Audience AU24 SX Power Chord

Audience Au24 SX powerChord HP

Twenty Years of Expertise — Built for Amplifiers and High-Current Components

The Au24 SX powerChord HP is purpose-built for power amplifiers, integrated amplifiers, and any high-current component where the cord must support instantaneous, unrestricted current delivery without flinching. This is the application where a power cord's gauge and geometry matter most — where the dynamic peaks of music demand sudden, large draws of current, and where a cord that restricts that flow compresses the very dynamics your amplifier was designed to deliver.

The HP brings the full Au24 SX platform to this demanding role: 99.9999% pure OCC copper, the advanced 10 AWG wire geometry that Roger Sheker and John McDonald spent over a year developing, the highest quality XLPE insulation, selective ground shielding in PTFE Teflon, in-house double cryogenic treatment, and Furutech's flagship FI-50 NCF connectors. The result, as The Absolute Sound's Neil Gader described after a full review, is a state-of-the-art cord — a new reference with a virtually black noise floor, rock-solid soundstage stability, and a dynamic authority that makes itself felt immediately on any amplifier worthy of it.

Why the HP — and Why Amplifiers Benefit Most from Current-Unrestricted AC

The choice between HP and MP isn't about sonic preference — it's about matching the cord's geometry to the component's operating requirements.

The HP (High Power) uses a 10 AWG conductor configuration — two 13 AWG wires per leg — specifically sized for power amplifiers and other high-current draws. An amplifier's dynamic performance is directly tied to its ability to pull current on demand. During loud, complex passages where multiple instruments attack simultaneously, the amplifier reaches into its power supply for current reserves. A power cord that restricts that draw — through undersized conductors or reactive geometry — compresses those dynamics, softens transient attacks, and blurs the bass articulation that gives music its physical presence and weight.

The Au24 SX HP removes that restriction entirely. Its 10 AWG geometry provides a fully open current pathway with no bottleneck, while the full Au24 SX material and treatment platform ensures that the power being delivered is as clean, quiet, and coherent as possible.

What Makes the Au24 SX HP Different

Six-nines OCC copper — 99.9999% pure. The same ultra-pure conductor used throughout the Au24 SX signal cable line. At this level of purity, grain boundary artifacts, resistive losses, and impurity-induced distortions are reduced to near-zero — providing a fundamentally cleaner path for AC delivery than any lesser conductor offers.

Advanced 10 AWG wire geometry — one year in development. Roger Sheker and John McDonald spent over a year developing and testing conductor samples and geometric configurations before arriving at the final arrangement: two 13 AWG wires per leg in each 10 AWG conductor. The geometry minimizes reactive interference between conductors while maintaining the flexibility and ease of use that Audience power cords are known for — no stiff, unwieldy fire hose behind your amplifier.

Highest quality XLPE insulation. Cross-linked polyethylene provides a stable dielectric constant across all frequencies, minimal signal absorption, and superior compatibility with OCC copper — maintaining electrical integrity across the full AC cycle.

Selective ground shielding — in PTFE Teflon. Audience has long avoided shielding power cords due to the dynamic compression that full shielding introduces. The SX powerChord's solution is precise: each of the two ground wires is individually shielded and then insulated in PTFE Teflon, rejecting ground-path noise without compromising the dynamic performance of the signal conductors. For an amplifier, where dynamic compression is the cardinal sin, this distinction matters.

Double cryogenic treatment — in-house. Both stages are performed at Audience's facility, giving them direct control over the process. The treatment refines the crystalline structure of every conductor in the finished cord, improving conductivity, signal integrity, and long-term stability at the molecular level.

Furutech FI-50 NCF connectors. Furutech's flagship Nano Crystal Fiber AC connectors — the best-sounding Audience has found in extensive comparison, and entirely appropriate for a cord of this caliber. Beautiful in appearance, exemplary in contact quality.

What to Expect

On a power amplifier the improvements the Au24 SX HP delivers are most audible in the qualities that define amplifier performance: dynamic authority, bass control and articulation, transient speed and precision, and the sense that the amplifier can reach as deep into its reserves as the music demands without hesitation.

The noise floor drops noticeably — a quieter background from which leading edges emerge more crisply and decay more naturally. Bass lines tighten and become more tuneful. Dynamic peaks arrive with greater conviction and headroom. And through all of it, the tonal character is honest and uncolored — the harmonic resolution and coherence that define the Au24 SX line, applied to the AC connection where your amplifier's performance is ultimately grounded.

Garrett Hongo at SoundStage! Ultra, who awarded the Au24 SX powerChord Product of the Year for 2018, described it as an absolute roarer that feeds your inner audiophile lion. On an amplifier, that framing makes complete sense — this is a cord that lets the amplifier be what it was designed to be.

Press Recognition

• The Absolute Sound — Full review & Editor's Choice Award 2021, 2022, 2023 "Au24 SX presents an even lower noise floor — a virtual black palette of calm. The upshot is a soundstage of rock-solid stability and continuity, with more fully realized dimensionality and depth. A state-of-the-art cord." — Neil Gader Read the review
• The Absolute Sound — Editor's Choice Award 2018 "A new reference if ever there was one. Audience is to be congratulated for its finest effort yet in this popular segment of the high end." — Neil Gader Read the award
• SoundStage! Ultra — Product of the Year 2018 & full review, February 2018 "The Au24 SX powerChord is an absolute roarer — it can feed your inner audiophile lion." — Garrett Hongo Read the review
• Audio Bacon — Full Au24 SX loom review, October 2018 "With the Audience loom, it feels like I am being transported to the studio, listening to music from the recording engineer's seat." — Siao Jer Read the review
• Stereo Times — Most Wanted Component Award 2017; full review, June 2018 "It simply sounds like real music with no hi-fi type gimmicks or sonic artifacts. Sonic beauty are words that quickly come to mind." — Bill Wells Read the review

Specifications & Options

• Version: HP — High Power, 10 AWG; for power amplifiers and high-current components
• Conductors: 99.9999% pure OCC copper — two 13 AWG wires per leg (10 AWG total)
• Dielectric: Highest quality XLPE (cross-linked polyethylene)
• Ground shielding: Individual shields on ground wires; PTFE Teflon insulation
• Treatment: Double cryogenic treatment, performed in-house
• Connectors: Furutech FI-50 NCF (Nano Crystal Fiber) — wall plug and IEC
• Available lengths: [PLACEHOLDER — verify current options]

Not sure whether the HP or MP is right for a specific component, or how the Au24 SX powerChord HP compares to the frontRow or Studio ONE HP in your system? We're glad to help.