Audio Blast: Ethernet Cables and XLR “Y” Adapters Survey

Clarity Cable

The assessment of the Clarity Cable in this survey is trickier as the system used was outfitted with Clarity Cable products. As an example of one of the systems I used, note the presence of Clarity Cables in the following:

Wolf Audio Red Wolf Alpha 2 Server/Streamer with Clarity Cable Vortex Power Cord; Clarity Supernatural USB Cable; Eastern Electric Minimax DSD DAC Supreme with Clarity Vortex PC; Teo Audio Liquid Reference Mk 1.5 RCA Interconnect; Teo Audio Liquid Pre (preamp); Teo Liquid Reference MkII RCA Interconnect; Red Dragon S500 Amplifiers in Mono mode, both with Clarity Vortex PC; Clarity Organic Speaker Cable (tri-wired with one set of shotgun and one single set); Legacy Audio Whisper DSW Clarity Edition.

Here was a system featuring a lot of Clarity Cable and a speaker that was internally wired with the same. Should it be a surprise that the Clarity Ethernet cable performed excellently? The bass presence, fullness and cleanness was exemplary, perhaps the best of the lot. As is the nature of Clarity Cables the treble was softer than that of the Supra, Tera Grand or even the Purist cables. Mid-bass to midrange was superb, thick and easily discerned, but not overriding the extremes. At times I thought the treble a bit too soft, however that may be due to its not being emphasized as in the other cables.

I recommend the Clarity Ethernet cable for those who have smaller systems lacking in low-end presence. Also, those who have very highly resolving systems, but smallish tower speakers will appreciate the added bass support without pushing the system over the edge in terms of upper end energy.

Wireworld

I was surprised at the performance of the Wireworld products. Years ago I had reviewed David Salz’s designs and, though I enjoyed them much, moved on over time, eventually using the Clarity Cable and Teo Cables regularly, as well as some from Snake River Audio and Silnote Audio. Since then it seems Wireworld products have undergone a revolutionary change.

I know that Clarity Cable has its own proprietary design, but so does Wireworld. Is it a coincidence that the two brands of Ethernet cables that stood out the most used unorthodox methods? Clarity does not discuss the proprietary methods it uses, but Wireworld splashes their technology across their web pages.

Wireworld offers the three versions I noted above, and I was able to try the Chroma and Starlight cables in the 14’ lengths, but the Platinum Starlight only in the 3’ length (see below). I was surprised at the richness of the experience offered by the Chroma in such an affordable cable. Here was the winner of the value Ethernet cable comparison. Most notably, it was the only inexpensive cable to capture a healthy portion of both midrange and bass presence. The Starlight was clearly superior to the Chroma in all respects, so much so that for those with the money I recommend the Starlight. The Wireworld cables had the highest degree of detail and very well balanced tonality. Both microdynamics and spatiality were superb, with bass extended, ripe and clean.

I can envision the Wireworld cables working well in a wide variety of systems, with perhaps caution to be exercised by nostalgia, “laid back” system lovers.

3’ “shorties” cables

The above comparisons were conducted with my standard, nondescript Ethernet connection upstairs installed. As my listening room is so well constructed, with so many pieces of two-leg resilient channel built into the walls, that it is all but impervious to Wi-Fi signals – I had to use a hard connection in the room for Wi-Fi. That was well and good until for some reason that link failed. I was not about to tear into the massively overbuilt room to replace the cable. Instead, in desperation I turned to an alternative method, Internet over power lines. Thankfully, inexpensive transmitter/receiver combos are available readily, and I have used one for approximately two years with excellent results. Thus, I have a short Ethernet link upstairs from the cable modem to the router, then another Ethernet link from the power line access point in the listening room to the Salk StreamPlayer Gen III.

Why would I assess 1M Ethernet cables when I needed a run of 14’ in my listening room? Upstairs at the router I have an approximately 1M length of Ethernet cable required to run from the wall to the router. Would the exchange of such a short, seemingly insignificant cable so distant from the listening room be audible? Yes, it was. I wasn’t terribly surprised that the best performance of the short cables was the nosebleed priced Platinum Starlight ($850/1M). It elevated all the qualities I enjoyed in the Starlight cable. It is much more difficult to justify such a cable on value terms, but in performance terms it is highly recommended. Trying many permutations, even some of the longer cables, the more cost effective solution while maintaining top performance was with the 14’ Clarity Supernatural cable. I surmise that a 1M Clarity Ethernet cable would be a superb choice, but I did not have time enough during this review to pursue it.

As might be expected the exchange of Ethernet cables upstairs had a similar, albeit less potent effect on the system sound. With so many variables I refrained from note taking and indirect system recommendations, but swapped several for my own pleasure. I do recommend that all Ethernet connections be replaced with aftermarket cabling for a boost in system performance.

