cabling because without knowing the equipment a person uses it can lead TO issues, such as humms, buzzes, or equipment not working.
Thank you DaveN. i am sure you are correct that my training at Eastman School of Music and my work as a recording engineer hasn’t helped my acoustic memory. Well, wait a minute! Yes it has. And surprisingly, other people in the room, not knowing which cable was which strangely heard similar things to what I heard when playing around with the cable. “Expectation Bias”, ah yes, of course you’d pull that rip cord also. But I was expecting quite a different cable to sound better, one that was way more expensive and came recommended by my local audio store. Surely the cable brand in the most expensive system I have heard, and which people swoon over would beat out this UK cable that was about a quarter of the cost. That was my expectation, Dave. Well, it didn’t happen to be that way. Where is your “expectation bias” reasoning now. The question is rhetorical, Dave. I feel the arguments are not valid over what I hear.
Dave doesn’t want you to listen for yourselves. But you all are adults, right? You can make up your own mind. If you wish to accept the advice of others (my teacher always said “advice” should be spelled differently, ie, “add vice.”, well then, I’m okay with that. As for myself, I’ve learned that my system benefits from trying things and not merely relying on what other people tell me I will prefer. Not sure why you wish to rail against that. That after all, was my main point; not that people should accept my preferences, but to suggest taking a listen before deciding.