Furutech Discussion

Hi-Fi Corner
428

I changed the ends from the standard ones, had been meaning to try it for a while. Yes it’s a rhodium ncf plug and a gold FI-28 IEC. I do have a rhodium FI-28 but it’s on the Alpha-3 cable currently.

The cable is 12 awg and you can get an idea of how flexible it is from that photo. It has all the mechanical dampening etc designed into the cable itself so not sure it’s worth going to the high end connectors with this one specifically. The Furutech connectors do grip the IEC sockets better so these mid-range ones should be fine, at least for now. I preferred this cable with the standard connectors to the Powerline on my nDAC so it’ll be interesting to see what the Furutech connectors do.

429

I wonder why some UK/European companies use AWG ???, AWG is a US standard.
I just looked up the cable mnfr Puritan Audio Labs & see they are located in Stoke Row, a small village with a Henley post code, a long way from US of A.

430

Yes it’s very strange isn’t it :person_shrugging: … corresponds to 5 mm2 from a couple of conversion charts I just looked at … thought it was 4

Edit … it is four mm2, looking at the wrong column … too much mulled wine :joy:

431

Oh no, don’t tell me this! I’m trying to save money lol. (LOVE my nDAC)

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432

As do I :slightly_smiling_face: it’s all just personal preference!

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433

Just looking at your system profile, I’m headed in your direction someday. NAC332 seems just perfect.

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434

I vaguely remember wire being in SWG, which I believe was a British standard so if they want to turn back the clock why not use that.

435

I think it is :slightly_smiling_face: Certainly a big leap over my previous 282, very pleased with it. Sorry Daren, getting off topic!

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436

Quick question and Happy New Year.

I’m wondering how important is plate matching? The reason I ask is the Furutech distributor I have my eye on (e-TP609 NCF) uses copper plated with Rhodium, but my Naim Powerline plugs are phosphor bronze apparently. I’m wondering if the (GTO-D3 R NCF) would be a better sonic match since the outlets are phosphors bronze plated.

437

Happy new year Marcus. I haven’t actually ever plugged either of my powerline into the GTX-D NCF R outlets, my power lines are still both plugged into the cryo Hubbells, but that was something I was planning on trying in the future. Believe some posters on here have done so with good results, so maybe they can chime in. But my thoughts are, ideally we match like for like plating with pure base metals but if we can’t do this, I’d much rather have the GTX-D NCF R outlets vs the phosphor bronze ones, as they are far better performing. When I installed my first GTX-D NCF R in the wall, the cord I was using from wall to powerbar at the time did have a male phosphor bronze end. & while swapping that for a cord with FI-50 NCF R was obviously an improvement, the impact from the GTX-D NCF R was still very apparent when everything was fed with the phosphor bronze cord (all my initial comments in this thread from this first change are with that phosphor bronze cord).

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438

Thanks. Just another wrinkle on the road to sonic bliss.

439

How´s it going with Puritan Ultimate cables? Where do you currently have them? I’m planning to evaluate Ultimate in my system in comparison to Powerline.

Was there a shield at any end connected to ground on Ultimate? I have changed the IEC end on my Classic but I only saw Ground, L, N and no shield so I wonder if the shield is only on the wall socket connector.

440

Hi, I’m not using them yet. I just have the one Ultimate so far which I’m planning to replace the Powerline on the 332 as it has the greatest noise/vibration capability, I much preferred it on my nDAC than the Powerline so looking forward to that. The Powerline-lites currently on the other boxes will have the Classic Plus cables. They made a big difference on my old system so should do here as well.

Yes the ground is just on the wall plug end. I spoke to Mike at Puritan about that as I thought the dissipative nature of the cables made that unnecessary but he said whilst the cables do get rid of the majority of the noise what little is left is sent to earth … far less than conventional metal shielding.

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441

Thought I’d give a little update, since all my pieces should now all be well run in. For those that haven’t read through the whole thread, I will once again confirm that the old “Rhodium sounds bright” simply isn’t true. I have swapped 7 gold plated ends for Rhodium & the system is actually warmer & more musical then ever before, while at the same time being far superior in the “audiophile” aspects. For me, Furutech has done an outstanding job in exactly this, giving you all those audiophile aspects you like but not at the expense of leaning in a more analytical direction. This whole experience has been a real eye opener on just how much power effects the sound quality. Over the last year I haven’t made any actual kit upgrades, I’ve just upgraded power related components & room treatments. Now by no means are the upgrades I’ve done to these areas considered cheap but I can say their impact has improved sound more then any box upgraded I’ve done. I’m at a level that I never would have guessed was possible a year ago with the same kit, & at that time I still felt I was extracting most of the potential out of the kit. I have been thinking about starting a thread, for all those on the endless upgrade merry go round, about how much potential is likely not being extracted from what you currently have.

As far as as Furutech goes, their FI-50 NCF ends are outstanding, yes they are expensive but given their actual performance, I feel the price is justified. The GTX-D NCF outlets, even more so, while a crazy price, performance wise they are a bargain.

