Are my CAT5 and router my weak link?

I had my PWD system wired with CAT 5. It sounded good. Then I started adding CAT 6 with each piece it sounded better. I thought I was done. Then I saw CAT 7 on Amazon. I tried a piece or two. Drat it sounded better. Now I'm slowly replacing every thing with CAT 7. Anyone need some wire?

I am jumping ship when CAT10 hits the market. Meanwhile, am am sorting out the directionality of my fuses.

08-07-12: Sgr
...I saw CAT 7 on Amazon. I tried a piece or two. Drat it sounded better.

This comment made me buy some CAT 7. Today I changed the 50 foot run between my computer and my ethernet switch. I replaced shielded CAT 6 with CAT 7.

To begin with, it improved my internet speed by about 3Mbps. Theory? Maybe...

Better shielding = less RFI/EMI = fewer errors = fewer resends = faster speed.

Also, it sounds better. More resolution. More relaxed at high volume. Too audible to be placebo, IMO. Maybe...

Better shielding = less RFI/EMI = ??? = less jitter.

Don't know what "???" is.

Bryon

???=less digital cable and system noise since they both produce jitter. Also less analog cables pickup. One thing to remember is that speed of Ethernet cable directly doesn't effect anything since data has no timing. Effect is indirect by radiating noise.

Thanks for the responses so far. It has made for interesting reading. I have my computer hard drive connected to the router via cat6 cable, non shielded. That run is about 10 feet. Then I have a 50 foot run, cat6 unshielded, from the router to the DAC.

It sounds like a relatively inexpensive experiment to try the shielded runs, but what about the router? I just keep thinking about all of the money I have spent for high end gear and their fancy connectors, etc. and want to know if a $120 router will be my weak link.

Thanks!
Jeff