When Lars Kristensen, one of the owners of Ansuz Acoustics, and Morten Thyrrestrup, Sales Manager Europe, stopped off at Dirk Sommer's listening room during their last year’s tour round Germany, they were armed with a host of new products, some of which were still in a pre-production stage. These also included the Sortz.

These novelties show up as plugs designed to terminate one or more unused inputs and outputs of a component to keep high-frequency interference and unwanted mechanical excitation away from the electronics. Usually we are completely unaware of our RF environment - caused by mobile phone signals, wireless LAN or computers, just to name a few sources. This is because we mostly do not even perceive their effects - the noise itself being far beyond our human hearing - and in direct comparison at best when we minimise them. If we could ground all devices and signals cleanly, then a lot would already have been gained. But there are devices - just think of my "special friends", the plug-in power supplies - that are not grounded at all. In the worst case, this can lead to interference signals circulating around uncontrollably. Cables as well as open inputs and outputs can become antennas that receive this RF noise and channel it not only into our audio systems but also into the ground connection of an audio component. Since all audio devices are in turn connected to each other via their earth connection, this RF noise is then also transmitted to all other audio components in play. Every time we manage to block or attenuate this noise, we get a better clarity, which can be heard very easily.

And this is exactly where the Sortz plugs enter the scene. However, technologically they are not in the least comparable to the simple metal or plastic caps or terminating plugs, which can also close unused sockets or short-circuit the input. With the Tesla coil technology and the anti-aerial resonance coil technology, Ansuz has integrated two highly interesting concepts into the Sortz. The Ansuz Tesla coils are designed as double inverted coils. According to Ansuz, when one of the two coils encounters a voltage peak, a counter-peak is to be induced in the counter-wound part of the other coil, which then neutralises the interfering voltage peak. As a result, common-mode interference between the ground and the signal connections should therefore be suppressed. The coils are wound around a rod made of zirconium. Zirconium contains about 5 % ferrite impurities, which show a weak magnetic behaviour. Ansuz also experimented with other metals, but zirconium is said to have sounded best.

The principle of anti-aerial technology is said to be based on a signal path with no terminated length so that it can no longer act like an antenna. This is to prevent airborne RF/EMI interferences - high frequency radiation/electromagnetic interference - from entering the circuits and then invading the audio system as disturbing "white noise". The Sortz are available in Basic, Supreme and Signature versions. While the internal construction is the same for all variants, the difference lies in the different coatings applied to the connector housing. The Sortz Basic model has a polished aluminum housing and the Sortz Supreme model features a housing with an acoustically optimised Supreme coating, whereas the Sortz Signature model has an additional layer of zirconium on top of the Supreme coating. The coatings are applied to the surface in a complex process using a particle accelerator (High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering Unit) to obtain a particularly fine and even layer.

All three versions again have in common that they are subjected to a cryogenic treatment to increase conductivity. During the cryogenic processing of the metal components, they are exposed to extreme cooling temperatures of around minus 196 degrees Celsius. This causes the crystal structure of the metal to contract more and more. Alloying elements are displaced from the grain structure of the metal, which thus becomes very similar to a monocrystal. According to the manufacturer, these structural changes of the metal have measurable effects on its audio properties and lead to an increase in conductivity of six to eight percent.

The Sortz will be available in the terminations RCA, BNC and XLR as well as USB and ethernet. In the following, I will deal with the RCA versions. Despite still having the excellent Raidho TD1.2 speakers available at the beginning of the listening test, I expect only marginal changes with and without Sortz and even smaller differences between the various Sortz models. Therefore, I will first concentrate on two tracks that are very familiar to me. The first is the wonderfully lively performance of Benjamin Britten's "Simple Symphony" in the excellent recording featuring the TrondheimSolistene. The recording was made in a church and I have it at hands in its original 352.8 kilohertz format (The Nordic Sound - 2L audiophile reference recordings). From the first note the recording captivates with its great spatial depth, and the minimal reverberation of the church contributes decisively to the full round timbres. The strings sound exceptionally velvety and airy at all times. Incidentally, to avoid any misunderstandings: Don't be fooled by the word "Simple" in the track’s title. The piece is not exactly "simple" as far as the demands on the players' individual techniques are concerned, not to mention the precision that the four different movements require in their interplay with each other. Regarding my second test track, "Temptation" from the album The Girl in the Other Room by Diana Krall, no more words need to be said.

