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

plasmod3

Well-Known Member
Aug 28, 2020
566
425
138
44
Furutech has released a diagram of the inside, you can see it here:

https://www.monoandstereo.com/2020/08/new-furutech-ncf-clear-line-ac-optimizer.html

It is not a conventional parallel power conditioner using reactive elements like capacitors. Nevertheless, I have had a few customers with AC power quality measuring devices report back to me substantial reduction in noise by using NCF parts. In my experience, the 1st NCF parts you put in a system make the largest difference and I would suggest the GTX NCF receptacles as being the best bang for the buck. Further NCF parts do help but the effect is cumulative, and the 1st parts added reduce noise the most, additional parts still reduce noise but not as much. NCF parts are also generally the highest quality, so besides the NCF material you also get the highest quality copper, plating and general construction quality possible, so the parts are usually a large improvement over others in many ways, not just because of the NCF material used.

So, if you have good quality AC power and a lot of other NCF parts the effect of the Clear Line may be negligible. OTOH, if you have some noise and currently use no NCF parts, the Clear Line may make a large difference.

I have a few on the way but have not received my order yet. My system uses all NCF plugs, IEC inlets and receptacles, so I'm not sure how much, if any, adding a Clear Line will improve my own system, but I'll report back when I get them.
it does make sense , there is certainly a suggestion of diminishing returns the more ncf parts you add onto the system
 

Ultrafast69

VIP/Donor
Aug 27, 2018
222
225
385
Seattle, WA
www.audio-ultra.com
Hi Ultra

I installed 1 wall socket, the black cylinder in the photo was a ncf clear i was testing out - unfortunately it didnt make a difference for my system .

Am tossing up if i should install another wall plug - i got a bocchino plug with the help of Sanjay here on the forums as well - it's a gigantic wall plug and looks a challenge to install! Carmine loves his things large and big, if this works as well as his iec and all plugs it will hopefully be the end game for me where wall plugs are concerned
That is some receptacle - thanks for clarifying, enjoy in health!
 

Mabutu

Well-Known Member
Mar 20, 2019
14
7
83
53
I took delivery of some Furutech US plugs and NCF receptacles recently . Ive purchased many Furutech products over the years . I am not from America but i went the USA receptacle route .

My dealer , laughed that i was on a fools errand . As always I ignored his advice and plunged forth ...

many years ago another retailer told me that many Furutech products are actually commissioned off to be made in Chinese factories . I laughed it off at the time .

But I did notice that over the years Furutech stood out as a unique Japanese company : no where on the products does the phrase ""made in Japan" appear . Not on the boxes , not engraved on the products themselves. Nowhere.

I thought this weird as Japan has a reputation of excellence and pride of manufacturing . One would think Furutech would be screaming from the roof tops ""Made in Japan" emblazoned on their products

Luxman , Acoustic Revive, Acrolink , Oyaide : all their products Ive purchased over the years have "made in japan" labelled on box or engraved on the product .

Googling on the Website Of Furutech I see this ""no furutech product is made in China " .




Furutech warning.PNG

""phew " i thought and went ahead with my order : I ordered direct from the offical Furutech distributor in my country (not USA) > i've never bought from Ebay , Amazon etc , only from official distributors or their designated dealers.


So I took a look at the marvel which is the NCF receptacle with my loupe : the prongs inside were coated about 95 %. rhodium with areas of bare copper visible. Sloppy . Unusual given the Japanese obsession with perfection . 2 more Receptacles I opened and it was the same .

"they musta been under the pump because of covid " i thought. of the poor bugger in the factory doing the plating

So i stick in the plug which required a Herculean effort . More effort was required to extract these plugs from the vice like grip of the receptacle .

Thinking back on my metal work days i laughed "theres no way the plating will survive this "" and lo and behold from 2 simple insert and remove cycles the prongs were scratched . And on the "live" prong part of the plating had gone and i could see the underlying copper .

Knowing the spot price Rhodium is trading at , and the whole sale prices these products are going for , made me even more suspicious they are made in Japan .

