Best audiophile switch

[NigelB]

Hi Nigel: Why are you referring to yourself in the third-person?

To bring a smile to someone’s face perhaps? It’s clear from tag line who I am… perhaps I should have used a different emoji!

All the best

 

[Di-fi]

Hi Nigel: Why are you referring to yourself in the third-person?

Always good to keep the thread about the gear, not the people.

 

[pkaemmerer]

While they use the off the shelf chassis (for cost effectiveness) the inner workings and added power supply are anything but. The noise sensing and noise cancelling circuits are unique and very effective. The internals of the switch have separate and isolated clean and dirty sections.

I recently heard the double SwitchX + WifiX setup at the Capitol Audiofest. It was connected to a portable T-Mobile 5G WiFi Router upstream and an Innuos Zen Next Gen Music Server. The Zen Next Gen was connected to a Thrax Enyo MKII all in one Integrated Amp/DAC-Streamer/MM/MC Phono via Final Touch Audio Meis RJ45 CAT 8 cables.

The speakers were the Thrax LyraSE bookshelves paired with the Thrax Maxima passive bass towers. Speaker Cables were Albedo Monocyrstal Silver cables.

The system sounded fantastic in this configuration. In addition, it was around 6PM at the end of the show day and the room owners decided to change out another switch they had been using earlier in the day. They had been using Innuos Phoenixnet switch for most of the day and I thought that setup sounded fantastic as well. The interesting thing for me was I asked them if they could go directly from the router to the Server and bypass the Innuos switch. They said they would do that as they had not heard that config. When they took out the Innuos switch and went directly from the T-Mobile router directly to the Innuos Zen Next Gen Music Server the sound quality did not noticeably change. There may have been a very very subtle difference in transparency and bass definition. But I honestly could not make out any clear difference.

We listened to 4 tracks off their playlist and they then installed the Double SwitchX + WiFiX in place of the Phoenixnet switch. Within 5 seconds of AC/DC Thunderstruck going on it was an omg moment. The SwitchX turned what was previously a great sounding system in a fantastic system. It was hard to believe how the music seemed to have more energy/drive/clarity and bass punch. We listened to the same 4 tracks that they used when they removed the Phoenixnet out of the system. It was hard to believe how dramatic a difference I experienced going to the Dual SwitchX. Just before I left the room, they packed up the Phoenixnet switch in its box. The next day the double SwtichX + WifiX remained in the system.

With all of the discussion around the NA Tempus Switch, it would be great if someone has compared the SwitchX to the NA Tempus.

 

[Three quid]

With all of the discussion around the NA Tempus Switch, it would be great if someone has compared the SwitchX to the NA Tempus.

I'm also in the market for a higher end switch and narrowed it down to these two. From a 'value' perspective seems like the Tempus has a slight edge since they recommend a single switch, whereas the SwitchX performs best with two in series. Now which is better... a single tempus or a double switchX is the question...

 

[NigelB]

I'm also in the market for a higher end switch and narrowed it down to these two. From a 'value' perspective seems like the Tempus has a slight edge since they recommend a single switch, whereas the SwitchX performs best with two in series. Now which is better... a single tempus or a double switchX is the question...

Nimbly skipping past your process for narrowing it down to just these two ...

It seems pretty obvious that the higher performing a switch is, the less difference adding a second one in series will make. There are nuances of course but I'd wager this is pretty generally applicable.

Of course there is only one way to find out. Step forward volunteers!