A customer recently took an Innuos PhoenixNET on an extended home loan and kindly offered to write a review for me.
How Do you make an already great sounding system (to my ears) better, a visit to Kantata sorted that out. John suggested that I try the new Innuos Phoenix Net Audiophile ethernet switch. I have only recently stumbled across this type of product and thought to myself, nonsense….. Improve the equipment, then power cables etc and interconnects.
I have been doing this with John using Audioquest for a couple of years now in my Linn Exakt system with fabulous results. I agreed to take this switch and let him know what my independent opinion would be. I have had such an unexpected positive experience with the Phoenix Net that I am now unable and unwilling to return it, I just cannot listen to my music without it. So unless you are ready to spend do not take this box for a demonstration.
It is a very well made “shoe box” sized device with a special OCXO clock which re clocks the incoming data more accurately , shielded 100mb high end ethernet ports and a linear power supply to give clean power to everything. Does all this make a difference? You better believe it!
The minute I tried the first few tracks via the switch I really liked the extra width and depth that I was hearing, the bass, the mid range and all those micro details had more nuances, space and texture, they were more real. They actually were more detailed or more there in front of you but without that ragged pushiness some equipment uses to achieve this. Yes, I really liked it. My wife came in for a bit of music and some wine and to listen if this box was any good, she's a very good judge as she's not technical and would prefer if I wouldn’t find the next must have Hi Fi toy.
However, she really liked what it was doing with the bass and the placement and accuracy of the instruments. We switched back and forth from the Netgear GS108 switch to the PhoenixNET and it was so easy to pick between them. She was a bit reticent about the voices and thought they were behind the performance of the rest of the music and needed to be more front and centre. We left it running and went to the tv room and watched a movie and something else, returning at about 10.30pm by this time the Innuos was running for about 8 hours, it wasn't run in by John so it was fresh out of the box. Immediately on hearing it the vocalists had come forward where they should be in front of the band but oh how they sounded more real, never harsh but much more emotive, all I can say was that it was a very late night as we just kept playing. We forgot that there was a new piece of kit in the room as the music just moved us and grooved us.
We both decided after another day listening and enjoying our favourite music of any genre that we couldn't live without it, I can tell you that it wasn't on her shopping list let alone mine, The improvement in our musical enjoyment was just too good to pass up. The only other time I heard such a profound change was when I heard my passive Klimax system converted to Akurate active Exakt.
Once the Innuos Phoenix Net is run in it stays that way, I have heard no difference from cold to playing for a few hours, its always left powered on. We love it even my son who listened on a Sunday for a few hours said Dad you have to buy it…..So its ours now and thankyou John for lending it to us and not trying to influence us by saying how good it was.
S.C. Newry