The blurb in the enclosed NCF brochure clearly states "'wont scratch the plating " of your power cords . Hmmmm




NCF BROCHURE 2 .jpg

NCF BROCHURE 3 .jpg

NCF BROCHURE 4 .jpg

there it is : ""wont damage the male connector blades or their plated surfaces ""


NCF BOX .jpg


NCF BOX 3 .jpg


and here are the prongs - 2 insert cycles and earth Prong are scratched and Live Prong i can see the copper exposed from the plating disappeared (hard to capture with my iphone)




scratch.jpg


and these scratches are from just putting in and removing it twice

Doesn't affect performance of course , just resale value


So i pulled out some Furutech plugs I bought earlier to use with My acrolink power cable . The Acrolink cable . This power cable I bought from the official Importer for Acrolink /Oyaide in my country . On the Box and Cable itself i see ""made in Japan ""


ACROLINK.jpg

and for the FURUTECH product , which I purchased direct from the official FURUTECH distributor in my country , ""made in Japan "" is nowhere to be found

PLUG FURU.jpg

PLUG FURU 2.jpg
 
Last edited:

Addicted to hifi

VIP/Donor
Sep 8, 2020
4,610
2,039
265
52
Australia
I took delivery of some Furutech US plugs and NCF receptacles recently . Ive purchased many Furutech products over the years . I am not from America but i went the USA receptacle route .

My dealer , laughed that i was on a fools errand . As always I ignored his advice and plunged forth ...

many years ago another retailer told me that many Furutech products are actually commissioned off to be made in Chinese factories . I laughed it off at the time .

But I did notice that over the years Furutech stood out as a unique Japanese company : no where on the products does the phrase ""made in Japan" appear . Not on the boxes , not engraved on the products themselves. Nowhere.

I thought this weird as Japan has a reputation of excellence and pride of manufacturing . One would think Furutech would be screaming from the roof tops ""Made in Japan" emblazoned on their products

Luxman , Acoustic Revive, Acrolink , Oyaide : all their products Ive purchased over the years have "made in japan" labelled on box or engraved on the product .

Googling on the Website Of Furutech I see this ""no furutech product is made in China " .




View attachment 81233

""phew " i thought and went ahead with my order : I ordered direct from the offical Furutech distributor in my country (not USA) > i've never bought from Ebay , Amazon etc , only from official distributors or their designated dealers.


So I took a look at the marvel which is the NCF receptacle with my loupe : the prongs inside were coated about 95 %. rhodium with areas of bare copper visible. Sloppy . Unusual given the Japanese obsession with perfection . 2 more Receptacles I opened and it was the same .

"they musta been under the pump because of covid " i thought. of the poor bugger in the factory doing the plating

So i stick in the plug which required a Herculean effort . More effort was required to extract these plugs from the vice like grip of the receptacle .

Thinking back on my metal work days i laughed "theres no way the plating will survive this "" and lo and behold from 2 simple insert and remove cycles the prongs were scratched . And on the "live" prong part of the plating had gone and i could see the underlying copper .

Knowing the spot price Rhodium is trading at , and the whole sale prices these products are going for , made me even more suspicious they are made in Japan .

The blurb in the enclosed NCF brochure clearly states "'wont scratch the plating " of your power cords . Hmmmm




View attachment 81239

View attachment 81240

View attachment 81241

there it is : ""wont damage the male connector blades or their plated surfaces ""


View attachment 81234


View attachment 81236


and here are the prongs - 2 insert cycles and earth Prong are scratched and Live Prong i can see the copper exposed from the plating disappeared (hard to capture with my iphone)




View attachment 81243


and these scratches are from just putting in and removing it twice

Doesn't affect performance of course , just resale value


So i pulled out some Furutech plugs I bought earlier to use with My acrolink power cable . The Acrolink cable . This power cable I bought from the official Importer for Acrolink /Oyaide in my country . On the Box and Cable itself i see ""made in Japan ""


View attachment 81244

and for the FURUTECH product , which I purchased direct from the official FURUTECH distributor in my country , ""made in Japan "" is nowhere to be found

View attachment 81248

View attachment 81249
Well said.
 