The XLR adapter/spliter comparisons

Why would anyone wish to split an XLR signal (as in every instance for this article, from a single female to 2 male terminations)? Simply put, for the same reason you might split an RCA signal. The most common reason is to allow a preamp with only one set of outputs (or a similar DAC with built-in volume control) to power two stereo amplifiers or to feed subwoofers plus a main amplifier. The configuration in which two stereo amps are used with one set of speakers, typically with both sets of amplifier outputs driving one speaker’s low and high sets of inputs, is called “passive bi-amping” to distinguish it from active bi-amping in which the crossover resides outside the speaker and distributes only the appropriate frequencies to the respective set of speaker inputs.

Products under consideration:

• Purist Audio XLR “Y” Adapter $300msrp
• Kimber XLR Y Cable – uncertain; was left in my possession by Legacy Audio for use with Wavelet processor for Whisper speakers
• Wireworld .2M/8” Eclipse 7 Balanced Interconnect Y Cable  $300/pr.
• Wireworld .2M/8” Gold Eclipse 7 Balanced Interconnect Y Cable $760/pr

Not having worked with head to head comparisons of signal splitting devices prior I was not sure what to expect sonically from them. I would not have been surprised if the order of preference was different, or even reversed from that of the Ethernet cables. Instead, I found a remarkable consistency in sound character between the Ethernet cables, and the splitters and Y cables. In fact, they were so similar to their manufacturer’s Ethernet cables that I found them following the exact same pattern!

The most laid-back and relaxed, but not overly revealing was the Purist Audio splitter, the only hardware spliter in the group. I had thought that perhaps since it was a shorter, hard connection versus longer cable connections that it would be absolutely more detailed. But instead it was what I would term mildly muted in relation to the Y cables. For that reason I suggest that only if you prefer a very comfortable, not dramatically detailed presentation should you combine the Ethernet cable from PAD with the PAD XLR splitter. Now, if you have had issues with sibilance, brightness or listening fatigue, then you would likely be safe to combine them.

The Kimber Kable Hero XLR Y cable does not seem to be a current item. It appears to be a lower model in the line with smallish gauge. Nevertheless, it performed admirably, and though a bit thinner than the PAD it had a lighter, brighter sound. It was balanced fairly well through the audio spectrum, but lacked the punch and weight of the Wireworld products.

Wireworld sent me two sets of XLR Y cables; the lower model Eclipse 7 cable-based pair with 8” leads at $500/pr., and the Gold Eclipse 7 version at $710/pr. This is a dramatically higher price, I presume, than the Kimber Kable wires. The lower model matches the PAD splitters and on the high end model doubles their price.

However, once again the Wireworld products shone brightly. I was quite pleased with the additional information retrieval provided by the Eclipse 7 and Gold Eclipse 7 Y cables.  There was a sense of less signal transmission loss with the Wireworld products. I felt as though the Wireworld links were allowing me to fully implement the advantages of the extra channels of amplification. A good example was with the First Watt J2, which is a more timid 25 Wpc. Without the splitters I could only use one amp in stereo mode, but with the splitters two of the J2 amps could more ably drive the PureAudioProject Trio15 PAP Horn-1 speakers.

A subwoofer save

After the initial assessment of the Trio15 PAP Horn-1 was conducted I wished to supplement their already competent twin 15” woofers per side with my Legacy Audio XTREME XD Subwoofers. Why not? Overkill is great! However, I was using the Benchmark DAC3 DX and AHB 2 amplifiers at the time. I had wished to use the XLR splitters for the speaker. However, the Horn-1 only accepts a single pair of inputs, so splitting the signal and using four amp channels was prohibited.

I was at the time trying to use both the DAC3 DX’s RCA outs as well as the XLR outs; I was sending the XLR to the Horn-1 speakers and the RCA outs to the subs. There is a significant variance in the output level of the RCA vs. XLR, so the subs were anemic sounding. As I discuss in the Benchmark review I could conduct a change of a setting internally in the DAC, but instead chose first to try using all XLR outs to the mains and the subs – a feat made possible by XLR splitters or Y cables. I ran the AHB 2 amps but was able via the splitters/Y cables to send a second set of XLR outs to supply the subwoofers – and it worked beautifully. This is a valuable alternative application for splitting the XLR outputs.

Conclusions

Those who suggest all Ethernet cables perform similarly are wrong; you will bypass a valuable improvement to your system if you ignore Ethernet cabling. Likewise, the use of a splitter or Y cable, though an additional link in the system chain, can provide a path to functional improvement that goes far beyond the slight deleterious effect of its presence. Take these notes and listening impressions as guidelines to improve your system in these areas.

Copy editor: Dan Rubin