Can I short the REC and OUT RCAs too?

Accessories and Tweaks
1

So it’s a common practice to short the unused inputs of amps with shorting plugs or very short cables, but I’m left unsure if I should equally short the output RCAs too? Any harm done?
This is such a simple question that I don’t think it deserves a topic but here goes.

For the sake of fun let’s look at some NASA-level RF shorting barrels:

Ansuz Sortz has integrated two 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 reduces the actual noise level. The brand explained how these work:

“Ansuz Anti Aerial Resonance Coil technology (AARC). The principle of this 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 (radio frequency radiation /electromagnetic interference) noise from being absorbed in the circuitry and then bleeding into the audio system as annoying ‘white noise‘”.

“Ansuz Tesla Coil technology (TC). Ansuz Tesla coils 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 Ansuz Sortz are made with a zirconium bar and come with housings in three finishes. The Ansuz Sortz Signature model is the premium quality version. Its housing features an acoustically optimized supreme coating and has an additional layer of zirconium as a top coating. The coatings are applied to the housings in a particle accelerator to create the finest and most uniform layer and consists of zirconium and tungsten, followed by a layer of aluminium titanium nitride. Finally, the discs are applied with a layer of Zirconium.

CRYOGENIC TREATMENT

All three versions of Ansuz Sortz undergo a Cryogenic treatment which is claimed to increase their conductivity. Ansuz says that: “When metal components undergo cryogenic processing, they are subjected to extreme cooling temperatures of about -321°F (-196° C ). In the course of this process, the crystal structure of the metal contracts more and more. Alloying elements are displaced from the grain structure of the metal, which now becomes very similar to a monocrystal. These structural changes in the metal have profound effects on its audio properties, resulting in a 6-8% increase in conductivity”.

Starting from 840$ (per piece I think)

This is amusing but I’m not doubting the benefit, why would they waste so much money on particle accelerator coated shorting barrels if there’s no merit…

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Probably not a good idea in general.
If you short the RCA out of the PS Audio DSD DAC you are also shorting out half of the XLR balanced out.

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This is exactly correct. Not a good idea.

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Yes, well, the word “shorting” does sound very scary. But I just conducted a series of A-B testing with volunteer teenagers and other family that confirmed that all of them loved the effect from attaching one Ansuz Sortz Supreme to an unused preamp RCA input. Is that really a short anyway??? The basic effect is of all those stereotypical comments about wider, higher, deeper soundstage, and clear separation of vocal tracks. The two songs that we used the most for A-B testing were Dominique Fils-Aimé’s Nameless and Felix Laband’s Sqeeze [SIC] The Trigger from Deaf Safari. I perceived that we lost a bit of the tight bass impact on Felix Laband’s electronica music. But the imaging gains were fabulous and worth any bass tightness loss for the six people reviewing. This was with two Bricasti-based systems (e.g., Antipodes K50 to Bricasti M1 to Bricasti M20 to two Bricasti M32s to two Borresen 01 Silvers) and one PS Audio / Atma-Sphere based system with custom-built speakers using 15-inch woofers and TAD tweeters. Why the US prices are so much higher than the EU prices for the Sortz, I do not know.

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Inputs can be shorted.
Outputs should not be shorted.

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