Looking back at my childhood, it was of time of records, cassettes and taperecorders. At the time I did my solemn communion my parents allowed me to buy my first audio system. The system consisted of individual components from AKAI: a 35 Watt amplifier, a double cassettedeck, a turntable and a stereo graphical equaliser. The speakers were simple 2-way ported bookshelfs from Philips. The special thing was that I was able to buy one of the first commercial AKAI cd-players. There you have it. My first reel stack of audio gear. I got to choose my first CD for free cause I bought a whole system. It was BAD from Michael Jackson. More than 40 years later most of these sound carriers still exist. Anyone who wants to be contemporary and modern starts streaming. I was one of the first to get started with streaming; put an ethernet cable into my Lyngdorf MP-60 and started exploring Tidal. For sure I tested a few external streamers like the Bluesound Node and a Métronome DSC Mini. After installing Roon software on my NAS and stream directly to the Lyngdorf MP-60 I saw (better said heard) no further purpose for any other extra/external gear. For a while there was this hype/buzz around network switches. Could a dedicated network switch up the audio quality? The subject first kinda felt like snakeoil; you had outspoken supporters and opponents. I just ignored it at first. One day I woke up with the feeling: now is the time to investigate this myself. Do they have a point? When orientating myself on the internet, I was quickly attracted to Silent Angel. Why? As a brand they are very open and transparent about their products and used technology. That creates confidence. Within 15 minutes that I reached out tot hem, I got a response from Ethan Wang, CEO of Silent Angel. Unseen ! A few weeks later local distributor Dimex provided me with the Silent Angel Bonn NX network switch, Genesis GX word clock and Forester FX adaptive powersupply. I actually had no expectations at all. More like disbelief. Still, I found it exciting.
REDISCOVER MUSIC’S SOUL WITH SILENT ANGEL
Silent Angel, born in 2014 under Thunder Data, emerged from a passion to elevate digital audio to rival analog’s warmth. Founded by Dr. Eric Jian Huang, the Chinese brand focuses on high-resolution streaming, crafting components like network switches, streamers, and music servers to deliver pure, unadulterated sound. Their philosophy hinges on eradicating noise and jitter, ensuring stable power for an authentic Hi-Fi experience. With innovations like the VitOS operating system and Roon-ready devices, Silent Angel transforms complex networks into seamless music ecosystems. Their mission: empower audiophiles to rediscover music’s soul through cutting-edge technology, blending precision with emotional resonance.
SILENT ANGEL EXTREME TRIO
SILENT ANGEL BONN NX NETWORK SWITCH
The Silent Angel Bonn NX network switch is a true gem for those who demand sonic excellence. Its eight gold-plated Gigabit Ethernet ports, artfully spaced, banish interference, ensuring data flows with crystalline purity. A 25MHz TCXO oscillator works magic, trimming jitter to a mere 369ps (against 705ps in lesser switches), delivering timing so precise it feels like music breathes anew. Encased in a dual-layer fortress of galvanized steel and fine aluminum alloy, it silences electromagnetic noise, while stainless steel Resonance Control Feet tame vibrations for dynamic brilliance.
The Bonn NX boasts a radar-grade power supply for unwavering voltage, with a 12V DC jack inviting upgrades like the Forester FX. A gold-plated grounding terminal, switchable LEDs, and synergy with 25MHz clocks like the Genesis GX make it future-ready. Perfect for Roon, Tidal, Qobuz, or NAS, it carves a pristine Hi-Fi sanctuary, shielding your audio from digital chaos. Elegant yet relentless, the Bonn NX unveils music’s soul with breathtaking clarity and emotional depth an essential for every discerning listener.
SILENT ANGEL GENESIS GX WORD CLOCK
Behold the Silent Angel Genesis GX word clock a marvel that redefines timing in high-end audio. With four independent clocks two at 25MHz, two at 10MHz each driven by a masterful TCXO oscillator, it banishes jitter and latency to oblivion, crafting a signal so pure it feels alive. Gold-plated BNC connectors radiate untainted clarity, while complete electrical isolation between clocks ensures a silent, interference-free realm for your music.
Encased in a dual-layer sanctuary of galvanized steel and exquisite aluminum alloy, like its sibling Bonn NX, the Genesis GX defies electromagnetic noise and quells vibrations. Its stainless steel Resonance Control Feet, paired with a radar-grade power supply, elevate dynamics to ethereal heights, with a 12V DC jack for future enhancements. Designed to harmonize with the Bonn NX and beyond, it perfects Roon, Tidal, and NAS streaming. Sleek yet commanding, the Genesis GX blends elegance with unrelenting precision, delivering a soundstage of breathtaking detail and emotional intensity. For those who seek music’s truest essence, this is your gateway to sonic transcendence.
