Axxess Power Cable

by Dawid Grzyb / December 2, 2024

The Danish brand Axxess has in its lineup only one attractively priced power cable built upon Ansuz signature wiring. Now let’s find out whether this newcomer is any good. Enjoy!

The skinny

As much as I enjoy reviewing expensive audio products, when I do too much of that, rather sooner than later I start to feel that I’m losing touch with reality. This stuff really can alter one’s optics in a weird way. A €10’000 DAC or €3’000 power cord aren’t affordable goods by any stretch. Perceiving them as such is the first symptom of a nasty elitist bug right there. Content creators like myself are particularly susceptible to it, because our kind doesn’t spend money on review loaners. When that’s off the table, it doesn’t take much to forget how to look at things from a consumer’s perspective. To most regular shoppers price is the most important factor after all. Anyway, in order to keep myself in check and recalibrate, every now and then I simply ask for an affordable product. That’s what I did this time around.Audio Group Denmark has always been open to sending my way anything I like, including some of their dearest and most ambitious designs. Over the years I sampled quite a few of these. Each such an assignment was a ton of fun to make. This is why no longer than a year ago I considered Danes’ upper-echelon tier as my primary targets. Fast forward to today. Although the idea of asking for their fanciest lot still is very tempting, now the opposite end of their roster also has my attention. To quote myself: “It’s just a matter of time when technologies exclusive for top shelf take their less resource-intense form that drips into tiers below, and eventually all the way down to the entry-level range. Folks at Audio Group Denmark have that fine art of downscaling mastered. Their fourth brand Axxess that had its debut about a year ago is the proof of that. When said out loud it also tells us exactly what it is. Accessibility is the key word, which unfolds into prices significantly below the manufacturer’s usual stickers, atop cleanly structured lineup that’s busy with only essentials to not confuse newcomers. On that note, there’s only one Axxess power cord, interconnect, digital cable, bookshelf speaker, floorstander and so on so forth.”The above taken from the first Axxess review published here at HFK already tells a lot about the brand’s aspirations and goals, but doesn’t give us the full picture just yet. This lineup represents the affordable spin on the manufacturer’s thoroughly field-tested technologies, upon which far dearer Aavik, Ansuz and Børresen designs are built. Most importantly, these advancements promise a lot of performance even when applied in their basic cost-effective form that’s meant for broad audience. To Danes downscaling isn’t a dirty word. They know well how to turn it into a major asset. Even their entry-level hardware is plenty posh. Three months back the Axxess Forté 1 loaner already made that point at my listening room. This AiO affair fared brilliantly where it mattered, packed all the relevant utilities and looked the part. I couldn’t ask for more considering its retail price. On a private note, it also got me curious. When that assignment was done and dusted, my next Audio Group Denmark target had to have the Axxess logo on it.During the recent Audio Video Show, Audio Group Denmark and their local distributor Audio Emotions had two large rooms at their disposal at the Radisson Blu Sobieski hotel. From what I saw and heard inside, both did really well. The larger one housed a system built upon Aavik 880-series electronics, mid-tiered Ansuz cables and Børresen C3 floorstanders. It also had by far the nicest front wall display I’ve ever seen at any audio show. The smaller room packed the full Axxess rig, so L3 floorstanders connected to the Forté integrated amp via the brand’s signal and power cables. The Aavik rack and power distributor used as supports surely didn’t hurt sonics, but no matter that. The nifty cost-effective Axxess system left most visitors positively impressed, yours truly included. Once the show door closed, I asked the AGD man responsible for guarding the place – Morten – whether he’d be okay with me stealing from the company. He was, just asked me to let him know when to look the other way. Since I already reviewed the integrated amp and L3s were too big to handle, I snatched one compactly dressed Axxess power cord. Convenience and all, but there’s more to this cable than meets the eye.Although I could’ve taken any cable from the Axxess room, to my experience power cords beat any other types on efficacy. The way I see it, along with power distribution they’re essential to address right after room acoustics, key electronics and speakers. Now let’s make a quick detour towards Ansuz power cords and how they scale up. Their plug housings are the only parts which change from one tier to another. Entry-level models (X3, P3) have them made of steel, the middle of the pack (A3, C3 and D3) gets copper and the very top (D-TC3, D-TC Supreme and Gold Signature) enjoys titanium. However, all other means and technologies remain unchanged pretty much all across the board. The manufacturer just adds more and more of them to ramp up performance. I’m writing about this to stress that the core wire used in €750 Ansuz Mainz X3 power cord is identical as in all its higher-tiered siblings including Mainz D-TC3 Supreme priced at €36’000, which is the very best power cord I’ve sampled. To Danes this wire is the foundational building block that scales extremely well with their homebrewed cable tech. Most importantly, today’s specimen also features this fancy ingredient. That’s the very reason why it was on my radar.Most audio houses specialized in cables use different wiring in their products, so the Audio Group Denmark approach is a standout no less. To these Danes a power cord has to reduce noise incoming from the mains and provide unobstructed current flow. Their noise-cancelling means help with achieving the former goal, while the latter objective calls for low resistance and induction. Here their signature coaxial wire comes into play. It comprises a solid-core silver-plated copper core under a layer of thermally formed Teflon insulation, on top of which goes tin-dipped copper mesh screen and outer Teflon jacket. This insulation material is of grade high enough to make it uniformly dense across its entire surface, which improves mechanical properties of the finished product. Meanwhile, tinning of copper mesh seals its tiny eyelets, which makes it a better EMI/RFI screen of naturally increased stiffness, which further