Originally Posted by VirusKiller
Do we think that those little ICs on the PCB of the AC12 has low jitter properties?
Looking at the photos from Duncan's site there appears to be no ICs or other active components in the audio chain. The lack of a power supply for the AC12 is also another clue. Looking at the top of the PCB, the silver box on the far right of the photo will almost certainly be an impedance matching transformer and the square black component next to it could be a choke.

Originally Posted by Ian
Untested but... XLR to Phono converter (ie Maplin N27GB or N64FL) then XLR plug or socket to suit wired via CAT5e/6 cable [shielded preferred but probably unnecessary] to RJ45 plug or socket
As you realised in a later post, the 'cold' XLR terminal in those XLR-phono adapters from Maplin is just connected to ground, so they are not true balanced-unbalanced converters. However they will work for short distances in this application. In fact, you don't need the XLR connectors at all - just solder the phono plug/socket straight to the RJ45 connector. Much less than �15! wink
For a properly balanced solution you could expect to spend upwards of �40 in parts.

Interesting idea of using the processor Speakerlink out for audio only and using the standard comms connectors. However if you then run an S/M lead to the speakers you are losing the benefits of the balanced nature of Speakerlink, i.e. lower jitter due to better noise rejection.

Originally Posted by Richard W
T42 Nobody else seems to have replied to you really. I'm in, what I feel, is probably a very common position. My current Meridian kit is all significantly pre-SL. If I ever wanted (could afford) to upgrade I have to factor in SL conversion halfway through the process or spend twice as much (watch my lips, it ain't gonna happen). A decent priced SL to 5M/5S (or vice-versa) solution would be a great idea. In relation to your specifics

How long before you need active?
Agree if there's an RS232 on the back of each DSP it doesn't need repetition for me.
My older DSPs are DIN comms, I feel I'm your target audience in a way but I'm Mk1 (albeit 24/96) DSP5k. if every newer DSP has BNC comms you're probably talking sense.
See above, but I do see the sense in switchable master/slave.
That's a very useful snapshot of a typical user, thanks for the info.
According to Wikipedia, 10m is the maximum distance for SPDIF. With an active solution 100m should be achievable.