SILENT ANGEL FORESTER FX ADAPTIVE POWER SUPPLY
Next up is the Silent Angel Forester FX adaptive power supply. Tailored for luminaries like the Genesis GX, Bonn NX, and Z1 Plus, it shuns conventional linear designs, embracing a hybrid brilliance with switching transistors that deliver unshakable stability and sound so pure it stirs the soul. Its seven DC outputs 5V, 9V, four 12V, and 19V, up to 100W gracefully empower streamers, routers, and beyond with surgical precision.
With ingenious remote sensing, the Forester FX reads each device’s needs, ensuring voltage as steady as a maestro’s hand. A high-permeability EMI absorber silences electrical noise, while audiophile-grade components, hand-selected, unveil crystalline clarity. Silent Angel’s dynamic power distribution dances with efficiency, taming heat and jitter to perfect Roon, Tidal, and NAS streaming. Encased in elegance, yet fiercely uncompromising, the Forester FX weaves your setup into a seamless Hi-Fi symphony, unleashing dynamics and emotional depth that captivate the heart.
BUILDING THE PIRAMID
PART 1 – STANDARD D-LINK VS AUDIO-GRADE BONN NX
Let’s build up the listening sessions gradually. In this first part I’ll compare the impressions from listening to 5 tracks with the D-Link and Silent Angel Bonn NX network switch.
- Friend ’n Fellow brings an intimate cover of “What a wondeful world” from Sam Cooke with the guitar of Thomas Fellow and voice of Constance Friend. Although the small setting, the stage grows bigger with the Silent Angel Bonn NX. Her voice sounds more refined, with a more colorful tone. The different guitar notes are more clearly noticeable with more separation.
- Taxiwars is a Belgian jazzband formed in 2014 by Tom Barman and Robin Verkeyen. Their debutalbum TaxiWars came out in 2015. Let’s enjoy “Dropshot” from a later album “Artificial Horizon”. It immediately becomes clear that with the Bonn NX the musical presentation has more air and transparency. The transients of the drum sets are more noticable and more in the foreground. The voices become more detached from the band. Especially in the pieces with doubled voices there’s more separation. What a nice musical vibe !
- Rahim Claude Redcar was born in Nantes (France) on June 1st in 1988 as Héloïse Adélaïde Létissier. He finished shool in 2010, the year that he started singing under the name Christine and the Queens. His first album “Chaleur Humaine” launched him internationally, thanks to the singles Nuit 17 à 52, Sainte Claude, Paradis Perdus and especially Christine. He’s actually a woman, but from 2022 she wanted to be addressed as he/him. Listening to “Christine” through the Bonn NX introced a more powerful bass. The voice became more detached from the music. It became possible to distinguish the added reverb more clearly. The general presentation became grander.
- Dominic Miller is the English guitar player from Sting. He was born in Buenos Aires. Untill the age of 10 he lived in Argentina. Then he moved back to England. At an older age he and his family moved to the Provence in France. He started playing the guitar at the age of 11. He studied in the Berklee College of Music in Boston and Guildhall School of Music in London. The least we can say about him is that he’s an inspiring guitarist. A little less famous song, but an excellent recording is “London Paris Cardiff” from his album “Fourth Wall”. Streaming it with the Bonn NX brought more ease to the track, the overall sound became more relaxing and spacious.
- Let’s turn to classical music. Does John Williams ring a bell? No? Of course. Either John Williams or Hans Zimmer composed the soundtrack for every blockbuster ever released on the planet. Together with the Vienna Philharmonic he performs the “Imperial March” from the movie “Star Wars – The Empire strikes back”. The Bonn NX introduces a larger soundstage: the stage on which the orchestra stands is suddenly a lot bigger. It also becomes easier to distinguish the different instruments.
In general you can compare the result with switching from a mid-priced cd-player to a high-end one. A few things that were eminent: expanded soundstage, more clarity, more conviction and more musical tonality.
PART 2 – UPGRADING THE BONN NX WITH THE GENESIS GX WORD CLOCK
- There’s more spark and fire in Thomas’ guitar playing. He plays with more passion and notes are clearer and resonate more. Constance’s voice has more definition and sounds sweater.