Salectric

Well-Known Member
Jan 15, 2012
374
489
968
I find it very odd, and suspicious, that your outlets are gripping those plugs so tightly. I have one GTX-D NCF outlet and my Furutech plugs slide in and out of the outlet with no problem whatsoever. Not that they’re loose; in fact, the tension is just right.

Your experience is so different that I have to wonder if yours are genuine Furutech outlets. My GTX outlets were purchased from Forum member Dave C so I am confident they’re genuine.

I pay particular attention to outlet tension because my Oyaide R1 outlets grip my AC plugs with a vengeance. With my FI-50 NCF plugs, I just leave them plugged into the R1 outlets continuously. They have only been unplugged twice. No damage fortunately.

For what it’s worth, I prefer the sound when my equipment (all of which has Furutech AC plugs) is plugged into the Oyaide R1 outlets instead of the GTX-D NCF.
 

highstream

VIP/Donor
Nov 16, 2013
1,094
433
488
Granted everyone's tastes are different, but there is one well known cable manufacturer that provides NCF connectors on request (and $$ payment), but discourages customers from the option. When I asked about a used power cable with NCF rhodium connectors, he wrote, "In my experience, rhodium plating adds a noticeable edge to the sound. The Furutech NCF connectors look nice but I feel that the regular copper ones or the gold plated ones sound better. Rhodium is actually less conductive than gold or copper." That was my experience auditioning another highly regarded cable line a few years ago. I prefer the modest warmth and clarity of copper, but don't know about the Oyaide R1 with platinum and palladian over Beryllium copper. I also have a Furutech GDX outlet, but the gold version.
 

hongkongfoufou

Well-Known Member
Mar 3, 2018
468
201
148
Hi.
Testing my brand new NCF Booster.
Really interesting tweak.
I have it supporting my Göbel PC on the IEC TAD C600 connector.
It has a really audible improvement.
More focused image, less noise floor, sweeter highs, more organic sound, warmer presentation, more depth...
Maybe it lacks both ends extension or it is the result of less distortion....
I feel less dynamic presentation.
I couldn’t imagine such a sound change...
I have to try removing the top cover to see if i get a middle impact sonic signature.
Until now, too much impact on sound.
View attachment 39405
View attachment 39406
I totally agree with you. I have 3 Furutech NCF Booster and 3 Furutech NCF Booster line.
I wait for another Furutech NCF Booster and Furutech NCF Booster line too.
I never test Furutech Clearline and NCF wall outlet. I live in Europe, so connector must be Schuko.
I have just a plastic wall outlet.
 

rpk

Well-Known Member
Aug 30, 2020
37
43
83
70
Germany
I totally agree with you. I have 3 Furutech NCF Booster and 3 Furutech NCF Booster line.
I wait for another Furutech NCF Booster and Furutech NCF Booster line too.
I never test Furutech Clearline and NCF wall outlet. I live in Europe, so connector must be Schuko.
I have just a plastic wall outlet.
........I couldn’t imagine such a sound change...
I have to try removing the top cover to see if i get a middle impact sonic signature.


Hi,
I have worked intensively with the NCF boosters for months and would definitely like to suggest to users to adjust the plug lying on the lower shell with a small spirit level to an absolutely exact 90 degree level = horizontal. This is the only way (in my experience) that a plug is "mechanically decoupled" from the device.
If the plug on top is angled a little at the top or bottom, an additional and uncontrollable physical connection / energy is generated from the device to the rack.
This is difficult to explain with a written text, but if you imagine an upward or downward angled plug in the device, the inappropriate influence should be understandable.
+ Only when the plug with its mostly heavy cable rests absolutely horizontally on the lower shell should the various following alternatives be compared
+ + Place the bowl on top
++ + fix this bowl with the supplied silicone rings
Each of these three options can produce a different intensity of influence. In the end I went from three NCFBoosters to one and this one does an excellent job that I wouldn't want to do without.
Versuch macht kluch (German audio proverb) - Attempt makes you smart

Rainer wishes you a pleasant week
 

rpk

Well-Known Member
Aug 30, 2020
37
43
83
70
Germany
........I couldn’t imagine such a sound change...
I have to try removing the top cover to see if i get a middle impact sonic signature.


