Silent Angel Bonn NX Ethernet Switch and Genesis GX Word Clock Review

The Bonn NX is an Ethernet switch from Silent Angel that employs a rigorous approach towards designing and executing a network switch for high-fidelity audio. By isolating, filtering, and reducing various sources of noise, the Bonn NX preserves the integrity of the music source to deliver a pure signal to the connected system components and presents music with tonal neutrality, timbral accuracy, and textural detail for a musical presentation with authenticity, authority, and nuance.

The Silent Angel Bonn NX is an 8-port Ethernet switch specifically designed for high-fidelity audio applications. Silent Angel claims that even small enhancements can slightly improve sound quality, and implementing many small enhancements allows the Bonn NX to deliver the full potential of high-resolution streaming networks. By isolating, filtering, and reducing various sources of noise, Silent Angel says the Bonn NX is designed to preserve the integrity of the music source to deliver a pure signal to the connected system components. One key approach that Silent Angel does to ensure this is to operate the Bonn NX at a stable system voltage to be able to send precisely timed packets and reduce extraneous output noise.

The team at Silent Angel was kind enough to send along the Genesis GX Word Clock to use along with the Bonn NX. I will discuss the Genesis GX functions and contributions in a separate section at the end of this review.

Provided in the box:

• 1x Bonn NX Ethernet switch
• 1x Owner’s manual
• 1x power cord

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Bonn NX Key Design Features

The Bonn NX Ethernet switch implements several features that contribute to its overall performance. Silent Angel says that one of the most important is a new 25 MHz temperature-controlled crystal oscillator (TCXO) that produces a high-precision clocking signal and ultra-low phase noise signal output for the Ethernet switch system. The Bonn NX also utilizes a multi-stage power filter technology circuit for this TCXO master clock and switch that Silent Angel says removes crosstalk and noise at frequencies of 10MHz, 100MHz, and 1GHz and provides clean power to the TCXO module.

The Bonn NX Ethernet switch also has an AC power filter circuit that Silent Angel says provides significant noise isolation by utilizing a common mode choke circuit for the AC power input, which prevents noise pollution from other AC-powered sources, such as other network-connected devices, and from the AC mains. Additionally, the Bonn NX also has a wide-dynamic range AC to DC power module that utilizes a stable, low-ripple noise secure protection circuit, cooled by an aluminum heat sink.

Silent Angel has also used an ultra-low-noise voltage regulator circuit for the Bonn NX, which it says is capable of processing wide dynamic range power and features a highly efficient circuit with fast response time. This voltage regulator circuit, powered by a Texas Instruments TPS56623x-series step-down voltage regulator, maintains a low-output ripple under all load conditions.

Other features of the Bonn NX are an on/off network status LED, eight gold-plated RJ-45 Ethernet ports, a grounding connector for connecting noise-reduction grounding boxes (e.g., those from Entreq, Shunyata Research, etc.), an external word clock input and internal/external clock selector switch, and a DC barrel jack for connecting an external 12V DC linear power supply. There is also a fuse port for the system safety fuse (image 2).

Silent Angel Bonn NX rear panel

Silent Angel also understands the importance of vibration control and attenuation in audio products, particularly for digital-domain audio products, and has used a thick, dual-layer chassis comprised of machined-from-billet-aluminum and stainless steel along with three custom-engineered stainless steel and rubber footers that Silent Angel says provides vibration damping and placement stability and mitigates the transmission of vibration and resonance into the Ethernet switch. Digital-domain audio devices are particularly sensitive to the impact of vibration, particularly on their master clock subsystems, so I was pleased to see Silent Angel thinking details such as vibration management and footer design through so thoroughly.

Silent Angel Bonn NX bottom panel

Set-up:

For this review, it’s useful to describe the networked music server set-up, which is in a spare room, which I refer to as the “remote server room” (RSR). The RSR has a digital source, which is an Akasa NUC functioning as a Roon Core, Bonn NX Ethernet switch, and a Sonore “opticalModule” optical transceiver.

