I find this all rather amusing, a test of a range of Ethernet cables in system which is clearly not optimised for digital audio. I’ve been streaming for about 10 years, first with a Linn Akurate DS, so have seen things develop. I have a QNAP, for business and photography, but found it poor for use as a Room Core. Off the shelf netgear switches using switch mode power let noise in the system. The Lumin D2 is a basic entry level unit with an internal switch mode power supply. There is little reference to mains conditioning.
At the start of the year I set up a Roon system based on the objective of low noise. A popular Innuos Zen Mk3 server, with filtered mains and sophisticated internal linear power supplies. There is no switching needed as the Innuos is one of several severs with a direct Ethernet output. The feed to the server is direct from the house modem and is mostly fibre optic. At each end is 1m of CAT cable, the media converters being 9v battery powered. The big expense was Shunyata power cables and distribution to the server and audio system (Devialet Expert Pro).
So having focused on keeping electronic noise and mains noise out of the system, and the Innuos and Shunyata kit is not cheap, the entire signal path comprises a 25m fibre optic cable that cost £17 and 3 x 1m Ethernet cables that cost a total of £40 delivered from Blue Jeans in Seattle, that the OP did not bother testing.
I have one medium price AudioQuest cable that I put in between the server and streaming input, but it made no difference and one day I will get round to selling it.
There’s lots of good and bad in digital audio, but my experience is to look at the system as a whole, keep it as simple as possible and I’ve not found digital cabling to be an issue worth spending money on.
At the start of the year I set up a Roon system based on the objective of low noise. A popular Innuos Zen Mk3 server, with filtered mains and sophisticated internal linear power supplies. There is no switching needed as the Innuos is one of several severs with a direct Ethernet output. The feed to the server is direct from the house modem and is mostly fibre optic. At each end is 1m of CAT cable, the media converters being 9v battery powered. The big expense was Shunyata power cables and distribution to the server and audio system (Devialet Expert Pro).
So having focused on keeping electronic noise and mains noise out of the system, and the Innuos and Shunyata kit is not cheap, the entire signal path comprises a 25m fibre optic cable that cost £17 and 3 x 1m Ethernet cables that cost a total of £40 delivered from Blue Jeans in Seattle, that the OP did not bother testing.
I have one medium price AudioQuest cable that I put in between the server and streaming input, but it made no difference and one day I will get round to selling it.
There’s lots of good and bad in digital audio, but my experience is to look at the system as a whole, keep it as simple as possible and I’ve not found digital cabling to be an issue worth spending money on.