Intro

Contents

Introduction

I was going to title this post “A Swedish Surprise” but presumed it was something salacious. Thank you Urban Dictionary.

I was firmly in the camp of spending no more than $10 on an ethernet cable. After my review of the fantastic sounding SOtM dCBL-CAT7 ethernet cable, I wanted to survey a few more quality cables, preferably at a lower price point. All cables in this review were either purchased or borrowed from the community (Thanks guys!)

Along with a few cables in the $250-$600 range, a friend of mine mentioned the Swedish-made Supra CAT8 cable. A sub-$50 cable that’s apparently very popular in the Computer Audiophile community. Being an open-minded audiophile, I thought “It probably won’t compete but sure why not.”



Build

The first thing I noticed about the Supra ethernet cable was the tag with a golden string. There’s a handwritten name/ID of the person who soldered the cable. For some cables they’ve even included batch numbers so that they could backtrace time, parts, and personnel. Although I think it’d be difficult to screw up the soldering on this type of cable, I never knew this level of quality assurance was applied to ethernet cables. I think it’s a nice touch and speaks volumes on the length Supra takes to ensure the best craftsmanship.



The cable itself feels almost like any other generic CAT7 cable. Perhaps a bit stiffer.

One other thing you’ll notice is the distinct and innocuous color of the cable.

This is a conscious choice, offering a distinctive brand image, very typical Scandinavian Swedish and guides your awareness from the clean, sensible appearance to the astonishing performance that awaits beneath. We wish that our customers enjoy a sensational feeling that comes from knowing the true nature of performance under the surface, with a resemblance of the clean and calm Nordic water and ice.

Beautiful ain’t it? It’s also flame retardant so if your tubes ever catch fire and burns down your house, your ethernet cable will be safe.