Digital music files from the Akasa NUC are sent to the Bonn NX, which then sends the music file data to the Sonore “opticalModule”, which converts the electrical signal to an optical signal, and then downstream via LC/LC optical fiber to a Lumin P1 in the main audio rack in the listening room. The Lumin P1 has an SFP cage and optical transceiver and converts the optical signal back to an electrical music signal for the streamer, DAC, and preamplifier in the main rack.

The Lumin P1 is connected to a Constellation Inspiration integrated amplifier functioning solely as the system power amplifier. All components in the main audio room are powered with a Shunyata Everest power distributor using Omega QR-s and Sigma and Alpha NR v2 power cables.

The Constellation Inspiration integrated amp is connected to Harbeth 30.2 loudspeakers using Shunyata Alpha V2 speaker cables resting on DF-SS cable elevators, which mitigate the effect of floor-borne vibrations on speaker cable performance.

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Listening Impressions:

The quality that is immediately apparent using the Bonn NX Ethernet switch is one of quietness. The noise floor is very, very low, and provides a deep black background against which the intrinsic harmony and vibrancy of the music is presented in full measure. Tonality, both for voices and instruments, is exceedingly neutral, with no discernable coloration or inaccuracies. The reproduction of timbre and texture is detailed yet refined and provides the subtlety and nuance that distinguishes instruments from one another as well as adding color and life to the music. Imaging is excellent with voices and instruments placed with accurate size, definition, and stability in the soundstage. The soundstage is deep, tall, and wide, extending past the width of the speakers and replete with cues such as decay and “vapor trail” that convey a realistic sense of space and volume.

Lady Blackbird “Black Acid Soul”

Lady Blackbird’s Black Acid Soul is portrayed with a sublime rendition of her vocals’ breath, texture, and warmth which is presented in the recording space with breadth, depth, and height. Most importantly, her control and beautiful phrasing come to life for the listener for an enrapturing vocal experience.

Julie London “Julie Is Her Name”

Continuing with the theme of female vocalists, the Bonn NX shines when streaming Julie London’s Julie is Her Name (Liberty). The Bonn’s transparency presents Julie’s voice against the background of the electric guitar and backing instruments with outstanding definition, body, and texture and a lifelike presentation of the width, height, and depth of the recording space. The fadeout at the end of Cry Me a River trails off cleanly and smoothly into a background of blackness and quietude. With a noise floor as quiet as the Bonn NX provides, all the texture and timbral qualities from London’s voice are natural and lifelike, and the tone colors from the backing instruments stand out beautifully.

Pepe Romero “Tárrega: Recuerdos de la Alhambra”

The Bonn NX’s ability to convey a subtle, nuanced, and layered rendering of a solo classical guitar’s tone, timbre, and texture is presented in full measure and definition on Isaac Albeniz’s Suite Espanola No. 1, Op. 47, Asturias, when played by Pepe Romero on Tárrega: Recuerdos de la Alhambra (Philips, 1983). This is a lovely classical guitar recording and the Bonn NX presents it quietly, gently, and subtly, with great natural beauty.

Gary Clark, Jr. “Live”

Continuing with the theme of guitars, but changing things up a bit, the Bonn NX can punch with the heavyweights when playing some good ‘ole rock ‘n roll. Catfish Blues on Gary Clark, Jr.’s Live really kicks out the jams with impressive force, power, and sheer grunt. With the Bonn NX serving up tunes from this amazing album, the visceral feel of a live rock performance is presented with such vivacity and electricity that it’s damn near impossible to stay seated in the listening chair.

Fink “Sort of Revolution”

One of the strengths of the Bonn NX is that its clarity, transparency, and resolution provide an ability to reproduce the finest musical details and tonal and timbral intricacies that convey subtlety and nuance to the presentation. Maker on Fink’s Sort of Revolution, with its foundational organ and bass lines overlaid with a finely woven cloth of instrumental details, textural cues, and subtleties provided by snares, hi-hats, and brushed cymbals, is a standout for these attributes, creating a musical tapestry that draws the listener into the artist’s world. I caught myself listening to this captivating track over and over again with the Bonn NX.

