Reiki Audio – Since the advent of digital systems for music replay, the audio industry has depended almost entirely on legacy or inherited technology and standards. Since the widespread adoption of computer audio (or streaming) that problem has become even more acute, with high-performance audio equipment increasingly constrained by standards and hardware created by the computer industry for data transmission.
The underlying requirement to move data might be essentially the same, but the system environment in which it occurs – and the vulnerabilities of that system – are entirely different. All too often we end up sending music files down a data path that is constructed from computing ancillaries (even if we dress them up in pretty boxes) to an end-point – a DAC or streamer – whose performance is incredibly noise sensitive.
We do it by employing some version of the Cat 8 transmission standard and RJ45 connectors and, by doing so, we incorporate some or all of the compromises that limit Cat 8’s performance in an audio role.
What makes Cat 8 cable inherently compromised in a dedicated audio network situation? The Cat 8 standard was developed to deliver stable performance at high speeds in large scale data networks. [As an aside, audiophiles should give the occasional nod of gratitude to those who designed ethernet protocols decades ago, as they have proven remarkably resilient and are why we can relax knowing that the data which represents our music always arrives at its destination intact and in the right sequence]. Cat 8 needed to be cheap, compact and mass producible – and that’s where the compromises originate. With four twisted pairs and an outer shield to protect against external RFI, it was necessary to provide variable twist rates between conductor pairs to minimise cross-talk between them – even if reducing twist rate reduces resistance to RFI pollution. Likewise, if your major concern is intrusive radiated and conducted RFI, then an overall shield that is connected at both ends makes sense. The problem is that you have just created a continuous ground path that collects all of the noise generated inside the system – by noisy processors and switch-mode supplies – and dumps it as high-frequency noise into the input of your Streamer/DAC.
Audio cable companies have tended to simply use better materials to mimic the topology and construction of Cat 8 cables, but this does little to eliminate their inherent problems.
Blue-sky Thinking
Just for a moment, let’s ignore the financial and physical constraints that formulated the Cat 8 standard. If we were going to build a high-quality, audio network cable, how would we do it?
- We’d use uniformly high twist rates to maximise RFI rejection and space the conductors to overcome any issues with crosstalk – even if that resulted in a wide, flat construction that would have to be built by hand.
- We’d use single-ended shields that would dump ground noise away from vulnerable audio electronics.
- We’d use superior materials, like silver-plated copper conductors, PTFE insulation, silk sheathing to counter vibration and multiple shields with 100% coverage.
But having built our multi-core conductor, our practical problems would only just have started. How could we terminate a 44mm wide cable into an 11mm wide RJ45 connector? How could we anchor such a cable securely while preventing it from blocking adjacent ports? Clearly, a special connector housing would be required: one that not only provides the necessary strain relief and mechanical integrity to protect the relatively fragile RJ45 socket, but which would also angle the incoming conductors to clear the closely packed sockets used on so many network components.
All in all – it’s hardly a practical proposition…
Yet that’s exactly the thinking behind the design and construction of Reiki Audio’s unique JundoStream network audio cable.
- It uses four independent, heavily shielded, high-quality conductor sets, widelyseparated by air-tube spacers, allowing us to employ the ideal twist-rate for superior RFI rejection throughout.
- We developed cable combs to maintain consistent spacing and structural integrity.
- We created a dedicated termination that offers an ideal conductor path between the cable and the robust, fully shielded, metal bodied Telegartner RJ45 connector.
- By twisting the entry plane through 45 degrees, we seek to avoid blocking adjacent sockets.
- We hand build and test each and every cable.
- Available in black or white and available for Ethernet RJ45 today, with a USB variant on the way.
We believe the JundoStream is unique – the only fully optimized audio network cable. Intended to form the last link between your network and your audio system, the results are clearly audible, easily demonstrable and musically significant. A cable that looks like no other and sounds like no other. A cable that’s different for a number of very good reasons!
JundoStream ‘last link’ network cable: from $4350 / £3250 for 1m
JundoStream – purity of thinking, purity of purpose, purity of performance
Reiki Audio is proud to support the following exhibitors:
- Peak Consult H4, U08/V01
- CAD A4.2, F224
- Magico A4.1, F115
- Göbel A4.1, E115
- Rockport A4.2, F202