Power Pow Wow! Furutech FP-314AG Power Cord.

Furutech FP-314AG power cord is available as loose cut off reel.

The Furutech FP-314AG is a pretty good looking power cord for something that's available as off cuts from a reel. The thick looking jacket with directional markings hide the very high levels of shielding and screening this cable is equipped. The silver plated 14AWG conductor cores looks shinny and nice too. I bought 1.5 meter of this Furutech cable with intention to serve the power hungry Denon AVR-1612 receiver in my recently set up AV system.  I took the cable home from Hi-Way Laser and proceeded to terminate the cable on both ends. My initial plan was to use the brilliant Furutech plugs on the IEC end, but budget constraints put an end to that thought, I used generic China made, gold plated IEC plugs instead. I used Indian made, BS standard, 13amp fused MK Duraplug for the other end. Termination work was fairly straight forward and took no more than 45 minutes to have both ends securely terminated.

The very elaborate shielding and screening designs incoporated.

Silver plating for L & N conductors, high purity copper for E.

I proceeded to use the Furutech FP-314AG to power the Denon AVR-1612 receiver, and found the sound took on a crystalline clear quality, with slightly more extended highs than previously. Vocal projection from the center chanel was effortless in it's delivery, and that made following movie dialogues much easier. So far so good, but there's a down side to this power cord, the power delivery was still suffering from strangling effects of the 14AWG conductors and sounds from highly explosive scenes were rendered more light weight than usual. Sub bass didn't seem to extend as low as before. I didn't think this cable is good for power hungry amps.

I then swap this Furutech cable to power my Pioneer BDP-140 Blu-ray player, via a figure 8 to IEC adaptor. I think the result is much more pleasing now. Visual colour contrast were slightly easier to discern and pictures took on a sharper, crispier quality. Sound quality retain it's crystalline clear character as heard when used to power the Denon AV receiver. I concluded that this Furutech FP-314AG power cable is much better suited to power front end components, rather than used to pull heavy loads of power amp.

The finished DIY power cord.

Priced at RM$125/meter(cable only), this is obviously not a cheap DIY-er power cord. However I admired the engineering and quality build that comes with it and when used to power front end components, the results were more than satisfactory for a less than RM$300.00 cable adventure.

As of now, I am still looking for a big ass power cord for my Denon AVR-1612 receiver.

Furutech is sold by Hi-Way Laser, contact Kenny at 019-2813399.

Dust Off, Furutech Select SK-II Electrostatic Brush.

This is an old post of ours in the blog we previously contributed to.

Furutech Select SK-II Electrostatic brush, made from "finest of hard to find goat's hair!" Now I am wondering Hmmm........

The contents and the packaging. The Tsai Ching LP does NOT come with it!

When an LP sticks to the platter felt mat when you lift it up after playing, means it is statically charged, very dangerous scenario as the lifted felt mat could get caught with the stylus tip and break it, an especially pain full experience if you've got an expensive cartridge installed! The static charge can manifest itself in the next play in the form of clicks and pops. One effective way to kill the static charge is using the Milty static gun. Furutech proposes another way, in the form of the Select SK-II brush. Apparently made from "finest of hard to find goat's hair" as quoted from packaging. The brush bristles are soft and feel nice to touch.

Now, that's how you do it! I can be a hand model too! How's that for an alternative career choice?

It's the most effective brush I've come across so far. LPs that previously lifted the felt mat after playing doesn't do so anymore after a brush before play. Post Furutech Select SK-II brushed LPs sound very quiet, without the clicks and pops, if there were stubborn dirts, it's very certainly lessened(the clicks and pops that is). It also claims to do the same on CDs. Do CDs get static charged as it spins inside the player? I don't know, nor can I verify the phenomenon. However, I did try the SK-II brush on some old dusty CDs, and it works by very completely removing the dust from CD's play surface, which is the non-label side, just in case you're wondering.

It's supposed to work on CDs too!