Hi,
I have worked intensively with the NCF boosters for months and would definitely like to suggest to users to adjust the plug lying on the lower shell with a small spirit level to an absolutely exact 90 degree level = horizontal. This is the only way (in my experience) that a plug is "mechanically decoupled" from the device.
If the plug on top is angled a little at the top or bottom, an additional and uncontrollable physical connection / energy is generated from the device to the rack.
This is difficult to explain with a written text, but if you imagine an upward or downward angled plug in the device, the inappropriate influence should be understandable.
+ Only when the plug with its mostly heavy cable rests absolutely horizontally on the lower shell should the various following alternatives be compared
+ + Place the bowl on top
++ + fix this bowl with the supplied silicone rings
Each of these three options can produce a different intensity of influence. In the end I went from three NCFBoosters to one and this one does an excellent job that I wouldn't want to do without.
Versuch macht kluch (German audio proverb) - Attempt makes you smart

Rainer wishes you a pleasant week
Just took a picture on the fly. The additional effort for a now really precise horizontal is thus quickly secured.

Unfortunately I can't get the photo rotated .....
 

Attachments

  • IMG_7132.jpg
    IMG_7132.jpg
    401.9 KB · Views: 25
  • Like
Reactions: hongkongfoufou

DaveC

Industry Expert
Nov 16, 2014
3,899
2,141
495
I took delivery of some Furutech US plugs and NCF receptacles recently . Ive purchased many Furutech products over the years . I am not from America but i went the USA receptacle route .

My dealer , laughed that i was on a fools errand . As always I ignored his advice and plunged forth ...

many years ago another retailer told me that many Furutech products are actually commissioned off to be made in Chinese factories . I laughed it off at the time .

But I did notice that over the years Furutech stood out as a unique Japanese company : no where on the products does the phrase ""made in Japan" appear . Not on the boxes , not engraved on the products themselves. Nowhere.

I thought this weird as Japan has a reputation of excellence and pride of manufacturing . One would think Furutech would be screaming from the roof tops ""Made in Japan" emblazoned on their products

Luxman , Acoustic Revive, Acrolink , Oyaide : all their products Ive purchased over the years have "made in japan" labelled on box or engraved on the product .

Googling on the Website Of Furutech I see this ""no furutech product is made in China " .




View attachment 81233

""phew " i thought and went ahead with my order : I ordered direct from the offical Furutech distributor in my country (not USA) > i've never bought from Ebay , Amazon etc , only from official distributors or their designated dealers.


So I took a look at the marvel which is the NCF receptacle with my loupe : the prongs inside were coated about 95 %. rhodium with areas of bare copper visible. Sloppy . Unusual given the Japanese obsession with perfection . 2 more Receptacles I opened and it was the same .

"they musta been under the pump because of covid " i thought. of the poor bugger in the factory doing the plating

So i stick in the plug which required a Herculean effort . More effort was required to extract these plugs from the vice like grip of the receptacle .

Thinking back on my metal work days i laughed "theres no way the plating will survive this "" and lo and behold from 2 simple insert and remove cycles the prongs were scratched . And on the "live" prong part of the plating had gone and i could see the underlying copper .

Knowing the spot price Rhodium is trading at , and the whole sale prices these products are going for , made me even more suspicious they are made in Japan .