For bulk cable, the DPS-4.1 is a true flag ship bulk cable, it is very transparent but at the same time still musical & not analytical. It will show exactly what your kit is capable of. Lots of insight, quick, large soundstage, pinpoint imagining, impactful bass, etc. If your kit is up to it, I’d definitely recommend it, I would only hesitate to recommend it if your kit is of lower quality as I could see it might have the potential to reveal short comings elsewhere.

The S series, S55N & S022N, when paired with the FI-50 NCF ends makes a cable that performs far above its price point/far above what a very “regular” cable configuration should. This cable when compared to DPS-4.1 gives a bit less insight, while adding a bit more warmth. The S022N version seems pretty neutral top to bottom, where the S55N might add just a bit more warmth & extension to the top & bottom.

Going forward I will likely swap out the rest of my Cryo Hubbells for GTX-D NCF’s, change my TT phono lead ends for the newish CF-102 NCF ends & try out a FI-50 NCF powerline…

Edit: Not Furutech related but I briefly mentioned above, I was thinking about trying the Puron power conditioners that seemed to have good reviews. Their prices are supposed to be going up shortly & they’re currently running a promotion for a reduced price if you buy two, so I picked a couple up. Should be receiving them in the next couple days.

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442

I’m sure you’ve gone through this but I swear my outlet is still breaking in. It’s been sounding amazing the last month or so but the last couple of days it’s even better. No change to my system just it’s sounding better.

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443

Hi @daren_p thanks for the summary and for the lead in this thread. I am following the thread always with great interest. Furutech components are rather peripheral in the forum and there is a lot of potential here. I also share your opinion that the framework conditions (power supply, but also room treatments) are of great importance. Only the upgrade path of components underestimates the potential that lies here. It is also important for me is your note that the DPS-4.1 can also be too much (I have Nait50, ND5XS2, NDac). An S022N is probably also sufficient, especially on the streamer/dac. At fairaudio .de (unfortunately only in German) there is a test S022N with FI-50 NCF plug, which also confirms this. They compared it with the FP TC31N cable. According to them, the FP TC31N is faster and much more brilliant in the high frequencies. It seems to be more suitable for rock/pop, less for jazz/classical music or if the system is to be upgraded in this direction.
We haven’t talked that much about unfiltered distributors yet. I use the simple e-TP60E NCF and am also satisfied with it, but I have no comparison and would be interested to hear any experiences. Perhaps @frenchrooster has already heard his new e-TP609 NCF?

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I’m also still interested in this or the less expensive version the GTO-D3 R NCF Power Distributor. My interest in the GTO-D3 is that it’s bronze connectors and would match my Naim Powerlines. Who knows where I’ll end up actually. Nothing will happen for me until Tax season is over. Really good to know about the DPS-41 as well… At some point I’ll need a power cord that goes from the wall socket to the distributor and if I don’t have to use the DPS-41 but a lesser version that works will save me $$

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445

@Wilfried should clarify a bit on the DPS-4.1, didn’t necessarily mean it might be a bad match if you have lower level kit, just more so that I haven’t tried it other then with my current kit & as you’d expect with a higher quality cable, it’s more transparent, so there could be the potential for it to highlight things you would rather not hear. Guess this would be more so directed at many of the typical SS components that might be a bit bright or leaning analytical, or not that refined sounding. In comparisons to a lower quality cable, the DPS-4.1 isn’t going to mask these shortcoming as well, ie, its more truthful. As a single person, its hard to judge what would be considered completely neutral but the opinion of a well know cable builder in the US that has lots of experience with Furutech & a large customer base to have numerous points of reference, he still feels the DPS-4.1 does add a bit of warmth. While the S55N combo works very well on my DAC a part of me is still curious about swapping it for the DPS-4.1 as well, as I have a feeling the combo would work very well. Either that or a Siltech cable that I swap the stock ends for the FI-50 NCF R’s (because the Siltech Triple Crown that comes with these ends from the factory is slightly out of my price range :laughing: ).

For power distribution, my issue with many of the filtered options is if I went with any of them, it would be a requirement that I would need to be able to swap the stock outlets for the GTX-D NCF’s, as at this point I don’t think I could give those up. The Puritan 156 looks interesting but haven’t seen one in person to see if you can swap outlets. The e-TP609 NCF looks like a nice piece of kit, I have my eye on it or the one my local Furutech supplier, Audio Sensibility makes. For noise filtering, the Puron power filters I ordered were delivered today, so I’ll see how they perform.

@marcusman I know you know my recommendation, I’d pass on the phosphor bronze outlets even if they match your powerlines. Every time I removed an item with phosphor bronze, & swapped for something with a pure cooper base metal, their was a noticeable uplift in performance/reduction of harshness.

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446

Yes. And especially the last one (which, for me, was the wall socket to a Furutech)

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447

@daren_p @garcon Alright, alright, alright! I’ll save a bit more money and go for the one with pure copper. :slight_smile: Deep down I know it’s the right choice…

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