installing 7 Furutech GTX-D NFC (R) outlets this morning

[Mike Lavigne]

ok, tonight Joe Pittman installed -7- of the Furutech 105-D NCF outlet covers on my outlets replacing the previous metal covers.. it took him about 30-35 minutes. he torqued them to a spec he has found is best so far in his experience.

I did expect them to be an improvement. but this was bigger than I expected.

-a layer of greyness was removed. it's more vivid and open.
-I get more a sense of weight and tonal sparkle. more alive and micro dynamic.
-slightly greater soundstage, mostly decays go on farther.
-greater sense of focus.....vocals are spooky good. (Joe and I both thought 'vinyl' good).

I suspect that my recent addition of the Aqua Formula dac and SMG server, which lowered noise floors and increased detail and focus already made this change more profound.

anyway it's a killer addition......I would caution that while I expect they would make a positive audible difference in most systems, the degree of benefit will likely vary from system to system. so I'm not proclaiming universal rave level here. but......anyone who has already done the rest of the Furutech NCF program likely will get a significant boost.

enjoy.

I expect Joe will be around if you have any techie questions.

and.....to Ed and all my weekend visitors, yes......it's even better now.

added note; I did a no-no. I made 2 changes at once. when Joe switched out the cover plates, I switched power cords between my dart pre and SMG server. the one that had been on the server was a decent Tel Wire I've had for awhile. I had one of my Absolute Fidelity power cords with the new Furutech NCF plugs on my dart pre. I figured the NCF plugged PC on the dart pre is only powering the battery charger and has no effect on performance. so why not put it where it can do some good?

anyway.....likely there is a muddying of the water on degree of cover plate switching cause and effect. wanted to do full disclosure. I'm guessing some of the extra vividness, microdynamics and additional decays are the PC change.

 

[mauidan]

I see that Furutech has a new FI-C15NFC slim-line IEC connectors to support Linn, Devialet, McIntosh amp and other kit with difficult-to-reach power inlets whilst offering pure copper contacts with gold or Rhodium plating.

I have FI-15 Plus Rs on the PCs feeding my amp's IEC inputs.

Guess I'll have to get these new FI-C15NFC to remove that "layer of greyness," or contact our local kahuna to re bless our home.

Do the the Furutech 105-D NCF outlet covers need to be cleaned with holy water prior to installation?

 

[EuroDriver]

ok, tonight Joe Pittman installed -7- of the Furutech 105-D NCF outlet covers on my outlets replacing the previous metal covers.. it took him about 30-35 minutes. he torqued them to a spec he has found is best so far in his experience.

I did expect them to be an improvement. but this was bigger than I expected.

-a layer of greyness was removed. it's more vivid and open.
-I get more a sense of weight and tonal sparkle. more alive and micro dynamic.
-slightly greater soundstage, mostly decays go on farther.
-greater sense of focus.....vocals are spooky good. (Joe and I both thought 'vinyl' good).

I suspect that my recent addition of the Aqua Formula dac and SMG server, which lowered noise floors and increased detail and focus already made this change more profound.

anyway it's a killer addition......I would caution that while I expect they would make a positive audible difference in most systems, the degree of benefit will likely vary from system to system. so I'm not proclaiming universal rave level here. but......anyone who has already done the rest of the Furutech NCF program likely will get a significant boost.

enjoy.

I expect Joe will be around if you have any techie questions.

and.....to Ed and all my weekend visitors, yes......it's even better now.

added note; I did a no-no. I made 2 changes at once. when Joe switched out the cover plates, I switched power cords between my dart pre and SMG server. the one that had been on the server was a decent Tel Wire I've had for awhile. I had one of my Absolute Fidelity power cords with the new Furutech NCF plugs on my dart pre. I figured the NCF plugged PC on the dart pre is only powering the battery charger and has no effect on performance. so why not put it where it can do some good?

anyway.....likely there is a muddying of the water on degree of cover plate switching cause and effect. wanted to do full disclosure. I'm guessing some of the extra vividness, microdynamics and additional decays are the PC change.

Hi Mike,

I am already excited about my next opportunity to visit your room !

Your results and observations on the sonic changes are in line with what has been demonstrated to me by Emile Bok, the Chief Engineer of Taiko Audio, who did the lion's share of the engineering of the SGM. The mass, cross section, conductor material characteristics and dielectric properties of power connectors have as big if not even bigger influence on the sound as the interconnect plugs.

Last Friday at Gary Koh's office, Gary did a A/B test with me which demonstrated the same importance of similar parameters for speaker terminals.

These are exciting times in audio !

 

[Joe Pittman]

Do the the Furutech 105-D NCF outlet covers need to be cleaned with holy water prior to installation?

You are required to kneel down before the outlets prior to installation.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

You are required to kneel down before the outlets prior to installation.