The blurb in the enclosed NCF brochure clearly states "'wont scratch the plating " of your power cords . Hmmmm




View attachment 81239

View attachment 81240

View attachment 81241

there it is : ""wont damage the male connector blades or their plated surfaces ""


View attachment 81234


View attachment 81236


and here are the prongs - 2 insert cycles and earth Prong are scratched and Live Prong i can see the copper exposed from the plating disappeared (hard to capture with my iphone)




View attachment 81243


and these scratches are from just putting in and removing it twice

Doesn't affect performance of course , just resale value


So i pulled out some Furutech plugs I bought earlier to use with My acrolink power cable . The Acrolink cable . This power cable I bought from the official Importer for Acrolink /Oyaide in my country . On the Box and Cable itself i see ""made in Japan ""


View attachment 81244

and for the FURUTECH product , which I purchased direct from the official FURUTECH distributor in my country , ""made in Japan "" is nowhere to be found

View attachment 81248

View attachment 81249


You got fakes.

1st, the receptacles do not grip very tightly and I've never seen one scratch a plug.

2nd, those FI-50 have been discontinued for along time, they were replaced years ago with the NCF version.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: ayreman

DaveC

Industry Expert
Nov 16, 2014
3,899
2,141
495
Granted everyone's tastes are different, but there is one well known cable manufacturer that provides NCF connectors on request (and $$ payment), but discourages customers from the option. When I asked about a used power cable with NCF rhodium connectors, he wrote, "In my experience, rhodium plating adds a noticeable edge to the sound. The Furutech NCF connectors look nice but I feel that the regular copper ones or the gold plated ones sound better. Rhodium is actually less conductive than gold or copper." That was my experience auditioning another highly regarded cable line a few years ago. I prefer the modest warmth and clarity of copper, but don't know about the Oyaide R1 with platinum and palladian over Beryllium copper. I also have a Furutech GDX outlet, but the gold version.


100% wrong.

He's mistaken the sound of rhodium for the sound of rhodium combined with a different plating. I have had customers replace their gold plated receptacles for rhodium and tell me this "edge" or "hardness" to the sound goes away. You could also add a gold plated part to a system that's otherwise all rhodium and make the same mistake and say that gold has a "hard edge" to it, lol.

I have heard something like this many times, and the solution is to use the GTX NCF receptacles with the FI-50 NCF plugs, and even better if you use the FI09 NCF IEC inlets too. If you do this you'll find massive improvements over gold plating with no downsides.

So many people assume the sound of rhodium is X, Y or Z and 99% of the time they have mistaken the sound of rhodium for something else. It's very easy to do in this hobby.
 
  • Like
Reactions: kennyb123

hongkongfoufou

Well-Known Member
Mar 3, 2018
468
201
148
........I couldn’t imagine such a sound change...
I have to try removing the top cover to see if i get a middle impact sonic signature.


Hi,
I have worked intensively with the NCF boosters for months and would definitely like to suggest to users to adjust the plug lying on the lower shell with a small spirit level to an absolutely exact 90 degree level = horizontal. This is the only way (in my experience) that a plug is "mechanically decoupled" from the device.
If the plug on top is angled a little at the top or bottom, an additional and uncontrollable physical connection / energy is generated from the device to the rack.
This is difficult to explain with a written text, but if you imagine an upward or downward angled plug in the device, the inappropriate influence should be understandable.
+ Only when the plug with its mostly heavy cable rests absolutely horizontally on the lower shell should the various following alternatives be compared
+ + Place the bowl on top
++ + fix this bowl with the supplied silicone rings
Each of these three options can produce a different intensity of influence. In the end I went from three NCFBoosters to one and this one does an excellent job that I wouldn't want to do without.
Versuch macht kluch (German audio proverb) - Attempt makes you smart

Rainer wishes you a pleasant week
Thanks. I will try later or check...
 

highstream

VIP/Donor
Nov 16, 2013
1,094
433
488
100% wrong.

He's mistaken the sound of rhodium for the sound of rhodium combined with a different plating. I have had customers replace their gold plated receptacles for rhodium and tell me this "edge" or "hardness" to the sound goes away. You could also add a gold plated part to a system that's otherwise all rhodium and make the same mistake and say that gold has a "hard edge" to it, lol.

