Also in theory, any switch on a network should block the onward passage of spurious ‘noise’. That has two important implications. It’s well known that placing a switch adjacent to your streamer improves performance – just as long as that switch is itself quiet. Secondly, the switch will only block noise as long as you don’t offer that noise an onward path – which is, unfortunately, exactly what happens via any shield that is connected at both ends. Now factor in that the CAT 8 specification insists on connecting the shields at both ends and in audio terms you have a two steps forward, three steps back scenario: buy an expensive switch to reduce ground noise, but then transmit what ground noise there is straight into the sensitive digital and analog circuitry in your streamer/DAC.
Once you start to think about the way in which data actually travels around a network, it becomes clear that there’s a significant difference between that and (for instance) the way a multi-box audiophile digital front-end operates. The logic, hardware and methodology that applies to internal system transfer just ain’t the same as network logic. In fact, you don’t need to worry about the network as a whole – just as long as you get the link to your streamer right. It’s a realisation that has led to the emergence of the term ‘pre streamer hardware’ a description which encapsulates the reiki approach perfectly.
The Reiki Audio ‘pre-streamer’ eco-system works backwards from the streamer, placing the highest quality switch right next to the streamer’s Ethernet input. A single SuperSwitch, properly deployed in that location will have a really significant impact on performance – as I already discovered. https://gy8.eu/review/magnificently-minimalist Placing additional SuperSwitches or optical decoupling further upstream will further improve matters, by reducing the amount of work that final switch has to do. So far so good, but the final link from your super-quiet audiophile SuperSwitch to your streamer input is still critical – and is still vulnerable. With a complete absence of commercially available, network cables that offer a floating shield, connected at one end only (thanks to the Cat 8 standard), the only audiophile option available seemed to be the Melco C100, a fairly basic cable retailing at around €150 for a 1m lead. Looking for a higher performance option Reiki Audio was left with no alternative but to spec and build their own. Meet the RakuStream+, an audio network cable that might look the same but really is different, under the skin, honest…
The RakuStream’s basic ingredients are as sensible as they are predictable. Eight 26AWG OFC conductors are arranged in four, tightly twisted pairs. Each pair is then wrapped in a foil shield before the cable ‘core’ is covered in first an internal overall tinned copper braid shield and then a second, dense copper braid outer shield, providing 95% coverage. The whole is covered in the ubiquitous nylon braid, this time in white. It looks smart when new but long experience suggests that if you want it to stay that way, you’ll need to be careful with where it’s placed. Connectors are the industry-standard, metal-bodied Telegartner RJ45 plugs and the shields are – obviously – only connected at the ‘send’ or upstream end of the cable. Directionality is clearly indicated and the cable is available in 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0m lengths, although again, following the logic of proximity, shorter will normally be better – and will help keep the routing (and cable) clean.