I can verify that Joe, did indeed, kneel before each outlet prior to install.

after they were all done.......together, we also said 'furutech' backwards three times....'hceturuf, hceturuf, hceturuf'.....while placing our wallets on the floor......which locks the magic in.

 

[YashN]

I can verify that Joe, did indeed, kneel before each outlet prior to install.

after they were all done.......together, we also said 'furutech' backwards three times....'hceturuf, hceturuf, hceturuf'.....while placing our wallets on the floor......which locks the magic in.

That should do it.

 

[Joe Pittman]

I can verify that Joe, did indeed, kneel before each outlet prior to install.

after they were all done.......together, we also said 'furutech' backwards three times....'hceturuf, hceturuf, hceturuf'.....while placing our wallets on the floor......which locks the magic in.

All kidding aside Mike, the system with the new digital gear is simply amazing. Listening to Simon and Garfunkel was like they were right there, I could reach out and touch them. Classical music was so natural and effortless, it was unnecessary to raise the volume level, dynamics were so realistic. Contate Domino was over the top, massed vocals you could hear individual singers each with three dimensional separation, all while the organ was playing full tilt and the ambience of the venue... It was intoxicating.

 

[Jazzhead]

All kidding aside Mike, the system with the new digital gear is simply amazing. Listening to Simon and Garfunkel was like they were right there, I could reach out and touch them. Classical music was so natural and effortless, it was unnecessary to raise the volume level, dynamics were so realistic. Contate Domino was over the top, massed vocals you could hear individual singers each with three dimensional separation, all while the organ was playing full tilt and the ambience of the venue... It was intoxicating.

Vinyl didn't get a look in ? How close is the gap now ....

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Vinyl didn't get a look in ? How close is the gap now ....

I've not played vinyl for over 10 days. on Saturday when the 15 club members were here it was just digital, I don't recall ever doing that before......it's always a couple of digital tracks and then all analog.

on Sunday when Ed and i placed the Aqua Formula in the Adona rack I had to remove the tt and the top of the rack so I could remove one shelf and the support legs. this gave me the vertical space to stack the Formula on top of the dart pre which was sitting on the Herzan and still have enough height to hold the SGM server. to move the tt I removed the arm wands so I need to go back and check my set-ups before I listen critically to the vinyl. which takes some dedicated time. planning on doing that sometime this weekend when I have the mental mindset for it.

so my (and Joe's) perceptions about 'vinyl like' are from our sense of what type sound reminds us of that. I need to do some A/B'ing to really see where the delta is now. I suspect it's closer than before. there is still a gap.

 

[LL21]

I've not played vinyl for over 10 days. on Saturday when the 15 club members were here it was just digital, I don't recall ever doing that before......it's always a couple of digital tracks and then all analog...

i remember when Microstrip first started describing this phenomena among analog guys. will be interested to read more about your observations of both your analog and digital as you start to compare them...and perhaps even start to 'hone' your digital set up little by little.

 

[Sammy T]

Furutech FI-06 NCF ... big improvement . FI-09 NCF even better performance... If you have the space for them.

 

[Joe Pittman]

Furutech FI-06 NCF ... big improvement . FI-09 NCF even better performance... If you have the space for them.

I use the FI-09 NCF chassis mount IEC (15 amp) because it has similar construction and sound quality as the GTX-D NCF outlets. Highly recommended.

see Brochure (PDF)

 

[DaveC]

Furutech FI-06 NCF ... big improvement . FI-09 NCF even better performance... If you have the space for them.

The IEC inlets do make a big difference! If you're talking about a big amp or power distribution block I'd consider using the FI-33 NCF 20A IEC inlet with the FI-52 NCF 20A plugs, the higher current design is a good bit better. I use FI-33 to mod my 20A SurgeX power conditioner/surge eliminator/power distributors... with that, the GTX NCF in the wall, and FI-50/52 plugs the result is amazing.

I think Furutech has demonstrated just how huge of a difference AC power delivery makes with their new NCF gear! It's unbelievable imo, and at this point the differences are pronounced enough that even great skeptics should be convinced, if they are actually willing to try and listen with an open mind. The differences vs ordinary receptacles, plugs and IECs is truly night and day vs. the NCF parts...

 

[Salectric]

The FI-09 NCF chassis inlet looks interesting. My experience is only with the FI-06 series where I have tried the Gold, Rhodium and Rhodium NCF inlets. Of these I preferred the Gold at least with the FI-11 Ag IEC plug I use on all my power cords. The Gold chassis inlet had the best inner detail and microdynamics. Have you compared the Gold and NCF versions of the FI-09?

 

[DaveC]

The FI-09 NCF chassis inlet looks interesting. My experience is only with the FI-06 series where I have tried the Gold, Rhodium and Rhodium NCF inlets. Of these I preferred the Gold at least with the FI-11 Ag IEC plug I use on all my power cords. The Gold chassis inlet had the best inner detail and microdynamics. Have you compared the Gold and NCF versions of the FI-09?

