Me too, I have an admittedly so-so '74 Atlantic pressing of Louis Armstrong at Carnegie playing as I type, but man it's still sucking me in. It's also recorded in '74, so not an older recording. Nice. I put a similar pressing of Jean Luc Ponty on earlier, again a 70's pressing, and it must have been made on a Tues at the pressing plant, very fun. I like a dose of Al Dimeola for the same reason, a little fusion in that rock jazz can get you listening. But earlier, I was helping my son change out the wheel bearing on our '04 Suburban, and he had the Sony little boom box / CD player he grew up with in his bedroom rockin' out there. It made me chuckle, but it was one of those bonding moments.... blossoming audiophile is he, the complete opposite of his twin brother. The music out of those speakers on that small box sounded grand.
Just switched over to Joan Armatrading, on my second glass of wine, and need to dig a little deeper. And damn, that's powerful.
Mine comes in tomorrow, I have a WAudio surge protector/purifier that almost everything is plugged into. My amps are plugged into the “direct” section and DAC, TT, etc are plugged into the “filtered” section. Where do I plug the Furutech? Into the filtered or direct section? Or does it matter?
Try an empty socket next to the one your conditioner is plugged into first if it’s available. If plugged into the device then direct. Definitely compare both, I get different results when I do.
Here is a sumarry of events regarding my Furutech additions to my system. Please bear with me... I purchased one of the NCF Clear Lines a year ago, mostly due to this thread. At first, I used it in the same "standard" duplex outlet as my power conditioner (which held my amp, preamp, and turntable PSU). I heard a difference in the depth of the image for sure, as well as some improvements to clarity and definition. Subtle, but a positive improvement. It was through some of the Blue Note Classic Series and Tone Poet jazz records that I first experimented and compared with and without the Clear Line. Then, along with some home renovations, I installed a dedicated 20 amp line (and kept the same setup re:"standard" duplex outlet, conditioner, and Clear Line). There was of course a much more noticeable improvement due to the dedicated line: blacker backgrounds from quieting everything down, bringing more detail and dynamics to the fore, a bigger soundstage, and with it an overall more lifelike presentation of instruments and voices. Bass was especially tighter and deeper. Shortly thereafter I installed the Furutech GTX-D NCF Rhodium wall outlet to the dedicated electrical and it took another similar-style jump across-the-board as it broke in. I shortly thereafter experimented with removing the Clear Line and swapping it out with my Decware phono pre-amp. Phono-pre sounded much better direct into the Furutech outlet (in the ways mentioned above, but especially piano; clearer highs like cymbals, and better defined instruments and bass). This was less of an overall improvement than the dedicated line or NCF outlet going in, but noticeable and unforgettable, especially on busy recordings. Now the Clear Line was placed in my power conditioner next to my amp and turntable PSU. I was very pleased with all the improvements, but knew that my power amp should also go directly into the wall outlet, and would gain similar improvements to the phono preamp if I did so. And, when I did, I heard the same improvements to clarity in the midrange, and upper and lower registers. Nothing seemed harsh, ever, and the sound was just more fluid and balanced than when I started all the tinkering. Now, the power conditioner only held the turntable PSU and the Clear Line next to it. I had removed the conditioner entirely from the NCF outlet/dedicated electrical, and it was now plugged into a standard outlet by itself. What really surprised me, was that when I removed the Clear Line from the conditioner, and put it in the standard outlet next to the conditioner instead, the whole musical image stabilized in a way that I couldn't really believe. I was listening to the Milestones release of the Bill Evans Village Vanguard Sessions, and as soon as I sat back down in my listening chair after making the Clear Line exchange, my jaw hit the floor. The space, the background chatter, the bass 'plucks', the piano notes; pitch perfect. The Rega Neo PSU is a great upgrade and affected the sound immediately and profoundly when I first installed it about two years ago. But this was incredible. The Clear Line brought out the best possible performance of the Neo PSU; not by being next to it in the conditioner, but by being in the outlet along with the conditioner. It was as if I had just swapped in a better, more exact and stable belt and PSU together into the system. The improvements, for me, rival those of the pre-amp and amp going into the NCF outlet on a dedicated 20 amp line. It compounded all the positives gained by changing my power setup in a way that I could not believe, remembering how subtle the changes were when I first plugged in the Clear Line alongside my conditioner all those months ago. The lesson, in short, and my advice, would be to try the Clear Line in a way that most benefits your turntable PSU (if you have one). Talk about making a marked and audible difference. And, for those who want to know, I have not done a before/after report on an RPM app. Maybe someone else could take on the project? Would be nice to see if wow/flutter or stability of RPM were improved...would be specific and measurable "evidence" that this thing actually works!
