LHY SW-8 Audiophile switch

[wokeuptobose]

I didn't know about this LHY switch, but two years ago I went down the Etherrgen+LPS+XO clock+LPS for it+upgraded cables for all. All these pieces were additive with my streamers up till I bought my Grimm Mu1 which had built these capabilities within. Using all of it took away from the immediacy of the music, so I sold it piece by piece.
I said at the time that someone was going to put all the pieces together which looks like LHY is attempting to do. Afterdark recently came out with their Netone which is a one box solution including a switch, fiber optic bridge, upgraded LPS, 10MHZ and 25Mhz clocks, upgrated IEC plug socket, carbon fiber RF shielding. It is 1200 or so retail. I suspect that the machined LHY case is nicer than the Afterdark case.
I have a question into Adrian who owns Afterdark as to if the unit has a star ground connection and post, or if I have to use a chassis screw, or if grounding wasn't fully thought through. Anyway, Afterdark sent out a Munich show incentive, so now I have a Netone on its way. I hope it allows my Grimm to do even more, we will see.

 

[Republicoftexas69]

I am

Is anyone using the LHY usb isolator ? Thank you.

using the Wyred4Sound ISO Recovery. Great device clear silent digital in my system, black.

 

[Devil Horns]

Has anyone upgraded from their SW-8 to an upmarket switch that made a substantial and unequivocal improvement? I'm considering something like a NA Tempus or a Melco but my worry is that the SW-8 is too much of a bargain and that the difference would be subtle at best despite the order-of-magnitude difference in price.

I don't mind spending the coin but only if the upgrade is similar to other significant component changes. I guess I personally have doubts that there's much to wring out from network switches.

Any suggestions? NB; It would need it to offer SFP as the streamer/DAC I have on order has that connection alongside regular ethernet.

 

[Dasign]

Has anyone upgraded from their SW-8 to an upmarket switch that made a substantial and unequivocal improvement? I'm considering something like a NA Tempus or a Melco but my worry is that the SW-8 is too much of a bargain and that the difference would be subtle at best despite the order-of-magnitude difference in price.

I don't mind spending the coin but only if the upgrade is similar to other significant component changes. I guess I personally have doubts that there's much to wring out from network switches.

Any suggestions? NB; It would need it to offer SFP as the streamer/DAC I have on order has that connection alongside regular ethernet.

I have tried 3 models of LHY switches (SW-8, SW-6 and SW-10). Sound-wise, the SW-6 beats the SW-8 and the SW-10 beats the SW-6. The SW-6 and SW-10 offers SFP/wired ethernet connectivity and 10Mhz external clock input. Clock quality goes up, when moving to the costlier models.

I like the LHY switches, which includes a high quality linear power supply, solid aluminium chassis and good looks at an attractive pricing. They offer a net reduction in network noise compared to your regular IT switches.

 

[italia]

I'm about to pull the trigger on a LHY SW-10 Pro, which is reportedly a noticeable step up from the regular SW-10. As I have a SW-6 now, based on reviews I've read elsewhere, I expect a nice gain in sound quality. The Matrix SS-1 Pro is the other switch in the $2K price range that I have been considering. Would love to be able to afford the Tempus switch but it's out of my budget

 

[audiom3]

Has anyone upgraded from their SW-8 to an upmarket switch that made a substantial and unequivocal improvement? I'm considering something like a NA Tempus or a Melco but my worry is that the SW-8 is too much of a bargain and that the difference would be subtle at best despite the order-of-magnitude difference in price.

I don't mind spending the coin but only if the upgrade is similar to other significant component changes. I guess I personally have doubts that there's much to wring out from network switches.

Any suggestions? NB; It would need it to offer SFP as the streamer/DAC I have on order has that connection alongside regular ethernet.

I went from an LHY SW-10 to an NA Tempus. The difference was/is pretty amazing. It's been the best upgrade, not only in my network but in my entire syatem. Not many things can improve just about every component like a quality switch. I run a Home Theater and great stereo setup. So happy I pulled the trigger.

 

[tony22]

The difference was/is pretty amazing

audiom3, I’m also running a SW-6 and I’m considering a step up. Can you elaborate a bit on this comment? Thanks.