- The piano notes are spot on now. No smearing what-so-ever, perfect timing and with excellent resonance. The snare drum has more character. Better layering makes all individual instruments more noticable. The voice also gets more color in this song with the clock upgrade.
- Again some notes on the bass: more puch, attack, impact and concistancy. The soundstage decluttered. There was more definition in his voice. At around 1’40” the bass drum really kicks in. It seems like there is more depth to it.
- Similar to the first track I experienced more spark and fire in Dominic’s playing. The bass was more pronounced and tighter with more puch. The percussion sounds were clearer, the trumpet at around 2’ shined more. Plucking of notes on the guitar was more convincing with increased micro-detail.
- Introducing the Genesis GX word clock is a gamechanger. The orchestra comes more to life and plays with more conviction. The violins shine more, the start of each note when the bows are put into motion is spot on. The timbre improves because the sound gets more body. Williams puts it in second gear as he leads the orchestra with a firm hand, while realising impecable timing.
Adding the Genesis Word Clock to the stack reduced jitter considerably, resulting in the typical auditory differences: less sound smearing, improved musical timing, better transients and individual notes that fade out longer convey more feeling.
PART 3 – POWERING BOTH THE BONN NX AND GENESIS GX WITH THE FORESTER FX
- Adding the purest of power to the mix transforms the stage into a true live performance. You can pick her voice and his guitar out of the air. Voice and guitar become one. How much dynamics can you convey with one human voice and one guitar? I can tell you: more than you think or can imagine. This leads to so much more persuasiveness.
- The same jazz band now plays with more power and expression. A fluid music performance let’s me enjoy every individual instrument more. Maybe this will sound weird or strange, but it’s like I understand the music better, I feel what they mean and get sucked into the track more. This level of engagement adds to the pleasure of listening to music.
- His voice sounds excellence and is all over the place, with increased spread of the doubled voices. The whoops and whooshes from the synthesizer seem to fly into the room with more air and vibrancy. The sound is completely torn apart and yet it remains one musical whole. An enormous purity creates more emotion.
- Streaming with the Extreme Trio puts everything right. The soundstage becomes wider, higher, deeper with more layers. The bass depth and power is excellent. Every instrument sounds more vibrant. It seems like they perform with more feeling and passion. Even a not so experienced listener would say that listening with the D-Link versus the Extreme Trio is like listening to two different systems (when listening blindfolded).
- Let’s end with an epic finale. It seems as if the orchestra is filled with half as many people. Trumpet players find more breath, timpani and percussion more impact. Symbols color copper. You can almost walk through the orchestra, everything is so clearly distinguishable. There is much more power coming from the orchestra. Each instrument seems to be of the highest quality, like the best violin is a Stradivarius. This way it becomes easier to visualize the movie.
The final piece of the Extreme Trio ! This latest upgrade is certainly not the least. Using the purest of power brings remarkable improvements: a pitch black background, bigger dynamic contrasts introducing even more micro-details, yet another expansion of the soundstage, with even more layering. The music flows and becomes emotion.
All the tracks were evaluated both in stereo and Dolby Atmos. I’m happy to say that I got similar results while watching some movie scenes with my Zappity as source hooked up to the Extreme Trio
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
SILENT ANGEL BONN NX
- Available Color: Black, Silver
- Power Input: IEC (AC) 100-240V, 50/60Hz, (DC) 12V/1A (5.5mm x 2.5mm connector)
- Ethernet Port: Gold-plated 1GbE RJ45 port x 8
- Interface: Clock input switch x 1 (external/internal), LAN port LED indicator switch x 1, Grounding Port x 1
- LED Indicator : AC Power LED (green) x 1, DC Power LED (green) x 1, LAN Port Status LED x 8 (Light on when linked; Flash when it’s active, Green: 1000Mbps; Amber: 100Mbps)
- Temperature: Operating: 32 ~ 86 °F (0 ~ 30 °C), Storage: -4 ~ 158 °F (-20 ~ 70 °C)
- Dimensions: 17.29 (W) x 2.49 (H) x 9.95 (D) inch, 439 (W) x 63 (H) x 250 (D) mm
- Weight: 14.34 lbs / 6.4 kg
SILENT ANGEL GENESIS GX
- Available Color: Black, Silver
- Power Input: EC (AC) 100-240V, 50/60Hz, (DC) 12V/1A (5.5mm x 2.5mm connector)
- Clock Output Port: 25MHz port x 2 (BNC, gold-plated), 10MHz port x 2 (BNC, gold-plated)
- Clock Output Port Impedance: 50 / 75 ohm auto-detection (default is 50 ohm)
- Grounding Port: Grounding port x 1 (gold-plated)
- LED Indicator: AC Power LED x 1, DC Power LED x 1
- Temperature: Operating: 32 ~ 86 °F (0 ~ 30 °C), Storage: -4 ~ 158 °F (-20 ~ 70 °C)
- Dimensions: 17.29 (W) x 2.49 (H) x 9.95 (D) inch, 439 (W) x 63 (H) x 250 (D) mm
- Weight: 16.31 lbs / 7.4 kg
SILENT ANGEL FORESTER FX
- Available Color: Black, Silver
- Power Input: IEC power socket
- Voltage Output: 12VDC x4 / 5VDC x1 / 9VDC x1 / 19VDC x1, maximum output of each port is 3A, maximum total output power is 100 Watt. each output equipped with sense terminal.