Already done. The speed of a turntable with an AC motor is determined by the AC line frequency (either 50 or 60 Hz depending on which region you're in), and ASR's measurements proved the Clear Line has absolutely no effect on the frequency or shape of the AC waveform, despite Furutech marketing it as an "AC optimizer". Notice the flat-topping of the sine wave, which a true power conditioner would be able to remove, but the Clear Line did not, because it is not a power conditioner:
To measure power you need V and I. Measuring bus V with a parallel filter means nothing. Reducing the V 100:1 by a xfmr or AD conversion is not a true representation of the power V. Any power change would be 1/100^2, likely beyond the limits of measurement. You can see the 3rd, 5th, 7th and 9th harmonics are the issue which are a byproduct of 3 phase generation.
The test method is flawed. by reducing the voltage 120:1.2 the signal is altered Also any difference is reduced by 100 So if mV, now uV P (S actually) = V x I = real + reactive = P + jQ You need V, I and their phase to analyze power I'm not saying anything about the device, only that the test is not a valid method to evaluate it.
According to the proponents in this thread, the only valid test would be one which proves it works as advertised.
Well, I've seen or heard it all now.......like seriously, what the...........???? What is this thing doing? I was ready to, in a nice way, call this thing out as being snake oil. I bought a pair of $1,500 speaker cables the other day and sent them back because they sounded EXACTLY like the blue jeans ones I had in my system, so I think I trust my own observations. I started listening to a song I'm really familiar with, Horizons from Jasmine Myra and just listened to it like I have many times over. I then plugged this ridiculous thing into the open spot in my outlet that my surge protector is plugged into and right off the bat I heard separation in instruments, I heard a cymbal that sounded MUCH more lifelike and you could hear it just float away. I thought I was losing my mind, so I stopped, focused, and used my brain like I would when tasting wine (I'm in the wine importing business). Clear it out, no preconceptions, no winemaker sitting in front of me telling me about what I should or shouldn't taste, and just get into my zone. Unplugged it and listened without it. Same narrower soundstage, not as much separation of instruments, and a cymbal I was used to hearing before, it sounded great but not like when this thing is plugged in!!! Plugged it in and damn, there it all was. I have been contemplating selling my DAC, if I had just replaced it with a more expensive unit I would be happy right now! This thing cost me $180 used....... It's not night and day, I would compare it to changes you hear when you change DACs, I am still shaking my head. I like to think I can clear out my mind and trust my damaged brain, I do it constantly in my work, if somebody says "oh I taste this, or smell this" I ignore and trust in my own observations. I got to say this did make a difference and a difference I enjoyed. I'll leave it at that, won't tell you how or why and I don't care. I've spent more on changes that were more subtle. Add me to the list of crazies in this thread I guess.
40 posts removed, thread reopened. A few of you have chosen to make this thread your last stand and have since left the Forums (not willingly). Let's not see anyone else booted off of here because of this innocuous thread.
