Ansuz, Mainz D8 and cables

I have the MainzD8 - Ceramic power cords and speaker cables. The MainzD8 is something special. It is highly recommended with Ansuz power cords. Because the design focuses on the grounding of the system. The day I got the MainzD8 I also got the Aavik U300. I plugged the U300 directly into the wall. Then I added the MainzD8 to the wall with nothing plugged into it. What a difference. The background got quite a bit blacker. Then I added the U300 to the MainzD8. Background got a lot blacker. Better detail and more natural sounding. What I haven't tried is other power cords. The design uses a 10mm ground with smaller hot and neutral wires criss crossed in a way the it cuts back the capacitance and inductance. I got the speaker cables a few months later.

That said I've only had demos of the Ceramic and Diamond cables. Yes the Diamonds are even better but very pricey. Also a 4M power cord sounds better than a 2M. Don't know why but it does. The Ansuz X cables are supposed to also be very good but I haven't heard them. BTW these are from the designer of the Nordost Odin. The only downside is the cables are pretty ugly.

Thank you for your comprehensive answer Xti16. Also the Aavik U300 is a very nice integrated amp.

My own audio set is far more humble. If I were to buy Anzus cables it would most likely be one of the X, p or 1 A series. The C series is well out of my budget.

Ansuz advises to use the best power cable from wall socket to mainz and that if budget is limited, lesser cables can be used from mainz to the components. Have you experienced that as well?

So 1 A series from wall to mainz and rest X series or all P series? I find cables always a difficult thing.

First lets test the mains and see from there.

btw, the designer (forgot his name) is a very friendly man. Very open about his ideas, his time at Nordost etc.

I was at a private demo with Lars K and heard the Ceramic Power Cord get replaced with the Diamond from wall to MainzD8. So I agree with the best you can afford from the wall to Mainz. It was huge. This demo was D5's being driven by Soulution integrated and cd player.

As I said before I only demoed the Ceramic and Diamond cables. So I can't offer any opinion on other cables. But my local dealer did have a customer that wanted Nordost Tyr2 cables. He threw in some Ansuz X cables and that customer thought he would pay more. Turns out he bought the X because they were less expensive and sounded better (again per my dealer - I wasn't there). Anyhow I can't recommend the MainzD8 and first PC enough. Beyond that I'm a firm believer in NOT going 'hog wild' on cables until your system is finalized. Your taste in preferences may change and cables can be very expensive. I found over my many years cables (not power cords) are a minor difference in sound quality until you get into some very elaborate electronics.

Keep posting your findings BTW the designer is Michael Borresen. The designer of Ansuz - Raidho - Aavik and Scansonic along with a bunch of Nordost products.

Oh yeah I have Raidho D2's for speakers too. So all are a Mike B design

Today I picked up an Anzus Mains D8 power distributor and a 2 meter P and 2 meter A power cord.

Will test them in the comming days.

Congrats. I would try just 1 power cord on your amp by itself. Use the other power cord on the MainzD8 and just plug it into the wall. Then add the amp to the MainzD8.

Quick update.

Mainz D8 with no Ansuz power cables is a decent upgrade. Nothing spectacular. Just a tad more quiet. Then I put in the Ansuz P power between the mains and the wall outlet. That improved things a lot. Much less listening fatigue without any loss of fine detail. Also less background noise, albeit that is rather subjective.

Next the P was replaced by an A power power cable. Again things seem to improve.

Now I connected the P to my phono pre amp. Lets see how that works out. After that the P goes to my integrated amp.

The most remarkable thing about the Ansuz cables is the synergy. I have tried different cable brands in the past, at different positions in my set. Most of them did do something with the sound. When I added more of the same brand I heard more of the "house" sound of that brand.

But with Ansuz it is not just more of the same, not 1+1=2. But 1+1=3. Everything seems to improve. Adding lots of Ansuz cables is well outside of my budget. Especially since my speaker cables are 7 meters long.

I'll do some more testing and post my results.

I suck at writing reviews but I'll try.

BTW all cables were supplied by A10 audio in Amsterdam. I have no financial ties with them or in audio in general. If you ever have the opportunity go visit that store.

Yeah my speaker cables are 5M. What was interesting was when I was demoing my original Nordost Frey vs Ansuz Ceramic. I heard very little difference flipping the cables in pairs. But then I tried 1 of each. That's when I noticed a big difference. I found the Nordost seemed quite dry and lean with more background noise.

Nice review

After some testing it seems that my integrated amp is less sensitive for power cords compared to my phono amp. This confirms what I noticed from previous tests. So for I tried Nordost, Shunyata, NBS, Cardas and Anzus power cables for my integrated amp.

The Ansuz is slightly better then my Shunyata. The other brands gave no improvement.

I still want to replace all my power cords by Ansuz. But as far as I can tell now I prefer one more expensive power cord on my phono pre amp compared to two budget ones (one for phono and one for integrated amp).

Maybe in the far future I'll also try some interlinks but I Cammino interlinks also look and sound good.

I have bought the Ansuz Mains D8 power distributor. It really is an improvement. Maybe it is overkill for my rather humble set. However I prefer to buy audio that will not have me looking for a better one for a long time.

I see no point in side moves or minor upgrades. Still thinking about power cords thought. I really need 1 power cord from wall outlet to distributor of 2meters. The Ansuz P pwoer cord is IMHO not enough improvement over the NBS Monitor 3 which I use now. The Ansuz A power cord is an improvement. But that the A has a different price tag.

I will buy a 2meter Ansuz Mains A cord, the question is just when.

Add a second mainzD8 for even more improvement. You don't have to even plug in anything.

Xti16,

A seconds Mains D8 is not even remotely and option. So many other improvements before I would consider a second D8. Also a huge pay rise would be needed.

First I need to get some GIK or similar room tuning gear to get rid of some early reflections lower the RT60 and some base management.

Mordante I agree it will be a while before I get a second Mainz. At Axpona they used 2 during the demo. I have a friend who has 3 with a full diamond cable loom. But he also has Raidho D5's and Soulution amps.

Mordante - On Wed my local dealer and Lars K came to my home with the new Ansuz Diamond TC cables (to be shown at the 2016 CES). OMG I had no idea what my system was capable of. Adding 1 Dia TC power cord to the MainzD8 and digital cable brought my system to a level I didn't even think was possible. The background became so much blacker. The separation between instruments became so much more apparent. The highs gave me shivers. Everything sounded so much more natural sounding I really felt like the musicians were in my room like never before. The last thing Lars had me do was push the volume beyond what would normally cause the D2's to start to bottom out and it got quite a bit louder. Having a hard time getting that sound out of my head.

That said 20K USD for a power cable seems ridiculous but WOW did it ever sound glorious. It's on my radar.