15/06/2026
Internet Upgrade for Sound Quality Improvement ... Update Part 2.
You may ask why am I talking about internet upgrades on a Hifi page? Simple really, the more you can improve the source then chances are the better the information delivered and that should equate to a higher sound quality at the end of the line.
Its been several weeks since I had the fibre optic cable upgrade all the way into our office along with a new NBN Router. Previously we had Fibre to the Kerb and the cabling inside the house from the Telstra box to my office turned out to be Cat5 and approx was 20 years old.
First impressions were that the upgrade was that there was definitely a change, I considered it as a good starting point and as I expected it will need to have to rest of the system to be fine tuned for the new internet connection as the rest of the system that had been set up to maximise the information being supplied by the old system, which by the way I had managed to get to a very good level. I must admit I actually wondered if the upgrade would make a serious decent sized SQ improvement or be a step back.
To start off with Telstra supplied a new latest spec modem as they informed me that the existing one wouldn't work with the new NBN router.
So we plugged in the new modem and got it working after spending hours on the phone to a Telstra Tech. Was I impressed in the SQ being delivered? ... Actually no, it sounded thin and if anything a bit sharp, plus we couldn't use the existing Plixir Statement LPSU with it, which didn't help. In the long discussions with the Telstra Tech he informed us that the old Modem worked fine and we had been given the wrong information, so after a few hours of using the new modem I decided to swap it out and try the old one with the Plixir. The improvement in SQ was massive, new isn't always better obviously.
As I wrote in part 1 I am also using Vertere ethernet cables directly from the NBN router to the modem and then to a switch, I did try various other ethernet patch cables with mixed results. But in the end after various comparisons in my opinion these Vertere cables, while definitely not inexpensive, are worth every penny for how they improve sound quality. However like with all things Hifi, system synergy is king and while they beat off all challengers here that doesn't mean they will sound the best in every system.
So several weeks later how does it sound and have I had to make any changes and was it worth the upgrade? Like every new bit of electronics it takes time to settle down and that has been the case here as well, apart from the cable the only really new thing has been the NBN box and over the last couple of weeks the streaming system has become far more relaxed and enjoyable to listen to from what it was when first installed.
Has it improved over the original internet we had? .... Yes it most definitely has, the new system is far more refined in the sound delivered, with better separation and a lower noise floor and excellent decay. Having said that I had to make a couple of changes to get there. Prior to the upgrade I was using Atlas Cat7 from the switch in the office to the components in the room. I also had Atlas Cat6 in the wall but it sounded slow and flat as a pancake in comparison to the Cat7. Once the internet was upgraded the Cat7 while sounding very good on some fronts also sounded to bright and it lost decay and musicality. Simply switching from Cat7 to Cat6 made all the difference.
Am I happy with where its at? ... Not 100% yet I'm not, I still am chasing a bit of a more relaxed sound and I will continue to try various tweaks to see if I can have the best of both worlds in SQ from the upgraded system and if I can achieve that then that would be truly excellent and a big step up over the old system, both the old and new systems have strength and weaknesses and as I first thought it will more than likely come down to fine tuning, which I'm only just getting sorted I reckon.
One very positive aspect of upgrading the internet at our place is the picture quality we now get through Apple TV into the Christie Projector, it is so so much better, talk about stunning micro detail that is not only much more vibrant but far more realistic colour! I thought it was great before, now its exceptional.
Where to from here? I will be trying different speeds down to see if that makes a difference, it shouldn't but the one thing I have learned in Hifi is everything makes a difference, not always better though. It looks like I will also be trying over the next few weeks several different modems at various price points to see if the old $100 Telstra unit is as good as it gets. I reckon that will be interesting to find out.
So am I happy with the internet upgrade and would I recommend it? ... Absolutely when it comes to streaming the better you can make you source the better the sound quality and that is what this upgrade has easily achieved.
cheers,
Terry