What you heard is exactly what I heard as well. I was just as shocked and surprised as you were, which is the reason I started this thread. In no way, shape or form did I expect to hear anything relevant. Until I did. Time after time. By simply plugging and unplugging it into the outlet on my power strip. Will it perform the same way in other setups? Maybe not. Did it do it in mine? Yes! Could I easily demonstrate it? Yes! Do I know why it's doing what it's doing? NO! Wish I did. Do I hope that someone will come along with scientific findings? Absolutely wish for that. But then again, MANY things in audio don't have the type of measurements that some on this forum seek, yet many have heard differences. Cables, power cords, etc. I'm sorry that my thread has been the cause for some members removal from this site. That's just crazy that we can't share our personal findings without causing some individuals to resort to a level of communication that gets them removed, or my thread closed down twice. Now, for even more controversy, there is an $8,800 power distribution device just reviewed in The Absolute Sound from Furutech that also uses the NCF materials. And, get ready for it, it was positively reviewed. The device I recommended that members try is only several hundred. Furutech must be very confident in this NCF material. That is all. Carry on.
Very similar to my observations. I did not need to do a blind A-B test. The difference was repeatable and readily apparent. At the time @Sam, the OP, asked me if I had done an A-B. In response, I had my brother plug the NCF in and out. I could not see the NCF behind my equipment rack, and my brother even tried to trick me. I could clearly hear the difference. I want to thank @Sam. Because of this thread and thanks to some PMs I received from posters here: About 6 months after I bought the NCF Clearline I bought a Furutech NCF outlet and cover plate. Again I heard a difference. From that point forward, I decided to trust my own ears (and a money back return policy) as the final judge. This past December I bought 3 components to assemble my dream/retirement system. I bought the Parasound JC5 amp, JC2-BP preamp and a JC3+phono preamp. Thanks to what I learned from the Furutech NCF Clearline, I also devoted about 1/3 of the total budget to audiophile interconnects, power chords and speaker wire for all the gear I owned. I trust my dealer totally, he has a reputation for creating great system synergy. Over the last 5 years he sold me all of my equipment except for my Sugar Cube and has been to my house during some installs. I told him I wanted to get cables that would not hamper the sound of my new gear. Initially, I told him I did not need new speaker cables. I had a pair of audiophile speaker cables that cost me $300. I bought them when I bought my new speakers 18 months ago. When my system was finally all up and running, I asked him if he thought my speaker cables were the weak link? He recommended some AQ speaker cables that cost 6x that price. He gave me a great discount and gave me a great price to buy back my current cables. I questioned him because I had seen a review of these cable on the Audioholics YouTube channel. They have a battery powered "Dielectric Biasing System" which is contained within a separate enclosure strapped onto the outside of the cable jacket. The review took great pleasure in showing how the cables measured worse with this device powered on and running vs. the cable alone. My dealer responded that he had spoken with Bill Low (AQ's president) when they announced those cables. Bill Low, in explaining about the new cables, mentioned the new "Dielectric Biasing System". He said the cables measure worse but sound better with this gizmo (my term). The proof was with what my ears heard. The dealer loaned me a broken in pair of these speaker cables for 7 days. I didn't even need seven minutes to know I MUST HAVE these cables. The difference was immediately apparent and noticeably better than my $300 pair of speaker cables. I was quite shocked to say the least. I had wondered if I would need to strain to hear subtle differences. Not a problem. As someone said here: "Open mind and sometimes an open wallet." I will also add to that "... and a good 30 day or more return policy". Thanks @Sam my system sounded better based on trying out the NCF Clearline. Thanks to what I saw and learned on this (and other similar threads) I now judge 100% by what my ears tell me. If it sounds better, it sounds better. End of discussion. I know what to look for in terms of snake oil, so no one needs to protect me. I certainly don't NEED to know the reason something sounds better. Nice but not essential.
How on earth did I miss this one...?!? I had a BT Mains Conditioner some years back. Big industrial looking thing (which, in fairness is exactly what it was) with a hefty toroidal transformer inside. Never made a jot of difference at the time, but I lived in an area with a good reliable electricity supply. As for the Furutech, some of those fluctuating numbers seen more recently and lack of certification do enough to keep my £230 in my pocket. That and I've still got a great electricity supply. Shame about @Agitater however. Sometimes we all need a jolt from our regular trains of thought. My £0.02.
