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...