Le domaine de l’audio et de la vidéo en est un rempli
de détails. Il est pour le moins étonnant de consta-
ter jusqu’où cette quête peut conduire les audiophiles
dans leur recherche d’optimisation de leur système. Pour
preuve, ce duplex de Furutech proposé en remplacement
de ceux qui équipent nos habitations qui, même s’ils ren-
contrent les normes du code du bâtiment et de l’électricité,
pourraient être substitués par ce modèle de Furutech dans
I became interested in power line conditioners
when George Tice came out with the Power Block
and many companies imitated it. The use of
transformers was first a necessity, then a faux p
as.
Now you pay extra for them. The current
cutting-edge conditioners are passive. Enter
Furutech. The e-TP80 uses special epoxy resins
to absorb rather than filter noise (and possibly
degrade the AC waveform). From the Furutech
website, “GC-303 is a special material that
Furutech layers and bonds to the interior
bottom-plate of the chassis (see illustration
below).
As an engineer, I find it very gratifying when I review products that apply science to great success in delivering outstanding sound—a difference you can readily hear, provided the overall system can resolve high quality audio. Furutech has been in pursuit of such scientific application to sound reproduction. Their NanoFlux Speaker Cables, NanoFlux Power Cables, and GTX-DR NCF receptacles use a conformal nano-scale coating of their proprietary blend of silver and gold. A nanoparticle is a microscopic particle with at least one dimension less than 100 nm. Furutech applies their nanoparticle silver-gold coating on Ultra-Pure, Ohno Continuous Casting (OCC) conductors to smooth the conducting surface at the nanoparticle level, increasing conductivity.
These days, you would be hard pressed to find an audiophile who doubts that power quality can affect
what we hear in our audio systems. After spending the last 25 years examining many under-
appreciated aspects of audio reproduction, I’ve found it to be the inescapable foundation for building a
true high-fidelity system. After considerations of power quality, there remain acoustics, support systems,
coupling / decoupling and cable design to be dealt with. In 2005, I decided to share results from my
years of investigations and thus was born Audio Conseil and my company, inovaudio ®, a registered
Canadian trademark.
Furutech has a new cable riser, named the Booster,
which utilizes the company’s Nano Crystal Formula
(NCF) technology. I have been using Furutech NCF
outlets, outlet covers and power cable connectors for
quite a while and consider them a significant upgrade to
my reference system.
Usually, I come to a review with foreknowledge about a product and a set of basic expectations. In this case, I
had no first hand prior exposure to Furutech or experience with high-end power receptacles. A very long time
ago, before cell phones and audio websites, I replaced the original duplex of my typical post-war suburban
ranch house. The old worn duplex was upgraded to a sturdier but not heavy duty, lab grade, or mil spec version
from the local hardware store. Furutech specified that in order for their product to reach its full potential, the
unit had to actually be installed. Since no one else at Positive Feedback was willing to perform such a task, the
review was assigned to me. Thus, the question to be addressed is: What is the effect of Furutech’s elite high-end
AC receptacle performance package on a real world system such as mine?
Usually we talk in an indulgent way about plugs, connectors, adapters, splitters, etc. It seems to be common
knowledge, that it is worth to use solid and well made products, which are of repeatable high quality, but the
threshold between the professional utilitarianism of the Neutrik and the byzantine, almost jewelry-like
splendor of for example the top WBT is more than clear.
Looking at the portfolio of power cables from the Japanese manufacturer Furutech, we can distinguish two
groups. The first one encompasses all “naked” cables, covered only with PVC and reasonably priced versions of
the 314, 320, 2TS320, 3TS762 and ALPHA3. The second one is dedicated to the more wealthy, and at the same
time, more picky customers.
The ability to “hear” cables, or rather the courage to admit to yourself, that something so insignificant as a piece
of wire may change anything, and in fact does change the sound of the system it is plugged in, becomes for
some people an opportunity to broaden their horizons, and in some more drastic cases, starts another attack of
“audiophilia nervosa”.
In case of most reviews the methodology is quite schematic, almost routine. We get a new device for testing, or
something that should not even be called a device, due to its function or construction. We look at it, we touch it
and get our first impression, which we try to remember as well as we can, write it down and learn new
experiences based on it.