 

[audiom3]

Well, I don't want to derail this thread but needless to say, phasing is unbelievable with this switch inserted. I have had most of the same recordings on my Roon server for years. Listening to several of them now, I realize how in-and-out of phase some of these recordings are, in an effort to move things around the room. I'm not talking extreme L or R but very subtle movements between the two speakers with a guitar or vocal effect... Sorry, it's very hard to explain it exactly but it is awesome and something my turntable setup does but to a lesser extent. I call them 'trippy' effects. You can hear some very obvious 'trippy' effects on Jimi's albums but theses are far more subtle but super cool too... Talk about sucking you into the music more.
With my HT setup, it's 5.1.4 speaker setup, sound comes from literally everywhere now. Like, above me, to the sides, behind - all of the places that I don't have speakers. And of course, directly from the speakers when it's called for. Don't get me wrong, it did this before as well - or it tried to. But it wasn't nearly as dynamic, clean and believable. It is so obvious once you rid your system of some (or a lot of?) distortion...
I have done much experimentation over the last 5+ years on my LAN (currently single mode fiber) and this switch improved everything, like nothing before it. I never noticed much, or any difference with my video streamer/display through the SW-10. But with the Tempus, wow. Colors my OLED has never produced before now 'pop'. Vivid and just spectacular when the film calls for it. HDR or DV really blinds you as it looks so much more dynamic. It was like I had my OLED professionally calibrated (which I have done before). My wife loves it too and said it was money very well spent. I honestly never knew there was noise in digital video, or the devices involved in converting them. But now I am a 100% believer.
For reference, I stream off my local servers, for both audio and video. The only thing I stream outside of my LAN are NFL games. And yes, it definitely improved those as well.

 

[Devil Horns]

I went from an LHY SW-10 to an NA Tempus. The difference was/is pretty amazing. It's been the best upgrade, not only in my network but in my entire syatem. Not many things can improve just about every component like a quality switch. I run a Home Theater and great stereo setup. So happy I pulled the trigger.

Thanks. That helps put it in perspective. It seems the difference is not subtle which is good. Now to decide what's a more important upgrade: Tempus or better power cable(s) for my upcoming DAC/streamer. Decisions, decisions...

 

[flowcharts]

@Dasign can you expand on the SW-6/SW-8 comparison? I have the SW-8, and have occasionally putzed around with the idea of upgrading. I thought I remembered reading early reports of the SW-6 being better in every way except for stage width. Do you find that to be the case?

 

[Brucemck2]

I had the LHY SW8 (along with Paul Pang, Edison Creaton, EtherRegan, modded Buffalo) and ended up with stacked Switch-X units with a Switch-X WiFi contol point. Enormous improvement.

 

[jasond]

Would love to be able to afford the Tempus switch but it's out of my budget

You may ask Network Acoustics about returned samples from reviews

 

[Dasign]

@Dasign can you expand on the SW-6/SW-8 comparison? I have the SW-8, and have occasionally putzed around with the idea of upgrading. I thought I remembered reading early reports of the SW-6 being better in every way except for stage width. Do you find that to be the case?

No, the SW-6 is better on all audio aspects. The SW-6 clock improvements over the SW-8, provides additional low-level informations including stage width.

 

[jadedavid]

I’ve been thinking of upgrading my first SFP conversion TrendNet switch.
Sounds like an SW-6 might be a positive move.
I’ll have to start looking for one.

 

[audiom3]

I’ve been thinking of upgrading my first SFP conversion TrendNet switch.
Sounds like an SW-6 might be a positive move.
I’ll have to start looking for one.

The SW-6 is still a very good switch. Out of the SW-10, SW-6 and FMC, I only kept the SW-6. Not that it sounded better than the SW-10 it's just a great switch for the money.

 

[audiobomber]

The SW-6 is still a very good switch. Out of the SW-10, SW-6 and FMC, I only kept the SW-6. Not that it sounded better than the SW-10 it's just a great switch for the money.

An EtherRegen with Pardo MiniTeddy sounds better than the SW-10, IME, in two different systems.

 

[audiom3]

An EtherRegen with Pardo MiniTeddy sounds better than the SW-10, IME, in two different systems.

Although I never tried the ER with a Teddy PSU, I did try it with a generic 7V Linear PSU. The SW-10 bettered this combination.