Jack in, then check in: "Your flight to Denpasar is about to depart."

With a single review cord, I focused on this upstairs system whose component count is far lower than downstairs: Soundaware D100Pro SD card reader ⇒ S/PDIF ⇒ COS Engineering D1 DAC/pre ⇒ XLR ⇒ Pass Labs XA-30.8 ⇒ single-wire Zu Event MkII ⇒ Albedo Audio Aptica. With the class A Pass amp's 20 always-on transistors per channel, the Vermöuth power cord obviously went there. If this cord held any current-carrying advantages over my alternates, this was the junction to demonstrate it. Looking at this show backwards here with the partnering Vermöuth Reference XLR, we appreciate just how much thinner and more pliable the customary Crystal Cable cords are.

Of course if girth is your thing, Crystal's femmy slinky cords won't have your respect. Ditto if the wooden XLR plugs of our Ocellia interconnects strike you as low-tech compared to the carbon-fibre shells of the Vermöuth.

Here's a parting glance at the setup before I turned it around again for a cleaner look and direct rather than mirror-reflected remote control over the DAC/pre's volume control.