Beethoven “Piano 5 in E flat major, Op. 73”

The Bonn NX really shows what it can do when playing full-scale symphonic classical music. Linn’s exemplary recording and mastering of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major, Op. 73 (the “Emperor Concerto”) with Arthur Pizarro on piano and Charles Mackerras conducting the Scottish National Orchestra is an absolute joy to listen to with the Bonn NX. The Bonn NX provides an incredibly clean, quiet, and black background that enables the effortless scale and force of a classical orchestra to come fully through to the listener. There’s the full force of the orchestra, but force nuanced with sensitivity and refinement. The re-creation of space, but space distinguished with orchestral hall ambiance. This is a very challenging composition that is exquisitely played, recorded, and mastered, and one that the Bonn NX presents with the fullest measure of beauty, and more importantly, sheer joy that it fully deserves. Incredible.

Beethoven “Symphony No. 8 in F major, Op. 93”

Sticking with Beethoven, while the 1977 Deutsche Grammophon (DG) release of Herbert von Karajan conducting the Berlin Philharmonic’s cycle of nine Beethoven symphonies may be better known, personally, I (and many others) prefer DG’s more nuanced, refined, and dare I say, sophisticated 1963 cycle. Playing Symphony 8 in F Major, once again the Bonn NX, faced with the challenge of presenting complex and extremely dynamic classical music, swings for the fences, and hits a grand slam home run, with articulation, sophistication, and resolution all scoring. The aptly named last movement, Allegro Vivace, is a tour de force of PRAT: pace, rhythm, and timing, and the Bonn NX presents it with the drive, energy, and vivacity of a Formula 1 car, which it fully deserves.

Conclusion:

The Silent Angel Bonn NX is an Ethernet switch designed for high-end audio networking and streaming applications that provides exceptional audio quality along with functions and features that make it upgradeable and extendable for state-of-the-art use now and into the future.

Likes
• Natural, accurate presentation of tone and timbre with excellent imaging and spacious soundstage.
• Very quiet, transparent, and highly resolving.
• Excellent build quality and high overall engineering specification.
• Effective resonance and vibration damping.
• Configuration flexibility supporting the use of external master clocks and linear power supplies.
• Low profile design supports stacking with master clock and linear power supply.
Would Like To See
• SFP (Small Form-factor, Pluggable) optical port for fiber optic network connection

The Bonn NX is a superbly designed and engineered Ethernet switch for high-end audio networking and streaming applications. In addition to providing outstanding, lifelike, and engaging audio quality with a very low noise floor, it also provides versatility and upgradeability in use. Supporting up to eight RJ45 Ethernet connections, it can connect to routers, music servers, and audio streamers as well as fiber media converters, enabling a wide and flexible range of high-end audio networking configurations. Just as importantly, its already-high performance envelope can be further extended by adding Silent Angel’s external, higher-specification master clock and linear power supply.

Silent Angel Genesis GX Word Clock.

Genesis GX is a state-of-the-art word clock whose core technology was originally developed for the most demanding scientific and instrumentation applications, utilizing high-performance word clocks that potentially can cost tens of thousands of dollars. Silent Angel says the Genesis GX delivers this level of performance and precision for a fraction of the price of most word clock systems.

Genesis GX Design and Features

Compared with “stand-alone” word clocks, built-in word clocks share system resources (e.g., power supplies, etc.) with other device components, and are all interconnected on the same circuit board. By contrast, stand-alone word clocks are less susceptible to noise components that can affect the clock signal, such as electrical pulses, interference from other electronic components, and noise from jitter caused by other system components, and thus, provide a more accurate clock signal. A key point and benefit of the Genesis GX is that it can be used with all digital components that have a Word Clock input, e.g., a DAC, streamer, or network bridge, and is not limited to use with Silent Angel’s or other manufacturer’s Ethernet switches.

