Ansuz, Mainz D8 and cables

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.