ARCHIVED FORUM -- March 2012 to February 2022READ ONLY FORUM
This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
I’m looking at wiring a new apartment for ML, and wondering whether CAT6 or CAT 7 would be OK to use instead. I suspect that if it is, then matching of the ML colours to specific CAT 6/7 colours would be necessary so that the correct pits are twisted.
Does anyone one have any insight on this?
Cat 6. Will not work. Cat 7 because of the additional shielding will work for master link and powerlink cabling.
Having looked into it, if screening is the issue, then the sub-type of the cable rather than the CAT number is the key item.
CAT 6 should work using F/FTP cable as it matches the screening of ML cable
https://planetechusa.com/blog/ethernet-different-ethernet-categories-cat3-vs-cat5e-vs-cat6-vs-cat6a-vs-cat7-vs-cat8/
F/UTP– Foiled/Unshielded Twisted Pair
Common in Fast Ethernet deployments, this cable will have a foil shield that wraps around unshielded twisted pairs.
S/UTP– Braided Shielding/ Unshielded Twisted Pair
This cable will wrap a braided shield around unshielded twisted pairs.
SF/UTP– Braided Shielding+Foil/Unshielded Twisted Pairs
This cable braids a shield around a foil wrap to enclose unshielded twisted pairs.
S/FTP– Braided Shielding/Foiled Twisted Pair
This cable wraps a braided shield around all four copper pairs. Additionally, each twisted pair is enveloped in foil.
F/FTP-Foiled/Foiled Twisted Pair
This cable encloses all copper pairs in foil. Additionally, each twisted pair is enveloped in foil.
U/FTP-Unshielded/Foiled Twisted Pairs
This cable only envelopes the twisted pairs in foil.
U/UTP-Unshielded/UnshieldedTwisted Pair
No sheathing is used. Standard Cat5e cable are examples of U/UTP cables.
Hi frog,
I have looked into the use of STP Cat 7 cable instead of Masterlink and I have not been very impressed with the performance. In particular, the smaller conductor sizes in Cat 7 cable seem to cause the +15v and -15v voltages on the blue and pink supply voltage wires to reduce over fairly short distances, meaning that the link room products display errors or lose communication. Hence, I would always recommend the use of Masterlink cables for ML products, as these will give you the best performance and reliability. Masterlink cables and connectors will continue to be available for many years to come (even if B&O stop supporting them!), you can see these here:-
https://soundsheavenly.com/48-link-masterlink-control-and-sync
By all means, I suggest adding Cat 7 cables for future use with new technologies, but ML products are best used on the correct ML cables.
Kind regards, Steve.
Steve.
www.soundsheavenly.com
Founder of Sounds Heavenly Cables and Brand Ambassador for Bang & Olufsen
Sounds Heavenly are proud to sponsor BeoWorld!
Please check out my YouTube channel at https://youtube.com/soundsheavenlycables
Hmm, good point about the cable thickness. I'll have to check. The price difference isn't that great anyhow.