[doraymon]

I haven’t found a dedicated thread for this two products from AQVOX.

I placed an order for the AQ-SWITCH-8 and immediately put it on hold when I found out the SE was coming.

Now the first details are available along with the price: LINK

The SE comes at almost double the price of the 8!!!
Sometimes I struggle to understand this kind of pricing dynamics, please share your experience with both switches so I can make a more conscious decision.

 

[Charente]

Something I'm considering as well and surprised that no-one has replied with any experiences ... is this optimised switch not considered worthwhile ?

 

[doraymon]

Something I'm considering as well and surprised that no-one has replied with any experiences ... is this optimised switch not considered worthwhile ?

Yeah I agree!
In the meantime I changed my order to the new SE version despite the extra price and am going to post some comments when I get it.

 

[Charente]

A brave but welcome move ! There has to be something in this design ... are you pairing with AQVOX (rather expensive) cables or something more modestly priced ? Look forward to your thoughts and I may be right behind you in a purchase.

 

[doraymon]

A brave but welcome move ! There has to be something in this design ... are you pairing with AQVOX (rather expensive) cables or something more modestly priced ? Look forward to your thoughts and I may be right behind you in a purchase.

Yeah I decided to do it properly and ordered one of their Ethernet cables, but that is only for the leg between switch and network player (50cm).
The connection getting the ethernet signal into the switch is a 4$ cat7 ethernet cable I bought on ebay... LOL

 

[Charente]

Just wondering how your experience with this switch is going ? Any set up & impressions info would be appreciated.

 

[doraymon]

Just wondering how your experience with this switch is going ? Any set up & impressions info would be appreciated.

Well first a short update: after an endless wait for the SE and also having spent a fortune in upgrading the rest of the system I eventually decided to go back to the original order of an AQ-SWITCH-8 instead of the SE.
The switch arrived a few days ago and is burning in as I write.
Now the problem is that I did a revolution to my system, selling almost all my old rig and buying a USB decrapifier set (SOtM sMS-200ultra, tX-USBultra and power supply sPS-500) and a new DAC (Holo Audio KTE Spring R2R DAC).
I also upgraded all the power cords in the system with audio grade ones (Audioquest NRG X, Ice Age Audio and Merlin Tarantula MK6). Last but not list I added two audio grade mains filters (Opera Audio Consonance PW-1).

Now as you can imagine isolating the effect of each component change is going to be quite difficult.
My idea is to burn in the rig for a few weeks, make everything settle down properly and then remove/add back the AQ-SWITCH-8 to see if I can Isolate the effect

I hope it makes sense.

 

[Charente]

Thank-you ... Quite some 'revolution' !! I did contact Aqvox about the power supply that comes with the switch and I understand it is an SMPS optimised by them, altho' no further info. Having done some trials myself on my system regarding power, I noticed a difference by isolating the SMPS's from the audio equipment ... some SMPS's are worse than others in polluting the AC supply to the main equipment. I was sceptical at first but the effort was worthwhile.

Look forward to your further thoughts after burn-in.

 

[doraymon]

Finally posting my impressions of the AQVOX SWITCH-8, the "base" version so to speak.
The little box joined my new system and I took the time to burn everything in properly before posting these impressions.
It arrived as ordered with a 0.5m AQVOX BASIC High-End LAN-/Network Cable, taking care of the final run between switch and my network player sMS-200ultra.
The little modded box is very neat and clean, only an AQVOX badge and seal show from the outside that this is a modded version of the original D-Link switch.
The power supply as well has been optimised to serve the audiophile purpose of the switch and the AQVOX badge is smartly placed to indicate the "live" pin so to avoid phase mismatch. Good idea!
Super easy installation, just plug power and ethernet cables and after a few seconds of "hand-shaking" the regenerated signal is knocking at the sMS-200's doors!
For the records, after consulting with Norman of AQVOX I decided not to ground the switch. More precisely his answer was:
"Grounding: we do not give any recommendation to that, as some customers mixing up powergrid ground with powergrid negative AC. That can be dangerous. Experience from us and some customers is: grounding degrades SQ. Experience from some customers is: grounding improves SQ".
So how does it sound?
Well, the good news is... it doesn't! What I mean here is not that the addition of the SWITCH-8 was not audible. On the contrary! It was, but without changing in any way the tonal balance of the system. And that is good news for me as I spent years fine tuning the system to my likings.
The immediate perception for me was, in order of magnitude:
1) added width and depth to the soundstage, improved airiness and 3D perception
2) improved clarity and small detail retrieval
Maybe due to the fact that I am running ethernet over the power grid these improvements were particularly audible to my ears.
The bottom line for me was that although the improvements did not bring a revolution to the sound of my system they brought indeed additional finesse and "realism" to the sound, which is exactly what I am permanently striving to achieve.
And at less than Eur400 this is for me a no brainer investment if you can afford it.
So much that I finally decided to go back to my original idea and try the SE version!
Like they say: "the wise man doubts often and changes his mind".
I hope it helps.

 

[Charente]

Great feedback @doraymon (thank-you for the PM). Interesting comments about earthing ... I've been following various discussions about this very topic. I might have to give the AQVOX SWITCH-8 a try. I presume there is a return period. Do let us know your thoughts on the SE ... I might wait until your further feedback and then decide between the two. Quite a price for a switch though !

 

[doraymon]

Guys my SE arrived yesterday night and I did a first listening session.
I don’t want to speak too soon but I’m pretty excited of what I’m hearing.
I will give it a weekend before judging.

 

[Charente]

@doraymon ... Good news. Look forward to your thoughts.

 

[Heartsmart]

Hi, I’m also interested in your thoughts about the difference between the two versions. I’m thinking of ordering one of them.

All the best to you!

 

[doraymon]

Hi, I’m also interested in your thoughts about the difference between the two versions. I’m thinking of ordering one of them.

All the best to you!

A true direct comparison won’t be possible as I had to ship back the standard switch which they upgraded to SE and sent back.
What I can tel you is that when I received the standard switch and plugged it in I said “not bad as an improvement!”.
When I received the SE I said “wow!”.
Not a big scientific meaning, just my experience. If you read above my brief impressions of the standard switch you can amplify that by 20% and get what the SE sounds like.
I am very happy with my actual setup, I must say it is the best I ever heard since I’m in this hobby.

I can also add that another audible and cheap improvement came from changing from a Ethernet over Powerline adapter to a WiFi bridge (Netgear EX7000).
Much much less noise, less fatigue more detail.

 

[Heartsmart]

Thanks for your answer!

Actually I’m quite confused by all the stuff we need to get a clean digital connection. And how to choose what to buy.

I have two choices. One is connecting via USB. The other is via Ethernet. I have both in my Simaudio Moon 280D. I thought that Ethernet was the way to go because USB seamed tricky to get a jitterfree signal. But now I don’t now which is the best.