I've only compared to gold vs rhodium, I just built two amps with the FI-06 NCF but did not compare them to any others... the FI-06 is a good value, these amps are for an active system <400 HZ so it didn't make sense to spend big $ on totl connectors.

I think the differences can be very system/personal preference dependent. In your situation the gold makes sense as the FI-11 Ag are silver plated "alpha-bronze", which is an aggressive sounding plug. The Furutech alpha-bronze is quite good, much better than most copper alloys, but imo it's best paired with gold plating as it does have just a touch of grain vs pure copper. Rhodium or silver over bronze can be a bit much... not bad at all but more stimulating and not quite as clean vs Furutech's "alpha-copper". I'd guess your preferences may change if you had different power cables, but that's just a guess...

 

[Joe Pittman]

The FI-09 NCF chassis inlet looks interesting. My experience is only with the FI-06 series where I have tried the Gold, Rhodium and Rhodium NCF inlets. Of these I preferred the Gold at least with the FI-11 Ag IEC plug I use on all my power cords. The Gold chassis inlet had the best inner detail and microdynamics. Have you compared the Gold and NCF versions of the FI-09?

All of the NCF versions are Rhodium plated. I personally no longer use the Gold any more and rarely get any requests for it. As far as I know, Rhodium has been outselling Gold by quite a bit over the last couple years, so it doesn't surprise me that the new NCF series is only available in Rhodium. Every one of my customers consider the Rhodium to be more neutral than Gold. I suppose if demand is high enough, Furutech will offer the NCF series in Gold, but I have not heard if they are going to do that.

 

[Salectric]

Makes sense Dave. Everything connected to the power delivery seems rather critical and one component may be a better match to one system than another.

The GRX NCF outlet combo you sold me seems to sound better each week. I stopped keeping track of the hours after about 125 hours and that was a couple weeks ago so I am not sure how many it has now. But I have a theory that the earth connections and wiring inside the outlet need to break in just like the + and neutral connections. I wonder whether the earth connections are being "exercised" with a typical cable cooker. For example, I saw a photo of a reviewer's break-in jig and the earth connections were not being used at all. I suspect his outlets would still need a lot of break-in time after installation.

 

[DaveC]

Makes sense Dave. Everything connected to the power delivery seems rather critical and one component may be a better match to one system than another.

The GRX NCF outlet combo you sold me seems to sound better each week. I stopped keeping track of the hours after about 125 hours and that was a couple weeks ago so I am not sure how many it has now. But I have a theory that the earth connections and wiring inside the outlet need to break in just like the + and neutral connections. I wonder whether the earth connections are being "exercised" with a typical cable cooker. For example, I saw a photo of a reviewer's break-in jig and the earth connections were not being used at all. I suspect his outlets would still need a lot of break-in time after installation.

I modified my cable cooker connections to run ground and neutral in parallel. Not the absolute best as a wiring scheme... everything in series is more ideal, but it definitely does help. I think with AC parts the cooker is running a sine sweep, and while it's a fairly powerful signal it's probably not as powerful as the receptacle is likely to see when used as intended, for AC power, and it's not the same fixed-frequency signal either. So there is additional burn-in required but the burn-in effects are less dramatic and for a lesser duration vs uncooked receptacles.

I did use uncooked receptacles the first time I tried the GTX and the burn-in was unbelievably bad and very annoying.. like "ugh, now it sounds dark and closed-in again, might as well go do the laundry... "...

 

[LL21]

All of the NCF versions are Rhodium plated. I personally no longer use the Gold any more and rarely get any requests for it. As far as I know, Rhodium has been outselling Gold by quite a bit over the last couple years, so it doesn't surprise me that the new NCF series is only available in Rhodium. Every one of my customers consider the Rhodium to be more neutral than Gold. I suppose if demand is high enough, Furutech will offer the NCF series in Gold, but I have not heard if they are going to do that.

Thanks for your time here...i was told by a local distributor (not of Furutech but who personally owns them at his home) that the burn-in is 400+ hours or more, but fortunately, with most of the equipment 'dripping current' 24/7 (Power conditioner mainly, plus a few components that have minimal functions 24/7)...it would be several weeks and then fine.

Since we were making so many updates/changes anyway, i did not start to seriously fine tune until 12 weeks anyway. Just curious as to what your understanding/experience may be?

 

[PeterA]

i remember when Microstrip first started describing this phenomena among analog guys. will be interested to read more about your observations of both your analog and digital as you start to compare them...and perhaps even start to 'hone' your digital set up little by little.

Two guys in my Boston area audio group used to listen much more to analog. After purchasing or modifying their DACs, they are listening to a lot of digital now. I don't actually know if they prefer one over the other anymore. As an all analog guy, I admit that it has me wondering. Digital has gotten extremely good lately.

Back on topic. I am thinking of replacing my three Furutech IEC connectors with the latest NFC model. I don't have any wall outlets or plates in my system.