- Internal: Enhanced reduction of EMI noise and vibration, Fuse holder for fuse replacement.
- External: Stainless steel footpads with rubber rings.
- Chassis Material: Aluminum alloy exterior + SECC interior
- Temperature Operating: 0 ~ 30 °C (32 ~ 86 °F), Storage: -20 ~ 70 °C (-4 ~ 158 °F)
- Dimensions: 439(W) x 63(H) x 250(D)mm, 17.29(W) x 2.49(H) x 9.95(D)inch
- Weight: 19.8lbs / 9kg
SOFTWARE
- What a Wonderful World – Friend ’n Fellow – On Covered
- Drop Shot – TaxiWars – Artificial Horizon
- Christine – Rahim Redcar – Chaleur Humaine
- London Paris Cardiff – Dominic Miller – Fourth Wall
- Imperial March (Start Wars: The Empire Strikes Back) – Wiener Philharmoniker – John Williams in Vienna
REVIEW SETUP
- Silent Angel Bonn NX network switch
- D-Link standard network switch
- Silent Angel Genesis GX word clock
- Silent Angel Forester GX adaptive power supply
- Lyngdorf Audio MP-60 AV Processor
- Lyngdorf Audio MXA-8400 8-channel power amplifier (L, R, woofer L, woofer R, L surround, R surround, L back surround, R back surround)
- Lyngdorf Audio SDA-2400 2-channel power amplifier (L front height channel, L back height channel)
- Lyngdorf Audio SDA-2400 2-channel power amplifier (R front height channel, R back height channel)
- Zappiti PRO 4K HDR Audiocom Cinema Edition media player
- Roon Server for bitperfect Tidal streaming
- Lyngdorf Audio Cue-100 speakers (L, R)
- Lyngdorf Audio BW-20 passive boundary woofers (L, R)
- SVS SB-17 Ultra R I Evolution subwoofer (L, R)
- Lyngdorf Audio FR-1 speakers (L surround, R surround, L back surround, R back surround)
- Lyngdorf Audio MH-2 speakers (L front height channel, R front height channel, L back height channel, R back height channel)
- Oehlbach Powerstation 909 multiple socket strip (2 pcs)
- Oehlbach State of the Art High End Power Cable 4m (2 pcs to feed Powerstations 909)
- Oehlbach State of the Art High End 8K – Ultra High-Speed HDMI Cable (2 pcs)
- Oehlbach State of the Art High End Streaming Network Cables Cat 8.1 (5 pcs)
- Formovie Theater Premium Utra Short Throw 4K Triple Color Laser TV
- Vovox Sonorus XLR cables
- Vovox Excelsus SpeakON speaker cables
- Devine Neutrik SpeakON speaker cables
- Standard power cables
SILENT ANGEL BONN NX +GENESIS GX + FORESTER FX
NX = €3.499 GX = €3.299 FX = €3.299The Silent Angel Extreme Trio of the Bonn NX network swicth, Genesis GX word clock and Forester FX adaptive power supply form the foundation for a full-fledged high-end streaming setup for both music and movies. Using these divices in cascade offers an upgrade that extends the asking price. It transforms music reproduction from a mere presentation to a true connection with the soul of music. I don’t think I’ve ever been so close to the musical intent. Best of high end award!
Pros
- Gorgious design
- Build quality
- Upgrade worth 2 tot 3 times the price
- Music soul connection
- Flexibility
- Effective vibration damping isolators
Cons
- 22.8 Kg of audio gear
- Sensitive to fingerprints and stains
