SOtM SMS-200

[Hifi_swlon]

Two reviews of the SMS-200 were released past week:

http://www.audiostream.com/content/sotm-...wer-supply
https://audiobacon.net/2017/03/23/sotm-s...2s-review/

Thanks for the reviews.

This bit surprised me

Does the Quality of the Ethernet Cable to the sMS-200 Matter?

Truly reaffirms my thoughts on the PS Audio LANRover but short answer is HELL YEAH. If you’re running a standard CAT6/7 cable from Monoprice or Amazon, get yourself a high quality ethernet cable today. Chances are that harshness you’re hearing is from that stupid cable. Streaming music is a whole new ballgame and your ethernet cable could be your largest barrier to high fidelity. I would even go as far to say even more so than your amp or other interconnects costing many times more. Its affect on sound quality for a networked streamer cannot be understated.

Personally, I would just go straight for a SOtM dCBL-CAT7. You’ll continually reap musical enjoyment as your system evolves and unlike most components, probably doesn’t have to be replaced often. It’s pricey but after hearing it, my wallet just magically left my jean pocket and appeared in front of me with a golden aura and sparkles all around it. I’m not an impulsive buyer by any means. I’m just floored by the performance of this cable and I find it a worthwhile investment. If anything, I wish I had invested in a cable like this earlier as I’m disgusted by how much fidelity I was losing all these years.

I just still can't come to terms with expensive Ethernet cables bearing in mind it's packet data that's buffered. I get that noise may enter the system, so active filtering could be beneficial (no idea if it's true or not and no way to test) but I'm confused about the difference between a compliant cable that runs the worlds internet, and an exotic (filterless) audio one. What's the supposed benefit? My whole house is cat5e so if I were to buy one it would only be used as the final patch - what benefit could that have? I suppose we're entering mains cable debate, but at least that's analogue signal if you like and is directly entering the appliance, whereas Ethernet is ultimately buffered digitally in memory, at that point what arrived is irrelevant.