Furutech NCF Clear Line AC conditioner

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Sam, Sep 14, 2021.

  1. Sam

    Sam Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Rochester, NY
    Very detailed analysis, BUT not on the current Furutech NCF Clear line that I wrote about. I can't say anything about the older Furutech products because I haven't heard them in my system, and likewise you "may" be painting a picture of the sound of this product without actually listening to it. With all due respect, I think you need to actually hear one in your system before labeling it as "Whitish" and "bleached" sound. Not what I'm hearing in my system.
     
  2. MGW

    MGW Less travelling, more listening

    Location:
    Scotland, UK
    Similarly, I do not recognise the description by @Sam of Nordost cables. I too be speak as a long term (29 years or so) user, also starting with Red Dawn and now having various levels in my system.

    In my system
    , I find the Nordost cables to be very neutral with each step up the chain simply allowing the music to come through even more clearly.

    Like so many things this probably requires system synergy. If you ain't got it, it don't work!
     
    jfeldt likes this.
  3. Jim0830

    Jim0830 Forum Resident

    My Furutech NCF Clear Line was delivered while I was away from home for 2 weeks and I couldn't wait to try this when I got back home. Based on tips on this thread about a one week break in time, I asked the person putting my mail inside the house to open the NCF Clear Line. Then I told her where to plug it into the outlet feeding my stereo system. I had another variable going on in my listening room too. I thought this might complicate judging if there was an audible difference with the Clear Line. A month ago I replaced my speakers with Sonner Audio Legato Duos. I was away for the last 2 week. I am still getting used to the sound of these new speakers in my system. If I heard a difference would it be due to the new speakers, the Clear Line, both or none? It is difficult having two variables when you are testing for a change caused by one item. Plus I will admit when I first read this post, it seemed too good to be true. But as my equipment has been improving I am able to hear subtle differences brought on by more expensive gear. One first read, my BS meter was registering a very high reading. After reading some product reviews by reviewers/publications I generally trust, I was intrigued. Upon listening to some YouTube vids where I clearly heard the differences with my own ears, I took the plunge. It wasn't some salesman telling me what I should hear and talking me into hearing what they they were describing. The was an audible difference I heard for myself every time.

    When I bought my speakers the dealer was able to demo them on equipment similar to mine. I had bought most of my system there two years ago. The Duos amazed me right from the start. The sound stage was amazing and highly precise, the presence was very realistic, the speakers had a very fast attack. Several time I jumped when a brass or sax solo suddenly kicked in. The music sounded almost like it was the real instruments and not sound originating as a facsimile originating from a speaker box. When I was auditioning the Duo's, I asked the dealer how much of this would I hear in my system, on my gear, in my small room. He said they should sound very similar. According to him the major differences 3 were things: First I would need to experiment with best placement and the proper toe -in for my smaller room. The second thing was he was using a much better cable than my Audience Ohno 3 speaker cables. Last he was using an AC power conditioner and dedicated AC circuits to power the equipment. When I got the speakers set up in my home, they sounded great, but not quite what I remembered. I ASSumed it was break in time. The dealer said to fiddle with positioning within my room. He also said my speakers had been broken in for 200 hours before they wee delivered to the original client. He had them for 2 days and returned them. During my first week of ownership I pushed them 6" father into the room and removed the grill covers and removed the toe-in. This improved the sound. There is a point to this preliminary info-read on.

    When I returned home to the broken in Furutech NCF Clear Line, I had somewhat low expectations and figured I would need to A-B the sound by having someone plug/unplug the unit while I listened to the results. I was pleasantly surprised I did not. I played some of my most familiar and best sounding LPs: Analogue Productions 2x45 LPs, MoFi One Steps. These were the same LPs that I auditioned these speakers with at my dealer. Instantly my speakers sounded closer to the the sound of the demo speakers at my dealers listening room. This I had not really expected. The speakers sounded clearer, more focused and life like. The backgrounds were blacker. Cymbal crashes at the end of a song faded in volume down to nothing cleanly. They didn't fade in and out when they got to their lowest volume. The more precise sound stage I heard at my dealers was back in great measure. The placement of the instruments and singers in space was more precise. These speakers had a more fast and sharp attack now, again closer to what I heard at the dealers. The last test I threw at the NCF Clear Line was playing some of these same tracks through my AQ Nighthawk Carbon Headphones. The music was cleaner and clearer sounding, with less grain and hash. So the bottom line for me: I can clearly (pun intended) hear a difference with the Furutech NCF Clear Line installed in my system using my ears and it was money well spent. YMMV. Thanks @Sam for posting this thread.
     
