A few weeks ago, I busied myself extensively with the Sortz termination plugs from Ansuz in their RCA version and to this day I am absolutely impressed by the sonic improvements achieved. Since then, the Sortz have become an integral part of my system and the story now enters the next phase with the Sortz variants for BNC and LAN.

As reported, I have obtained the greatest sonic gain with the Sortz in my system when I use the plugs on both my preamplifier and my DAC. Starting from that, I have been wondering what effect the Sortz plugs would make if they were used further up the digital chain, i.e. in places where RF interference is particularly evident.

At this year's High End in Munich, I also discussed this matter in detail with Morten Thyrrestrup, Area Sales Manager for Europe. Morten promised that after the High End he would provide Hifistatement with the Sortz versions for LAN and BNC in the already known Basic, Supreme and Signature versions as soon as they became available. All Sortz versions show the same internal design and use the same technologies, which I already described in detail in my previous review. The only difference appears to be the connector types used, such as RCA, BNC or LAN RJ45. The Basic, Supreme and Signature variants, in turn, differ in the material used for the rod around which the Ansuz Tesla coils are wound and in the coatings applied to the connector housing. The differences are tabulated below:

Please allow me to start with a small addendum on the use of the Sortz plug in the unused S/PDIF input (RCA) of my PS Audio DirectStream DAC. Some readers may have wondered at this point whether I normally do not have the open S/PDIF input terminated. No, I don't, and the reason is due to the bad experiences I have had with it on this DAC. Immediately after plugging in a customary terminating plug, I can notice a sonic improvement, but after a while the DAC sounds increasingly shiftless, less responsive and dynamic. This creeping degradation really becomes apparent when I unplug the connector after a few days. With the Sortz plug, on the other hand, the described sound improvement always remains unchanged and stable, even during the long-term test. At least on the PS Audio DirectStream DAC, I therefore clearly prefer the use of a Sortz plug to any other termination option.

But let's switch now to the Sortz in its LAN version. For listening to music, I have set up my own audio network in my rooms, which is completely separated from the rest of the network in the house via an ER-X edge router. Intensive network use by family members with heavy data traffic, such as streaming movies or holding online meetings, therefore has no influence on the musical enjoyment at all. Data distribution within the audio network is handled by the SOtM switch sNH-10G in combination with the external 10 megahertz clock sCLK-OCX10 for clocking purposes. Only my server, a Diretta Lucia Piccolo Bridge and a Mac Book Pro operating as control point are connected to the switch via an Ethernet cable. In addition, I have of course established a connection to the router. I start my listening test by plugging a Sortz in its basic version into one of the free LAN ports.

Let's start by listening to Benjamin Britten's "Simple Symphony" (The Nordic Sound - 2L audiophile reference recordings, 24/352) to get in the mood and for the purpose of comparison, as we did the last time: The sonic image now fascinates once again with its great calmness and balance. The fine details of the recording are carved out even more precisely and can be heard more clearly, while at the same time, the spatial depth increases considerably, which I didn't notice in this form when using the Sortz on the preamplifier and DAC. With "The Man Who Sold The World" in Claire Martin's interpretation incorporating interesting jazz and tango elements (Linn Records FLAC Studio Master), the singer and accompanying instruments appear clearly staggered and distinctive in the room, whereby the performance is now particularly impressive due to its great coherence.

When swapping to the Sortz Supreme version, the sound is audibly darker in the highs, which is easy to trace in the string passages within the "Simple Symphony". Claire Martin's voice is rendered more powerful and the bass sounds more voluminous. At the same time, a little of the resolution gets lost on the way, while Claire Martin and her accompanying musicians are sized into the room in a little more compact manner. I somehow like the Sortz Basic better at this point. Nevertheless, my clear favourite is the Sortz Signature, which simply does everything a little better. The music sounds even finer and more confident, with higher resolution and even greater spatial depth. I find it remarkable that the various Sortz versions, Basic, Supreme and Signature, used in such different places as the switch (digital data distribution) and the preamplifier (analogue signal amplification), each tread the same path tonally. Obviously, the different coating finishes of the connector housings seem to play a decisive role for the tonal characteristics. What is also worth mentioning, is that the spatial depth of the sonic image is much more influenced by the implementation of the Sortz in the network than in the analogue section of the system.

We can even surpass what we have attained so far by connecting a Sortz Signature and a Sortz Basic in parallel to my switch - true to the saying: two Sortz are better than one. With this configuration, one of my favourite albums, Flamenco Passion with Gino D' Auri (Flamenco Passion FIM XRCD), the flamenco guitar sounds exceptionally rich and round, without hard-strummed chords becoming blurred or losing their brilliance. It is also impressive how small details, such as the creaking of the cello or the tapping on its body, are carved out, making this recording even more interesting for me. This is simply fantastic and I am slowly beginning to understand the great fascination that the Ansuz Acoustics PowerSwitch D-TC Supreme, which has some of the technologies used in the Sortz plugs incorporated, has exerted on Dirk Sommer.