boosts mechanics.Axxess power cord was designed with cost efficiency in mind, which is why it doesn’t feature any usual Ansuz noise-cancelling and most potent inductance-lowering measures. No double-inverted helix coils, no passive or active Tesla coils, no anti-aerial coils, no dithering circuits, nada. No matter that. Today’s cord rocks the manufacturer’s signature wiring on all its three legs, so neutral, ground and live, which is a good reason to have rather tall performance-related expectations anyway. These runs are also very tightly twisted to, again, make the entire structure resilient to micro-vibrations carried from the floor and lower the inductance level. The entire Axxess cable range also got visually interesting darkish plug housings made of Bakelite. Danes use this artificial material because to them it sounds better than all the alternatives they’ve tried, including aluminium. This report’s skinny Axxess with Bakelite ends looks really good in my opinion. It’s also one stiff sucker, but has to be to behave as intended. It comes in a compact box with foamy interior and magnet lock. The entire package feels elegant and far nicer than Ansuz boxes I’ve seen several years back. Now let’s take its key ingredient for a spin.My method of evaluating power cables is straightforward. If I am to use only one loaner, it has to connect my DAC to the two-piece LessLoss/Boenicke power distribution chain. That’s all there is to it. The Axxess was put up against one of the Swiss outlet multiplier’s captive M2 cables. After each swap I had to turn on my DAC, wait for about two minutes, have a listen, turn it off, rinse and repeat as many times as it was necessary. On the upside, power cord comparisons don’t take ages to draw firm conclusions. Usually several rotations suffice to know what’s going on. This review’s skirmish wasn’t any different.First let’s tackle Ansuz house sound, which to my ears is built upon openness, radiance, articulation, detail retrieval, traction, agility, bass control, background blackness and quick reflexes. Even the most affordable Ansuz products follow this sporty protocol without miss. The higher in the brand’s lineup we go, the texturally fruitier, more effortless, heftier, elastic, controlling and spatially liberated sound we get in return. The performance hike upon moving from one tier to another is very clear. The magnitude of audible changes when going from the second best to the very top is quite insane. Today that was off limits. The Axxess represents the manufacturer’s base level, but that doesn’t mean it’s an afterthought affair. Hell no. In my system it firmly pronounced all the traits listed above and didn’t venture beyond these. More importantly, the way how the Dane communicated its athletic gearing was mighty impressive.The article’s name may suggest that there’s a connection between how the Axxess looks and sounds like. The word ‘skinny’ has negative connotations, on the contrary to ‘lean’, which largely explains how the Axxess behaves. As per the above, its sonic footprint includes all the assets we associate with predominantly immediate high-RPM sound that effectively acts like an espresso shot or two. To simplify, it keeps away from means which make music cozy, calm, voluptuous, warm and all in all dreamy. Since these two angles are mutually exclusive, it’s always one or the other. Our taste dictates the winner, so pick yours and carry on. When affordable cables come into play, the trick is in not overdoing their voicing no matter what it is. When pleasantly warm, intimate and hefty profile becomes sluggish, stuffy and bloated, it’s pushed too far. The same happens when lean, quick, illuminated, open and snappy sound reveals excessive exposure, hollowness, sharpness, sterility and eventually fatigue. On this particular front the Axxess was ace. It remained true to its inherently sporty and spatially vast core profile, albeit without committing any crimes related to that kind of tuning. In my system the Axxess emerged as all in all mature, while its light sticker made it this much more interesting and worthwhile.You’re only as good as your competition allows. In today’s context that’s about 6x dearer Boenicke M2 captive cord built upon the 1st-gen LessLoss C-MARC conductor. Against the Swiss, the Axxess was tonally cooler, noticeably leaner, more outlined, stiffer, sunnier and twitchier upstairs, so largely voiced in the opposite direction. The result of this fight wasn’t any surprising at all. In my already plenty resolving and quick system C-MARCs are the subjectively better fit. In its current form it simply benefits more from the extra heft, copper tone and earthy flavour, so aspects beyond the scope of the primarily athletic Axxess. That said, setups groomed for warmth, intimacy, sweetness and large softly rendered sound sources atop generous relaxation and comfort are the ideal environment for it. In this hobby, opposites attract one another to make synergistic connections. The Axxess is the potent accelerating agent which quite frankly excels at this specific task. It honestly doesn’t take long to notice this. Agility, clarity, openness and all the usual virtues associated with this asset pack are its bread and butter. Above all else however, this is one very smooth sounding cable. That nets freedom from pointy edges and shout. Atop that trait let’s park pristine backdrop and dynamically charged MO and presto, a highly seasoned product is the outcome. At my listening room it also fared great on bass control and reached low enough to keep hollowness at the door, while the upper bass mildly elevated without any abnormal bloat further reinforced the already very high directness, immediacy and freshness. Let’s wrap.

Our expectations regarding the sound quality of audio equipment are most often adequate to its price. Upon spending little money it’s only fair to not hope for miracles. Axxess power cord doesn’t perform these either, but does a lot for its coin and in great style. Dynamically keen, open, resolving and exciting, it clearly caters to audience with craves for adrenaline, snap, fearlessness and excitement more than romance, mellowness and sensuality. If you’re after a cost-effective power cord that fits this profile and keeps its usual downsides at bay, it’s highly likely that today’s Axxess will make you more than happy. Just as the Forté AiO before it, it also proved me that its makers have their entry-level bracket sorted.

Associated Equipment:

Retail prices of reviewed components in EU (incl. VAT):

  • Axxess Power Cable 1.0/2.0/4.0m: €350/450/600

 

Manufacturer: Axxess

 

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