    Last edited: Oct 22, 2021
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  4. Sam

    Sam Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Rochester, NY
    Wow. Nice review. One thing you didn't mention is if you removed the NCF and played the same music again. I recall when I did that literally laughing and saying "What happened to the sound?" It was flat sounding. Glad you heard what I am hearing in my system as well. I've been listening to records VERY familiar to me, and I'm astounded by what I'm hearing. Reel to reel tape-like ease of presentation, depth and clarity. All for $250. I'm just shaking my head at my good fortune in finding this product.
     
  5. Jim0830

    Jim0830 Forum Resident

    No. Frankly I didn't because, I didn't need to. The difference was that dramatic and made my speakers sound very much like the demo pair in my dealer's show room. In light of your question, and because people would cry: "Foul! You never did a direct in real time before and after test!" I did one just now. You have to get on the floor in front of my equipment stand and reach carefully between some equipment to pull the Furutech. My brother just left, before he did I had him get down on the floor and pull the Furutech in and out from the wall outlet. There was alway a clearly audible difference.

    Thanks again for your post. At first I was skeptical that a small sized $250 device could have that much of an effect. Now I am amazed at how much of an improvement you get for $250. It doesn't seem expensive any more.
     
  6. Audiofan1

    Audiofan1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    States
    Mine was ordered yesterday!
     
  7. bajaed

    bajaed Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Anyone try the Nordost QK1? My dealer can get the Furutech or the Nordost QK1 for the same price. Wondering if one of them is clearly better?
     
  8. toasty

    toasty Senior Member

    Location:
    Tiverton, RI USA
    @bajaed

    I'm quoting myself from early in this thread.
    No nearby fellow audiofiend or dealer has the Clear Line. I'm curious to hear the Furutech product but not so curious as to buy one.
    Both the QK1 and the QV2 perform well.
     
  9. Audiofan1

    Audiofan1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    States
    I installed the Clear Line yesterday in my PS Audio Dectet which uses an AC 12 cable to a Furutech ncf outlet on a dedicated 20amp 10awg line, it's a duplex setup with an AQ Edison outlet which does have an Isotek Evo3 plugged in to protect the Halo Jc5 which runs direct to the bottom outlet on the ncf outlet. Out of the box you can here the shift , no guessing here it's there! Now as to what it sounds like is the question and here so far I agree 100% with what's already being said, Dynamic contrast is very apparent, so is depth and width of sound stage and yes instrument separation as well. So far it has what's important to me and that's coherence, harmonic structure and integrity which has increased as well , does make me wonder just what's going on here and reserve my gushing over it until more listening is done! But out the Box? Beyond impressed!
     
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  10. bajaed

    bajaed Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Just ordered one from my dealer.
     
  11. mcbrion

    mcbrion Forum Resident

    Location:
    Connecticut
    A fair point, and I believe I said that that “minor flaw” may have been ameliorated.

    I was describing only my personal experience with Furutech equipment over the last 15 years. And when I said the Rhodium outlet, I meant the original generation of outlets from around 2006, not the replacement NCF outlets which I've had for several years, which indeed, have more tonal color than the original rhodium outlets of the previous generation.

    I think I have said, many times on this forum, that I don’t comment on something I have not heard. So I don’t have the built-in skepticism that runs through so many threads, because I have no personal experience with the products. If it sounded like I was disparaging the current generation, and especially the line conditioner, I sincerely apologize. Maybe it was the way I wrote it, but I was simply sharing that it sounds - pardon the pun - as though Furutech has advanced in its abilities to produce a more natural tonal palette in its current products, one that is superior to its earlier days (after all, presumably that is why they advanced into the “NCF” technology, which this line conditioner seems to contain, unless I have read things incorrectly). My second generation NCF outlets certainly lean in that direction. It wasn't even obvious there was anything "wrong" with the first generation until I got the second, but other people, who had experimented with both the Gold and the Rhodium - many years back - also described those outlets in the same way I did. Hence I got the Gold first, as I said in my earlier comment, but then moved to the Rhodium. And even then, the Gold had a more natural tonal palette, so...

    Sorry about any confusion in my comments, and I’m sure the line conditioner is a great product. I trust Neil's (The Absolute Sound) reviews to a very high degree. Always have. Personally, I am thrilled that there are products that don’t cost an arm and a leg to get excellent sound quality.
     
    Last edited: Nov 2, 2021
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  12. dasacco

    dasacco Senior Member

    Location:
    Massachussetts
    I have a PS Audio dectet as well. So if I purchase one of these Clear Line devices, I just need to plug it into any one of the available outlets on the Dectet, regardless of zone?

    Thanks!
     
  13. Audiofan1

    Audiofan1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    States
    Yes! any open zone should do.
     
