It’s not often you get invited to an exclusive brand demonstration by one of the UK’s most respected hifi distributors. So when Kevin Akam of Signature Audio Systems (well known for his longterm involvement with PS Audio, amongst other brands) offered a private showcase of Audio Group Denmark (AGD)’s product portfolio, we were on the road to Westerham quicker than you can say “put the kettle on”.
AGD is an umbrella organisation for four sub-brands, each with its own specialism. Axxess, as the name suggests, is AGD’s accessible (i.e. most affordable) way into the company’s electronics, sitting below the Aavik model line, while Børresen’s focus is on loudspeakers. Completing the line-up is the Ansuz range of accessories and enhancement gear, that work across all of its partner brands – giving you a full ecosystem to grow and evolve your hifi system.
Audio Group Denmark has a well thought through portfolio, and Kevin’s the guy to tell you all about it
Four dedicated hifi strands, with a united goal, to ally their products with technology and material sciences in a way that gives a clear, and demonstrable path to better audio quality. Kevin’s presentation was a distilled demonstration of what he’ll be taking on the road in the months ahead (details below).
After sampling some excellent local coffee, it was down to business at Kevin’s modest and well equipped listening space, surrounded by boxes of tantalising audio gear.
Axxessible audio
The equipment was housed on a serious looking Ansuz rack with speakers atop bespoke stands.
We started on the entry level system (image below) comprised of the Axxess Forte 1 integrated streaming amp, built around Class D modules which are then refined to AGD’s liking. It’s worth noting that AGD is a high-end manufacturer, hence ‘accessible’ by its standards still means a system costing most of £10,000, so not cheap, but it proved to be of a quality that justifies the price tag, and was the start of a fascinating audio journey.
Axxess Forte 1 steaming amp driving Axxess L1 loudspeakers
The Forte amps all share similar casework, with models 1, 2 and 3 looking externally identical, with different technologies added or increased as you go up the range. Tesla coils were frequently mentioned, as was copper, and other quality materials too, which makes sense when you learn that AGD has its own silver smelting room!
The main components are supported by a meticulously thought through range of peripherals via Ansuz, from supports to speaker cables, resonance control, puck like ‘Darkz’ support feet (with a choice of ball bearings), plus ‘Sparkz’ noise reduction and power treatment. Kevin started with the cheapest of the range’s speakers, the Axxess L1, hooked up with Axxess speaker cables.
Axxess Forte 1 amp, with a display that’s nicely legible from the other side of the county. Also on the spec sheet is a handy 6.35mm front panel headphone socket
Good quality and detailed music was produced right from the off, as evidenced by Jimmy Hendrix’s Little Wing over Qobuz.
Next up, a set of Ansuz Darkz resonance support pucks formed from a composite material were added. These are the entry level material (sitting below stainless steel, copper, titanium and zirconium variants), and the positive effects on the music was immediate and obvious.
Ansuz’s Darkz feet are designed to support all AGD amps and speakers, with dedicated slots in the higher-end models, making them easier to swap in/out and upgrade.
These pucks house ball-bearings, either stainless and titanium, that sit in the three recessed cups (per foot).
Ansuz Sortz spanning everything from XLR to USB, and all in-between, across a range of metals
Ansuz’s Sortz connectors then joined the party, which plug into redundant in/outputs on the amp’s rear, spanning both digital and analogue and in a range of materials, corresponding to the Darkz feet, should you want to mix and match your copper or titanium.
I think of these as short circuit plugs, but with added components that AGD calls ‘anti-aerial resonance coils’.
Were all the additions as immediately obvious? Not quite, but from experience I know that changes can be subtle, and after living with them for a while you’ll probably notice their impact more when they are removed, but that said the system was already on song.
Better call Kevin
We were squeezing a lot of tuning into a few short hours thanks to Kevin’s meticulous system enhancing approach and reached a point where we were ready to step further up AGD’s speaker ladder.
The L1 were swapped out for the Borresen X1 standmount, which, while sporting a similar but refined carbon sandwich woofer and ribbon planar tweeter, also boasts an uprated cabinet.
Once again the impact was obvious as the window into the music was opened up even further, bringing in more detail within a larger sound stage.
Kevin’s next step was to upgrade the speaker cables. To my ears the frequencies became more cohesive and the tonality really clicked – we were really starting to cook on high-end gas now.
