I can relate to blown budget. Life has gotten in the way of my hifi pursuits lately. Case in point brakes for my car has to take precedence over another Furutech power cable lol.
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I have previously attempted to completely stop with the hifi pursuits and concentrate on more important aspects of life particularly maintaining a healthy retirement fund. I can now confidently say that I’m seriously and entirely done, no more adding new hifi and only selling from now on, with the exception of cables. 
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Yes I agree with everything you’ve said. However my perspective of the NAC A5 is different. Yes even without burn in I’ve noticed the DSS 4.1 is sorting out more of the music than the NAC A5 ever could. However considering the price of the NAC A5 I think it’s still an amazing buy. The mid bass hump and the graininess is noticeable when I’ve compared it to cables like the Chord Epicl XL, SUper Lumina etc but I’ve found the sound signature charming. Midrange is so pleasant on the NAC A5. What it does for the money makes it difficult not to recommend it. It’s like the 52/135 system. Flawed but fabulous.
Please bear in mind that 8.5 metres per channel of NAC A5 with Chord Ohmic plugs plus soldering cost me roughly £700 5 years ago. The Furutech build is ten times that amount. And as I always say about my 500 series - It’s better than the 52/135 in every way but I could easily still be living with that classic system and be a happy man.
I think NAC A5 is a cable that CAN be in a high end system. I have a similar opinion about Naim Powerline and standard interconnects. They aren’t the most detailed but the midrange tone is very engaging and that’s very important in hifi for me. Powerline for instance- What an amazing buy. The Furutech DPS and TCS31 are better imho but they cost 2-4 times the price of the Powerline. Even on my tube gear it’s wonderful.
when putting a Naim system together, the system as a whole is more important than the sum of its parts.
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Just read this which makes my previous post all the more important. lol.
I won’t even think about how much I’ve spent on hifi in the past 3 years. It’s a concerning number even for a man of means of which I am not. 
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Yes, diminishing returns is very real as we usually don’t get the same amount of improvement in sound quality with the exponential sum of money that we spend. It’s not only with cables but equipment as well.
The NAC A5 is surely value for money. The Furutech DPS4.1 and DSS-4.1 are surely costly, and the costs rise exponentially with longer length of cables. That is my main gripe with Furutech DPS/DSS range of cables especially the speaker cables as I require minimum 4 metres pair in my system. I would probably require 5 metres due to the weight and stiffness of the DSS-4.1, and all in together with the plugs it’s not exactly cheap…
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I’m about to give you some bad news buddy. I think you need more than 5 metres. 7.5 metres are required to put it in line with Naim Power amps requirements. I’ve calculated it but misplaced my calculations now.
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Just an interesting find,
So as some of you may know I interchange between sw1x pre 3 special and the NAC 552DR.
the DSS 4.1 is still very much in early burn in stage but it really boogies with the NAC 552DR. With the pre 3 special the tone is not quite right.
So I think I’ll keep it running on the 552DR for a number of weeks to let it settle in.
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What a difference connectors make! I bought a mains lead made up with furutech bulk cable fr-s35tc with rhodium 1363 uk plug and Fi-50 iec… but on investigation the plugs were not the real deal … sounded ok tho. But it niggled so i bought genuine 1363 and Fi-48 NCF rhodium connectors and installed this morning. Oh my, given these are new the difference is very clear to hear. More layering, separation and just more of everything. A lesson learned and an expensive mistake but the result is quite staggering.
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I would go as far that the connectors are more important than the cable itself once the cable is of decent copper quality.
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I totally agree! @Hifi-dog Congrats btw.
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I swear I’ve read that somewhere before 
@Hifi-dog, good to hear your experiment worked out. Unfortunately many will never realize how much impact a connector will make, as if you haven’t experienced it yourself, it seems a bit crazy.
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Re Clear Line RCA . The Chord Din Ground Aray has a more profound , more noticeable affect which has been described at length , but they are a bit bright . The Furutech are smother warmer but not as dynamic , I prefer the Furutech .
How do I use them with Naim ( 282 pre ) ?
A Mayware phono to Din adapter with a pair of Furutech RCA plugs fitted .
I use a Furutech Clear Line XLR plug on my CEC TL 5 CD transport and a RCA Clear Line on my Naim Dac .
So yes you can use them with Naim and I think it’s worthwhile . A Din Clear Line based on their XLR plug would be great but probably to niche for Furutech .
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What a difference connectors make! I bought a mains lead made up with furutech bulk cable fr-s35tc with rhodium 1363 uk plug and Fi-50 iec… but on investigation the plugs were not the real deal … sounded ok tho. But it niggled so i bought genuine 1363 and Fi-48 NCF rhodium connectors and installed this morning. Oh my, given these are new the difference is very clear to hear. More layering, separation and just more of everything. A lesson learned and an expensive mistake but the result is quite staggering.
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Unfortunately there are an awful lot of ‘clone’ products available - whilst i’ve made certain auction sites aware of such items (mostly sold at 10% of the genuine product price) on multiple occassions they do little to stop the listings.
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I’m now selling the copies but I’ve made it very clear they are not genuine but are nonetheless good connectors
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I’d send them back where you got them.
Why should you have the inconvenience when they’ve stiffed you.
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I bought a 3pin and a IEC purely for interest, to see how close they were to genuine items. At £23 (delivered at the time) each it was a cheap investigation. The IEC was probably the closest clone, and generally decent quality - whether the gold/rhodium coating was actually there is another matter. The plug plastics were a slightly different feel but 95% the same, cable clamp seemed just as robust as the genuine plugs and the cable terminations were more than adequate.
Did i use them ? - no, whilst they appeared reasonable quality i wouldnt put them on any power cable, hifi or otherwise.
The thing with these sorts of F clones (and N*****t cables), they appeal mostly to those who want the labels but cant or wont pay for the genuine items - i mean who really is fooled by an Odin BNC cable for £40 ?
If you are buying used on an auction site then its difficult to judge authenticity - buyer beware !
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cos it was a while ago…
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Update on the Furutech SWS NCF wall socket.
This is an incredible upgrade over standard wall sockets. You just have to give it 4-5 weeks of playing and probably even more with low power drawing systems. Once I connected my surround receiver to my hifi and started to draw lots of power it went better much quicker.
It is a no brainer for the investment in my opinion costing only a 300 euro.
You can see the break in process in my other thread.
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Nice to read this. It’s truly rewarding once the break-in process is done.
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