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  14. bajaed

    bajaed Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Is it better to plug into wall outlet that the power conditioner is plugged into or into an open slot on the conditioner? I currently have my amp plugged into the Furman Elite 15 pfi.
     
  15. Sam

    Sam Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Rochester, NY
    I've been told either one will do. I'm plugging into my power strip. My amp is plugged directly to the 20 amp dedicated wall line. But, from what I read and heard, it helps whatever is on that circuit.
     
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  16. Hawkmoon

    Hawkmoon Eternal Champion, Master of the Universe

    Location:
    Surrey, UK
    I've had mine about a week now, plugged into a spare socket on an audiophile power strip that has all of my kit plugged into it. Well I'll be darned it really does impact the sound in a good way. I haven't done blind testing but my subjective opinion, for what it's worth, is that the low frequencies go deeper, the noise floor is lower and the high frequencies seem smoother and less harsh with digital sources. Color me impressed for the relatively small outlay. This is a keeper. Might even be tempted to look into their NCF line of cable lifters now.
     
    Audiofan1 likes this.
  17. Sam

    Sam Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Rochester, NY
    Glad to hear your results mirror mine. I've been going through so many of my records and CDs lately just to hear the improvement. I played my UK pressing of the Beatles Let it Be album last night, and I can now jump up and say I have never heard it sound LIKE THAT before. WIDE soundstage with such depth and presence that allowed me to hear so far into the recording as never before. Without a shred of doubt, this is hands down the biggest bang for the buck piece of audio equipment that I have ever purchased!
     
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  18. Audiofan1

    Audiofan1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    States
    Mine keeps opening up! I have 45 days but so far it's staying!!
     
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  19. motorstereo

    motorstereo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ct.
    My curiosity got the best of me and having had good luck with Furutech flux 50's I decided to give a Clear Line a try. It should be here next week and if I get results similar to what I've read here in this thread it won't be my last one. I'm not expecting much but hoping for a pleasant surprise.
     
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  20. mertoo

    mertoo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Turkey
    I’ve been considering to buy a NCF Clear Line for a while as I probably have the worst AC power in the city and simply can’t afford a PowerPlant like the one that Michael Fremer has. So I pulled the trigger last week after reading this thread (Thanks @Sam). I plugged it into my Brennenstuhl power strip, positioned in the middle, between the other plugs of my system. I left it to burn in for 2 days and started listening sessions after that. I selected the albums that I know bit by bit, also sound great on vinyl in order to judge the NCF properly. Each and every record I played jumped out of the speakers and headphones with exceptional clarity, color, presence and great power. Every instrument sounded punchier, more bodied and had better separation between them. Bass was deeper and tighter, soundstage opened considerably wider. I have never heard these records sound this good. I love the synergy between my Ortofon 2M Black cartridge and Rega Aria phono stage, but now they sound even more detailed, musical and joyful with the addition of the NCF. I also made an on/off test, I removed it and played the same records again and music immediately lost every positive improvement mentioned above. Neil Gader of The Absolute Sound is absolutely right, “once heard, difficult to part with.”
     
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  21. motorstereo

    motorstereo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ct.
    I'm still waiting for mine it's been 7 days in transit now from about 300 miles away. USPS must be very busy as I could've easily rode a bicycle to the vendor's; picked it up and brought it back home by now.
     
  22. Audiofan1

    Audiofan1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    States
    So who will be first to try two?
     
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  23. motorstereo

    motorstereo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ct.
    If these devices make a difference as much as claimed by the users here then I plan on buying at least 2 more. Gotta wait till the first one gets here though........8 days and still waiting for it's trip from 300 miles away. Perhaps that's an omen that it doesn't want to be here??
    FWIW I bought several PS Audio audio noise harvesters as the claim was more than one is the way to go. That is a total crock; my ears and measurements tell and show me there's zero difference. Same scenario for the several Quiet lines I also own; zero measurable difference. That's why I'm rather skeptical of these devices.
     
  24. Audiofan1

    Audiofan1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    States
    This has got to be one of the easiest hear a difference purchases I've ever inserted in my system to discern. It simply leaves you with do I like what its doing! I'm mystified by it's performance as I can't really tell if it's robbing my setup of anything , what it is doing is just enhancing and clarifying what I already like about my setup and it's not subtle.

    At this point I'm heavily leaning on adding two more, one for the empty duplex slot and ne more in the power conditioner to see if one is the magic bullet or two or three.
     
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  25. Dave

    Dave Esoteric Audio Research Specialist™

    Location:
    B.C.
    :agree: My experience exactly. Neither did squat for me. Power cords though... :whistle: [Sorry, now steering the cart back on track] :angel: One day I may have to check one the these Furutech Clear Lines out.
     

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