The question concerning the sonic differences between WLAN and LAN cabling is not difficult to answer. Under favourable conditions, a WLAN connection can sound better than a shoddy cable connection to the router. However, a high-quality LAN cable is clearly better. To determine whether this is the case, my listening test excluded an Ansuz component for the time being and started by comparing a customary, inexpensive ten-meter long CAT7 LAN cable to an even a few meters longer Cat700 Carbon from Audioquest, which is sold by the metre for 65 euros plus cable confection with Telegärtner plugs. The price difference is no trifling matter at all, but it’s also immediately audible. I listened to the in terms of recording quality and atmosphere highly convincing live album of the exceptional Norwegian vocalist Radka Toneff, accompanied  by top-class musicians and recorded at Uncle Pö in Hamburg in CD resolution through Qobuz. The added value of the expensive Audioquest is obvious. Above all, spatial depth, structure and fine detail gain immensely. Everything seems to be more palpable. The financial expenditure is more than adequately rewarded with a clear increase in quality.

So, though being now confident that a high-quality LAN cable is the first sensible investment to undertake, nevertheless a question arises: Does a switch already pay off at this point, even if its switching and distribution performance is not required at all? To top it all, there is only one connection that we are dealing with. And, to what extent does it influence the sound even in this configuration? Is it able to perhaps partially or even completely blur or compensate for the differences between the Audioquest LAN cable, a simple LAN line and a WLAN transmission using a TP-Link client, and let the investment in the Audioquest Carbon become obsolete? Or, will the differences between the cables become even more obvious through the switch?

To loop in the switch, we naturally need another LAN cable to route the digital signal to the music computer. In my case, two meters are more than sufficient, since the switch has found its place between the digital components of my system. It’s very common to install even a long connection to the switch and to use short distances from there to the terminal devices such as computers, streamers, NAS or servers. Fortunately, Ansuz supplied the PowerSwitch A2 with three two meters long Digitalz Ethernet Cable A2. One of them now connects the switch to the computer. There is one more thing I need to mention because it will become important later on: The Ansuz Acoustics A2, like all my music components, got gentrified with an Audioquest Hurricane power cable, namely in the Source version. The PowerSwitch was set up on its integrated hard feet, which are formed from three concentric aluminum rings to accommodate for the special Darkz absorber feet if necessary, and have got neither rubber, felt nor plastic elements that are gentle to furniture. This is done for musical reasons, because the hard coupling to the installation surface is intentional.