But I'll make you an even better suggestion now: Instead of using two Sortz on the switch, I'll let the switch get along with only one Sortz Signature and plug the Sortz Basic into a free LAN port on my router - yes, you have read that correctly. This puts us at the starting point of my data network and at the same time furthest away from the analogue section. For me, this variant is the sonic optimum. Now, the sound frees itself from the speakers in such a thoroughness that their location can no longer even be guessed at. The musicians are virtually standing in my "living room". It is quite impressive how, in a network cleansed of background noise, the smallest musical details are revealed that normally get lost in the broad noise floor, and how a clearer and more transparent sonic image is created leading to an immensely relaxed enjoyment of music.

I immerse in the music and listen enthusiastically through Otmar Liebert's album Dune, which is a fine example of innovative Nuevo Flamenco. Although Otmar Liebert's guitar playing takes the centre stage, there are interesting musical expansions and counterpoints provided by bassist/keyboardist Jon Gagan, accordionist Char Rothschild and drummer Robbie Rothschild. And then I come up with the, admittedly somewhat crazy, idea of plugging a Sortz Basic in its BNC version onto an unused output of my SOtM Clock, i.e. onto a component that is not directly located in the signal path.

"On the Road to Shiraz" begins with a lonesome electric guitar before handclaps by Robbie Rothschild make the centre of attention. Otmar Liebert answers with the melody line while Char Rothschild's accordion hovers quietly in the background. A funky electric bass then sets in and forms a counter rhythm, anchoring the melody and at the same time driving it forward. I can't believe my ears what I hear now. Otmar Liebert's guitar has more warmth and volume than ever, I've never come up to hear the handclaps so realistically, the accordion, which always appears to be somehow inscrutable, can now be heard finely defined, while the electric bass steps out of the speakers in an even more intense manner. The soundstage presents itself once again deeper and the overall presentation is more vivid and energetic. When swapping back, without the Sortz the difference is even more pronounced. Everything is more slender, the handclaps are less precise and the accordion gets lost again in the vagueness. That can't be true, can it? I alternately listen to the other tracks "Horse", "Moon Fragrance" and "Smoke". The result is always the same. With the Sortz, the sound is more open and multifaceted, the musical message more intense. Obviously, the suppression of background noise plays an important role here as well. Here, too, the result can be further enhanced if I also plug a Sortz Signature into the clock's second unused output. But let us leave it alone at this point - I have long since exceeded this beyond any reasonable proportions.

Let's rather deal with the question of whether we can do without the Sortz at the preamplifier in return, or not. Until now, I have concealed that for the listening impressions I have just described, that I simply left the Sortz plugged into my preamplifier - as described in Part 1. Or, to pose the question another way: Is it sufficient to let the Sortz operate on the digital level only, i.e. in the network area and with the DAC? To follow this assumption, I simply remove the Sortz from the preamplifier and am quite surprised how much sound I lose again.

This should make it clear that the Sortz obviously reduce noise within every section - network, digital-to-analogue conversion and analogue signal amplification - and in every single component of these sections, all of which adds up to an impressive synergistic effect. Moreover, I'm not sure if this effect has even increased in my system over time or if I've simply become accustomed to it. Once you have listened to your system, as I have, without any kind of or with a significantly reduced noise carpet, you will certainly find it difficult to do without it again.

Based on my experience, in a digital front end I would first equip the DAC with a Sortz and work my way from there to the network devices on one side and the preamplifier on the other. Considering that the price of a Sortz in the Signature version is about twice that of the Sortz Basic version, I would rather equip more or all devices in a system with the Sortz Basic. In my opinion, the effect of two Sortz Basic on two different units is greater than one Sortz Signature on just one unit because of the synergy effects described. This also applies to the parallel use of two or more Sortz on a single component - here, too, the equal distribution to all units in a system is the better strategy. Those who want a special sound tuning or simply are heading for the maximum will still have to take the Supreme and Signature versions into consideration.

Here’s also a little digression by Dirk Sommer: While Roland Dietl tried out almost every conceivable application of the Sortz - I'll just point out the router thing - I went to also visit the manufacturer of the Sortz on my short trip to Denmark, which will be reported on later. To be able to access my music on my travels, I usually carry along a Chord Electronics HUGO with a docked 2go in my luggage. And this time was no exception. The combo is completely independent of it's surrounding: On the one hand, it is powered by the internal batteries, on the other hand, it can be operated in hotspot mode with the iPhone without having to log into foreign networks. After a first acoustic approach to a pre-production model of the fantastic Børresen M1 speakers, I wanted to listen to it with familiar music material and connected the RCA outputs of the HUGO to the Aavik I-880. However, after what I had heard before, I didn't really enjoy the music sourced from the Chord duo.

Lars Kristensen must have felt the same way. He suddenly stood up, grabbed two Darkz Z2S made of zirconium, each equipped with three tungsten balls, and placed them under the Chord Electronics combo, which raised them to a higher level, sonically speaking. A third Darkz on top of the HUGO then provided a further, albeit not quite as powerful, improvement, which was intended to get the unit rid of resonances and quieten it down. Just as I was reaching a high level of contentment, Lars Kristensen still couldn't stand to sit in his listening chair. This was not due to my choice of music, however, but simply because he realised that the 2go still had room left for further improvement. He ended up in plugging a Sortz Signature into the RJ45 socket of the streaming module: I have never before heard my test tracks played through the mobile Chord duo in such a mature, tonally coherent, spatially credible and dynamic way. Above all, it’s the terminating plug that turns those two little boxes into an extremely high-quality high-end component. It's a pity that there is no more room on my router for a Sortz...