Question for electricians / home audio experts

[edslunch]

I have all my music on iTunes and play it through my stereo via airport express. I used to do this wirelessly but it would cut out periodically. I switched to a wired cat 5 network and the reliability is good but now whenever there is an electrical load change in the house (e.g. Washer or dishwasher starts) I get a static spike through the stereo

My audio gear is plugged into a surge protector but the cat 5 wiring runs near the electrical panel and the router is not on a surge protector.

Any ideas how/where to suppress this spike?

[ricosuave]

I would relocate the Cat5 wiring away from the electrical panel.

[afc wimbledon]

You could run the airport signal through a Digital Analog convertor (DAC), would, in theory improve sound quality as well (you know, warmer with a hint of blackberries, all that bollocks)

[MG153]

move cat-5 away from any higher voltage, namely the panel it tends to get interference from higher voltages. If problem persists you could look into a shielded audio cable that will block out most interference