English Electric is a classic British brand previously behind the famous Lightning and Vampire jet fighters, the latter manufactured by de Havilland; however, the Chord Company has revived the name for its electronics brand. So, today sees the English Electric 8Switch hitting the shelves.

First seen at English Electric's debut at the UK's biggest audio event, The Bristol Hi-Fi Show 2020, the £450 network switch is now available to order from dealers to be delivered by mail.

The 8Switch is a high-quality eight-port GbE Ethernet switch designed to deliver the best from your networked music, says the new brand.

The English Electric 8Switch is driven by a customised TCXO (Temperature Compensation Crystal Oscillator) with accuracy rated at 0.1ppm: far higher than standard crystals and higher than a normal TCXO. The upshot is that, apparently, this enables the 8Switch to generate higher-accuracy network signals, which in turn, help provide more stable music-data transmission.

The high-quality network switch is cosseted by a machined aluminium enclosure. We , which that this casement protects the device from both acoustic and electrical noise. Additionally, the maker says that the eight 100/1000 Base-T gigabit Ethernet ports are “audio grade” and also feature high and low electrical noise isolation, reducing troublesome data issues when streaming music over a network. Furthermore, it sits on resonance-damping feet to help decouple the 8Switch from unwanted mechanical vibration.

Also, the power supply and clock-generation circuits each have two electrical noise-isolation circuits that ensure stable network signals. There is also an EMI (Electromagnetic Interference) absorber that helps to reduce noise further from the digital circuit. English Electric states that, compared to a standard IT network switch, we can expect increased performance and up to 90% less jitter.

A discreet LED display on the front panel includes power, alarm, and the link status/speed for each of the eight ports.

When you buy an 8Switch, you will get a Chord Company C-Stream digital streaming cable (0.75m) worth £40. Which is nice.

The English Electric 8Switch is available now priced at £450, and UK dealers have stock right now to fulfil online and telephone orders via post, with the rest of the world following shortly.

For more information, check out English Electric.