Review samples supplied by Ohm Audio
Retail price in the Netherlands, including 21% VAT:
Sparkz / Sparkz TC2: 395 euro / 995 euro
Sortz / Sortz Supreme / Sortz Signature: 680 euro / 1.000 euro / 1.400 euro
Ansuz
Ansuz Acoustics is a Danish company that develops, designs, produces, and sells cables, and accessories for High-End music systems. At Ansuz, the ultimate goal is to be spearheading this narrow field of audio technology. The company feels strongly committed to meeting the needs of passionate and sophisticated clients in making any audio system perform at its full potential.
Introduction
When looking at the Sortz RCA connectors, are they some sort of end caps or terminators, like the 75-ohm connectors for digital connections? And when considering the Sparkz power plugs, are they some sort of filters, like the Kemp SNS plug et al? As far as Ansuz is concerned, they are neither, at least not in the audible frequency range. These connectors are plugged into unused inputs and outputs where they perform their tasks on the ground plane and outside of the signal path.
Sparkz
Ansuz Sparkz Harmonizers provide an innovative noise reduction system that works through a modified tesla-coil implementation which is said to not affect the rise time or the power draw capability of the mains supply line. What the technique does is to alter the way that noise spikes and flanks look, in a way that is similar to the PFC (Power Factor Correction) used in some switched-mode power supplies, such as some of the ones used by Jeff Rowland Design Group. The result is that noise flanks get rounded so the following electronics have an easier job preventing mains noise from being transmitted and bleeding through the parasitic capacitances that are always present here.
Above is the inside of the Sparkz TC2. The coils minus the PCB are what’s inside the standard Sparkz. The careful layout on the PCB as well as the extra electronic circuitry on the other side as shown below is what differentiates the TC2 version from the standard version.
Sparkz TC2
The Sparkz TC2 is a further development of the Sparkz noise-canceling technique. With the TC2 version, the same noise-canceling technique is used as in the standard Sparkz, but in addition, some very gentle analog dither is added to the mains 50/60 Hz sine wave. This dither further rounds the noise transients and makes the downstream components capable of doing a better job as the rectifiers in the following audio components will switch softer.
Sortz
The Ansuz Sortz are comprised of an amalgamation of two innovative and sophisticated resonance control elements that provide a new method for absorbing vibrations that are not directly related to the signal path. The aim is to preserve the natural and authentic sound while avoiding any alteration in the sound reproduction that often comes along with the use of traditional grounding materials, which distort the sound by making it unnaturally cold and harsh.
The open input and output sockets in HIFI electronic equipment can be a source of unwanted, interfering noise. These sockets act like antennas for airborne radio frequency noise, which is picked up from the ground connection of any audio component (amplifier, etc.). Thus, the ground connection can be a critical source of disturbing noise. Since all audio components are interconnected via their ground connection – this noise is potentially bleeding into all the other audio components.
Ansuz Sortz employ two critical technologies – The Tesla coil technology which reduces the ability of any audio component to pick up disturbing noise, and the Anti Aerial resonance coil technology which significantly reduces the actual noise level. Tesla coils are wrapped around a Zirconium bar and are constructed as double inverted coils. So, when these dual coils encounter a voltage spike, a counter-spike is developed in the counter-wound section of these coils to eliminate the disturbing voltage spike. The principle of the Anti-Aerial technology is to ensure that the signal path has no final length so that it can no longer act as an antenna. This prevents airborne RF/ EMI (radiofrequency radiation /electromagnetic interference) noise from being absorbed in the circuitry and then bleeding into the audio system as ‘white noise‘.
Ansuz Sortz undergo a Cryogenic treatment to increase their conductivity. When metal components undergo cryogenic processing, they are subjected to extreme cooling temperatures of about -321°F (-196° C ). During this process, the crystal structure of the metal contracts more and more. Alloy elements are displaced from the grain structure of the metal, which then becomes very similar to a monocrystal. These structural changes in the metal have measurable effects on its audio properties, resulting in a 6-8% increase in conductivity.
There are three Sortz versions, differentiated not by their technology on the inside but by the “Signature Resonance Coatings” coatings that are applied to the outer housing. The technology that is used on the inside is actually identical. The coatings are applied to the housings in a particle accelerator to create the finest and most uniform layer consisting of zirconium and tungsten, followed by a layer of aluminum titanium nitride. Finally, the discs are applied with a layer of Zirconium.
Version 1 – Sortz
This is the base model that has all the above technologies and a polished aluminum housing.
Version 2 – Sortz Supreme
This model has all the above plus the Supreme coating.
Version 3 – Sortz Signature
This is the top model which has the above, including the Supreme coating, plus an additional layer of zirconium as the top coating.
Ansuz Sortz are available in RCA, BNC, and XLR configurations. Versions in USB and LAN will follow.
This concludes my descriptions of the techniques used for the Sparkz and Sortz but for those who are interested in diving deeper still, there’s more to be found on the Manufacturer’s website.
Review Context
For this review, I will use my main system, consisting in the basis of the CH C1 DAC, CH L1 preamp, CH A1.5 power amp, and Magico S1 MkII speakers and the Antipodes K50 and Grimm MU-1 Music Servers. Additionally, I will use the Aries Cerat Impera Reference preamp.
My power installation consists of a GigaWatt G-C16A 2P Circuit Breaker feeding an uninterrupted run of solid-core installation wire that ends in three wall-mounted GigaWatt G-044 Schuko Wall Sockets. Normally, the wall sockets feed three Popp/Eurolite unfiltered aluminum 8-output distributors via the same kind of solid-core installation wire.
For this occasion, Derk of Ohm Audio also provided an Ansuz Mainz D2 power cable and an Ansuz Mainz8 D2 power distributor, which I will discuss in another review.
In this review, I will be testing the Sparkz and Sortz with my own distributors and power cables as well as with the aforementioned Ansuz combo.
Next: Listening part 1 – using Ansuz Mainz D2 and Mainz8 D2
Christian,
Excellent and typically thorough review thank you. Also kudos to Ansuz for letting us look inside their devices. There’s been if not a flood at least a stream of Sparkz type devices on the market of late. I use two similar products myself Furutech NCF Clear, and High Fidelity MC-0.5. Similar in shape and application if not technology I should say.
I’ve never seen inside either one but I would very much agree they seem to give the music a more relaxed quality overall. The Ansuz products are intriguing I hope they find their way stateside.
Cheers,
Jon
Thanks Jon!
Hello Christiaan
Great review of Ansuz products….
Those Sortz and Sparkz have indeed lifted my system up to a new level. Because of reducing noise in the system, makes it play at it best. and adding even more of those makes it just better
All the best
Michael