Opening a cleaner window is not always the clear win we all hope for, as it can sometimes reveal where you need to go next, and thanks to the flexible enhancement and upgrade path that the AGD product family offers, the pattern was easy to follow: Set up some main components, tune the system, hit a quality ceiling and upgrade the speakers. Rinse and repeat.
Ansuz Sparkz noise cancellation plug (left) and with its Tesla coil inspired internals revealed (right). These are designed to plug into nearby mains sockets, to lower the noise floor
So, what was I hearing? Better power leads to more cleanly resolved bass for a start, clearing midrange muddiness. The bass appeared to deepen, and the resonance tails of notes became more obvious and hung in the air longer. The soundstage expanded, with instrument placement within it becoming more precise. And then there was the added vibration control which cleared any smearing, with the concomitant aural effects.
These are effects that I have experienced from a range of accessories over recent decades, but there is no doubt that this has been somewhat haphazard. Not all cables sound as good with all equipment. Is support A as good as support B, especially with my gear? Can I even get to hear these competing brands up against one another? With AGD the path is laid before you, with a range of options.
Børresen’s C1 and C3 offer a lot of refinement
Reach for the summit
Where did we conclude? The X1 was swapped out for the C1 standmount, followed by the mighty C3 floorstander (both above), driven by Aavik’s U-588 Unity amplifier with upgraded speaker cables (which also follow the AGD mantra of a choice of quality metals to finesse their sound).
And unlike the Axxess amp range, the Aarvik models are designed to have AGD’s Darkz pucks inserted into their existing feet, meaning that the amp can be upgraded while retaining its squat profile – clever eh?
My experience at this point echoed what I had heard earlier, as this was clearly
better, although the C3 tower speaker is quite something, especially in a small space such as this, hence swapping out the copper Darkz resonance control for the titanium variants brought with it elements of added bass control. System tweakery at its most effective and convenient!
With a hifi this good (we’re now into the multiple tens of thousands), I couldn’t resist popping on Golden Rust by Robert Miles and Trilok Gurtu, as it’s such a superb track that will show your system’s ability to cope with complex bass, percussion and sound-field information, while delivering music on a grand scale
Aarvik U-188 integrated doing its thing with an Ansuz X-TC3 Ethernet network switcher nestled underneath, both fed from dedicated Ansuz D3 PowerSwitches, sporting their own internal Tesla coils
By now we’re reaching pinnacles of performance that only a substantial dedicated listening space could fully appreciate. I have heard systems costing many multiples of the AGD gear (ie £millions) but have I heard better? That’s a difficult one to answer in the moment, so enjoyable was this ultimate rig.
I have no doubt that elements including system supports, cables, power and resonance control make a difference to our systems, and when chosen well the results can be greater that the sum of their parts, and that is what AGD is all about, meaning you can upgrade your key components without having to swap them.
Ansuz C3 speaker cable with its finely woven outer. Note the titanium barrels which can be upgraded to copper and other precious metals, mirroring AGD’s philosophy around the benefits which the right materials can bring
To conclude, AGD has a well thought through set of components with an upgrade path that is demonstrable, and having this from the outset makes a lot of sense in an industry where add-ones and extras are the norm (and having these brought together in such a coherent way would certainly have saved me quite a few missteps and miss-spends along my own hifi journey).
A huge thanks to Kevin for taking the Audiograde team through Audio Group Denmark’s portfolio and DNA – I expect we’ll be seeing a lot more of these products in the UK.
Here’s Kevin settling in with me and George to enjoy Denmark’s refined audio gear with Westerham’s refined coffee – what a pairing
George says…
You have a good audio system and after a few years you want to improve it and are tempted by a new amplifier. You listen to it, it is better. You do your calculations and find you will lose a third to a half of the purchase price and then have to buy the new amp.
But…have you got the best from your current system? Why not listen to these Ansuz improvements and try them at home? And if you hear what we did you will get significant improvements. Maybe enough to keep the dreaded audiophilia at bay for a while.
But then if in future you do go for that new amplifier, you can re-use these improvements too.
Audio Group Denmark UK Roadshow
Kevin will be hosting a select few exclusive demonstrations around the UK this summer, details below:
- 26 March – Midlands, Hifonix (10am-4.30pm)
- 18 April 2026 – Northeast, Fanthorpes (10am-4.30pm)
- 23 May – East of England, Analogue Seduction (9am-4pm)
- 30 May – Scotland, Audio Emotion (10am-4pm)
Find out more by visiting Signature Audio Systems.