I get started with the Sortz Basic with two of them plugged into an unused left and right line input of my Erno Borbely dual mono preamp. The absolute depth of the sonic image is not much different with the Sortz Basic now, but the width of the stage got extended. Without the Sortz Basic, each instrument is surrounded by a certain space, which in direct comparison seems rather unnatural to me. With the Sortz Basic, the individual instruments are much more clearly focused in terms of their size and placement in the ensemble. The fine details of the recordings, such as the filigree pizzicato of the individual string groups or the slight reverberation of the church, become better audible. The velvety sounding of the strings may no longer be quite as spectacular, but for my taste it’s much more natural, while the airiness is still preserved. Especially with human voices, this naturalness can be heard in a particular distinct way. With "Temptation", Diana Krall now is "standing" in the room much more clearly outlined and yet completely liberated from the speakers. This makes not only the singer, but also the accompanying instruments much more tangible. Every keystroke of the piano is now enriched with micro-information, while the finest details in the spatial placement of the individual instruments are better revealed. Regardless of the music genre or recording, the music becomes more natural and calm with the Sortz Basic, but the rendition also seems to me a tad less dynamic and direct, as well as a little less forceful and energetic. Let me paraphrase that with some kind of elegant restraint.

And that's exactly what comes to an end when you switch over to the Sortz Supreme - the sound becomes stronger, fuller and more dynamic. This can be heard particularly well in "Temptation". Diana Krall’s voice has now become more voluminous. But something else changes as well: the bass is more powerful now and thus the music more expressive. This is the field where I would have least expected an improvement with the Sortz Supreme. In the "Simple Symphony", the strings in the upper registers seem a little darker to me, but again with a richer volume overall. For many, the Sortz Signature would be the perfect symbiosis of Sortz Basic and Sortz Supreme. Some of the powerful sound of the Sortz Supreme is now combined with the balanced and distinguished character of the Sortz Basic. For me, there is no doubt: the Sortz Signature offers the most balanced sound overall. However, I personally can also get to grips with the Sortz Supreme, which, with its great expressiveness, add more emotionality to the music without entailing any loss of spatiality.

At this point, let me say a frank word with respect to the usage of the Sortz: Any home audio system in question should kick off from a certain quality level, starting already with the source. If this is the case, then the performance level can be raised significantly by using the Sortz plugs. The increase always is synonymous with more tranquility, naturalness and intensity. The effect is shaded differently depending on the Sortz version used. What is surprising is the fact that it doesn't require much effort to perceive this in my system. So even with my Audioplan Kontrapunkt IV I can effortlessly trace the described subtleties, even though the Kontrapunkt IV are of course not comparable to the Raidho TD1.2. What surprises me the most is that each Sortz version possesses such a stand-alone sound character, especially since they are all internally constructed in the same way and only differ in the structure of the plug housing. However, please do not ask for a conclusive technical explanation. I can't help you with that, and Ansuz also refers to the extensive practical tests undertaken. Be that as it may! Let us rather jump into further experiments. If you can draw from the full range, as I did for the test, then suddenly other possibilities pop up. For example, we could use several Sortz in parallel on one component or distribute them over several units; we could also come up with the idea of combining different models.

So, as a test, I not only plugged the Sortz Supreme into my preamplifier, but also the Sortz Signature into another unused input. In my system, this leads to a perfect combination. This way the incredibly balanced sound of the Sortz Signature is enriched by just the right amount of the powerful character of the Sortz Supreme. I particularly like this with classical music, which can be heard wonderfully in the excellent recording of the "Concierto de Aranjuez" by Joaquín Rodrigo with Narciso Yepes as soloist and the orchestra Orquesta Sinfónica De La R.TV. Española conducted by Odón Alonso (Joaquín Rodrigo: De Aranjuez & Fantasía Para Un Gentilhombre - HDTT5307/352). The solo instrument in particular benefits from the powerful expression of the Sortz Supreme, while the final subtleties in the soloist's interplay with the orchestra are brought out with the enormous resolving power of the Sortz Signature. But, as is so often the case: With the two Sortz, the improvement is not twice as big as when using a single Sortz only. When plugged into a single component, the biggest enhancement is, in my opinion, already achieved with one Sortz only. This is especially true for stereo components that feature a common internal ground connection for the left and right channels, such as my Omtec Anturion preamplifier, which I used for comparison purposes.

Therefore it proved more effective to plug another Sortz into the unused S/PDIF input of my PS Audio DirectStream DAC. This makes the music sound even smoother and more natural. Interestingly, in this configuration the sonic difference between the Sortz variants is not so pronounced. All in all, I prefer the combination of one Sortz each in the DAC and the preamplifier to a cumulative use of several Sortz in the preamplifier alone. With this in mind, I am very curious about the Sortz variants for USB and ethernet. I'll stay tuned.