I have heard something like this many times, and the solution is to use the GTX NCF receptacles with the FI-50 NCF plugs, and even better if you use the FI09 NCF IEC inlets too. If you do this you'll find massive improvements over gold plating with no downsides.

So many people assume the sound of rhodium is X, Y or Z and 99% of the time they have mistaken the sound of rhodium for something else. It's very easy to do in this hobby.

I beg to differ. Being told that I should change component inlets so to mitigate the effect of cables whose sound I don't like did not sit well. It was better to just return the cables of the developer who told me that (and since then a couple of others) and move on. That's audio life.
 
Last edited:

DaveC

Industry Expert
Nov 16, 2014
3,899
2,141
495
I beg to differ. Telling the customer to change their inlets so to mitigate the effect of your cables that they don't like, to put it mildly, is something that doesn't sit well here. It was better to just return your cables (and since then a couple of others) and move on. That's life.

So the truth doesn't sit well with you... ok! :D

You can decide to believe whatever you like, but that doesn't mean it has anything to do with reality! Your thought that rhodium plating is the cause of any hardness or edge to the sound is absolutely NOT true. I have been sending cables out to folks to try out for nearly 10 years, so I may have just a bit more experience here. ;) You can beg to differ but your level of experience vs mine is orders of magnitude different. I find it amusing that so many people think their N=1 subjective experience defines their reality.

I have absolutely no regard for coddling people's misperceptions. It's not in my nature, like it or not. I simply try to provide the best product for the best price possible and will be 100% honest regarding both my products and the info I give my customers. Seems like that's what people want from the "audio industry", especially cable makers... but then they get my honest experience and facts and it doesn't "sit well" either! Lol...

BTW, I definitely don't remember you ever trying my cables and if you did that's more than ok if you didn't like them.
 

highstream

VIP/Donor
Nov 16, 2013
1,094
433
488
Mark, You believe strongly in what you create and believe. It so happens years later another developer whose cords and cables I really like sonically expressed a different opinion, which dovetailed with my own repeated experience. Everyone's tastes are different, and you have many happy customers (me included for another type). I went with my ears and moved on.
 
Last edited:

DaveC

Industry Expert
Nov 16, 2014
3,899
2,141
495
Mark, You believe strongly in what you create and believe. It so happens years later another developer whose cords and cables I really like sonically expressed a different opinion, which dovetailed with my own repeated experience. Everyone's tastes are different, and you have many happy customers. I went with my ears and moved on. End of discussion.

Not sure who Mark is, but you did get on a thread about Furutech GTX NCF receptacles and repeated an incorrect audio fairy tale about the sound of rhodium... and you don't expect anyone to push back on that!?!? Lol once again...

Also, I'm not attacking you, I'm addressing the beliefs you espoused that are not correct. These are two different things. No need to get upset about it as your beliefs are not the same as yourself. You can change your beliefs whenever you want and you're still the same person.

This has nothing to do with what you prefer in your own system either, I couldn't care less.

All I'm saying is rhodium in and of it's self is NOT the source of any hardness or edge to the sound. Please don't read anything else into it.
 

About us

  • What’s Best Forum is THE forum for high end audio, product reviews, advice and sharing experiences on the best of everything else. This is THE place where audiophiles and audio companies discuss vintage, contemporary and new audio products, music servers, music streamers, computer audio, digital-to-analog converters, turntables, phono stages, cartridges, reel-to-reel tape machines, speakers, headphones and tube and solid-state amplification. Founded in 2010 What’s Best Forum invites intelligent and courteous people of all interests and backgrounds to describe and discuss the best of everything. From beginners to life-long hobbyists to industry professionals, we enjoy learning about new things and meeting new people, and participating in spirited debates.

Quick Navigation

User Menu

Steve Williams
Site Founder | Site Owner | Administrator
Ron Resnick
Site Co-Owner | Administrator
Julian (The Fixer)
Website Build | Marketing Managersing