August 18, 2012

• AudioQuest Forest Ethernet Cable, Pt 2

  Before I get to my initial impressions of the AudioQuest Forest Ethernet’s video and sound performance, I want to get a few more housekeeping items out of the way.

  The Oppo BDP-95 is connected to my Samsung 46" Series 550 LCD HDTV with WireWorld Chroma 6 HDMI cabling.  The Chroma 6 cable is right after the entry level model in WireWorld’s six cable line-up that’s topped by the Platinum Starlight model.  It’s a competent performer and I also use the Chroma 6 to connect my cable box to the Samsung.  The Samsung is also a competent HDTV but by no means a barn burner, whatever that expression means.  For video purposes, the Forest/Oppo combination comes into play when I’m streaming Netflix movies.  The films stream at Netflix’s highest quality setting which approaches, but is definitely bettered by my cable box’s presentation, especially for HD content.

  The Olive O3HD is holding down double duty in my system.  Connected via the over-achieving XLO Ultra 1 interconnects, it’s plugged straight into my preamp and functions as a direct access music server.  Second, the Oppo, now connected to the router with the Forest cables (as is the Olive) is also used as a playback device for the Olive.  The difference being the FLAC files on the Olive are now processed by the Oppo’s Sabre³² DACs instead of the internal DAC used by the Olive.  

   

  Picture Quality

  I have been, quite honestly, disappointed with the Forest’s picture quality.  I don’t believe it’s either as sharp as what I was getting from the wireless connection, or are the colors saturated quite as well.  The degradation, while noticeable, is not night and day but I’d been hoping for something at least as good as what I had been previously experiencing.

   

  Sound Quality

  Here is where I have been impressed.  Although right out of the box, it was a push between the previous wireless connection and the wired Forest Ethernet cables, this changed gradually over a few hours of use.

  • When playing FLAC files on the O3HD via the Oppo, the sound was smoother but without any apparent loss in detail.  This was easily apparent when listening to solo violin music recorded from the CD layer of the SACD Glass, Live at Grace Cathedral by Emily Palen.  The files sound as smooth and detailed, to me, as the SACD layer played directly on the Oppo.
  • When listening to a playlist of tracks from various Hearts of Space collections, the high frequency extension was borderline reference quality, acoustic guitar was feathery and (especially electronic) percussive sounds were impactful.  This solid bass foundation was heard again on the The Koln Concert recording by Keith Jarrett.
  • The sound stage is more nuanced and enveloping with a more continuous feel.  In some ways, it’s as if I’d swapped out the Electro-Harmonix 6922EH for Amperex Bugle Boy 6DJ8 in the Premier 16LS2 preamplifier. 

   

  On a practical if not a quality level, I’d always had some hesitation in the response time when using the remote control while watching Netflix.  This seems to have stopped occurring and pause, stop, etc. now engage instantly.

  So far, the Forest Ethernet cable has been a mixed bag in my applications.  Its video performance has been a little disappointing but the sound quality has been nothing but an improvement, and a quite noticeable one at that.

   

  • 9:24 am
  • 2 Comments