The Genesis GX has four individual word clocks: two 10 MHz and two 25 MHz units. While 10MHz is the most commonly used frequency for word clocks, this frequency was initially chosen for GPS applications and Silent Angel claims this frequency is not optimal for audio applications. After exhaustive testing, Silent Angel’s R&D team discovered that the ideal frequency for audio networking devices is 25MHz. The Genesis GX features both 10MHz and 25MHz clock outputs for use with Silent Angel products, such as the Bonn NX Ethernet switch, as well as providing compatibility with other Ethernet switches. Using four discrete word clocks in a single optimized enclosure provides flexibility for networking audio configurations, as the increased performance Silent Angel claims is obtainable from the 25 MHz clock rate. The clock units are spaced and electrically isolated to minimize interference and noise. Each clock unit has its own temperature-controlled crystal oscillator clock (TCXO) clock and circuitry to eliminate potential signal interference.

Silent Angel Genesis GX rear panel

The Genesis GX also incorporates a class-leading radar-grade switching power supply module, which is said to provide a stable, low-ripple-noise power source.

The chassis design combines two layers of different, carefully chosen, materials: the inner layer is galvanized steel while the outer layer is thick, high-quality aluminum alloy. Silent Angel says this construction maximizes shielding and control of eddy currents while damping vibration and noise. The modern design also allows the Genesis GX to be stacked with the Silent Angel Bonn NX Ethernet and be complementary to the aesthetics of many users’ current stereo systems.

A 12V DC power input allows bypassing of the Genesis’ internal switching power module and enables connection to an external linear power supply (such as the Silent Angel Forester F2 linear power supply) for a significant performance upgrade. Additionally, a gold-plated ground connection terminal can provide further noise reduction using ground-plane noise reduction hubs. Additionally, the Genesis GX uses stainless steel footers that provide resonance control, damping mechanical energy from sources of vibration, reducing mechanical and electrical noise, static electricity, etc. Silent Angel says this footer provides improved dynamics, lower noise floor, and an increased resolution of fine detail.

Compatible Products

The Genesis GX can be used with Silent Angel’s Forester F2 linear power supply (offering dual 12V DC outputs) to further improve power delivery, stability, and sound quality. The Genesis GX is designed to be compatible for use with Silent Angel’s audio-grade network switches, the Bonn NX (see review), and the N8 Pro.

Silent Angel Genesis GX Specifications

Power Input:

IEC AC: 100-240V, 50/60Hz; DC: 12V/1A 5.5mm x 2.5mm DC barrel (If both power sources are connected, 12V DC is used.)

Clock Output Port:

25MHz port x 2 (BNC, gold-plated); 10MHz port x 2 (BNC, gold- plated)

Grounding Port:

Grounding port x 1 (gold-plated)

LED Indicator:

Power LED x 1, DC Power LED x 1

Temperature:

Operating: 32 – 86 °F (0° C – 30 ° C); Storage: -4 –158 °F (-20° – 70° C)

Humidity:

Operating: 10% – 90% RH (non-condensing); Storage: 5% – 95% RH (non- condensing)

Dimensions:

17.29 (W) x 2.49 (H) x 9.95 (D) inch; 439mm (W) x 63mm(H) x 25mm (D)

Weight:

16.31 lbs. / 7.4 kg

Listening Impressions:

Using the Bonn NX as the Ethernet switch and switching from the internal clock of the Bonn NX to the Genesis GX Word Clock brings improvements that are immediately apparent. On Mary Gauthier’s Falling Out of Love on her album, Mercy Now, the Genesis GX provides increased detail, clarity, and definition, all against a blacker background. Imaging is also improved, with greater three-dimensionality and focus. Fink’s Maker is presented with a subtle resolution of micro-detail, fine layering of the backing instruments, and greater depth in the soundstage. Spatiality, decay, and “overhang” of notes in space are also notably better. Other improvements provided by the Genesis GX, regardless of the track, are finer levels of resolution, and a sense of added weight and body to voices and instruments. The Genesis GX puts you in the room with Chris Stapleton’s gravelly voice on Death Row (on From A Room, Vol. 1), with wonderfully fleshed-out vocal texture and body.

Conclusion:

This is a really easy recommendation. If you own the Silent Angel Bonn NX or another Ethernet switch for a music server or streamer-based system and wish to take it to another level of musicality, engagement, and enjoyment, get the Genesis GX Word Clock. Sit back and enjoy. Life’s good!