The Furutech SK-II brush selling price is RM$590 each. I know, it's obscene amount of $$$ to pay for a brush. I have an Allstop Antistatic brush, bought a few years ago for less than RM$100 a piece. By comparison, the Allstop does a half decent job of removing the static charge on LPs. As to the value of the brush, I would leave to the eyes of the beholder, personally I know two owners of reference level LP playing system already bought the Furutech SK-II brushes. For them it's small money to pay for peace of mind, knowing that they have one less reason to worry about snapping off the stylus tip on their very expensive cartridge. If you have to ask how much does their cartridge cost? I would say about the same price of a brand new Perodua Viva!(Malaysian made entry level 0.66ltr engined car!) Just to put things in to perspective and whom might buy them.

Furutech is sold by Audiomatic, contact Eugene, tel: 012-3222698

Posted by Panzer 7 June '09

Power Bars, Three of a Kind. Furutech e- TP60 vs Sine SA-6 vs Wireworld Electrifier.

This is an old post of ours in the blog we previously contributed to.

From top: Wireworld Electrifier, Sine SA-6 and lastly, Furutech e-TP60. Which is my choice?

Do power bars have sonic characteristics? Or do they all sound the same? I wanted to find out if spending more $$$ in this area will improve the system's sound? Or are we just paying more for better brand name and cosmetics? I got 3 contenders, ranging from RM$300 - $1,800 to put to test.

Wireworld Electrifier. Basic build but very decent quality for the price.

First up, I must make clear that the Wireworld Electrifier is a starter kit to get you up and going or if your kind self or your system is not demanding, then can serve it's distributor role rather well. It comes with a basic looking plastic body shell and has 1 input, then splits to 6 copper outputs. It's actually OEM to Wireworld's spec by Wonpro. I find the sound(if there's a sound with distributors) to be very neutral, tidy and for the money asked(RM$300 or so when available), decent. Note that the Electrifier has since 2003 been superseded by Wireworld Tundra, which is still current model, I think.

Furutech e-TP60. Well built and nicely presented. Sound is neutral, with clean and tidy highs.

The Furutech e-TP60 has much better build quality, as it should for selling at RM$1320 a piece. It has a nice aluminium curved top face plate and matt black finished bottom portion for that sleek look. Like the Wireworld, it features 1 input the splits to 6 gold plated outputs. On the inside, Furutech employs a special sheet compound shielding formula 303 developed by the 3M company. Furutech claims the use of this non contact, i.e. to the duplex output sockets can effectively shield the box from harmful stray EMI/RFI radiation. The sound of the Furutech, when used in place of the Wireworld, is even tonality, with cleaner and tidier high frequencies. The Furutech also seemed subjectively to have lower noise floor. All other areas of sonic performance almost identical or very slightly better then the Wireworld. The contact points of the Furutech is much more superior to the Wireworld.

Sine SA-6. The heavy weight champ! Build to last and sounds great too! Review sample came in silver.

Lastly, the Sine SA-6 is the heavy weight of the group, with solid 5mm aluminium plates built all round and very nicely bolted together with counter sunk screws. The Sine offers the same 1 input splits to 6 cryo treated outputs. The cables used to connect the duplex outputs are audio grade silver type. The box seems to be filled with some kind of bead compound, which would either functions as internal resonant damping or just for sheilding stray EMI/RFI radiation. The contacts are gold plated and are as tight as the Furutech's. The sound of the Sine is really something else. At first the highs seemed like rolling off prematurely, but on closer analysis, is actually more airy and perhaps sound like it's set a little further back in to the sound stage. This creates a more believable illusion of stage depth. The vocals are set a little behind the speakers, vis a vis the Wireworld and Furutech which puts the vocal in line between the speakers, if a little closer to the listener. Bass is more robust, and easy to follow. Image density is full, and has the fade to black quality, against the Wireworld and Furutech's stronger image outlined presentation. Noise floor is the lowest of the 3 auditioned too. Price of the Sine is comparatively highest of the trio at RM$1,800 a piece.

I used both the Furutech and the Sine to substitute my existing Wireworld power bar, taking clean, isolated power from the Torus Power, then splitting to six outputs for all my front end needs, i.e. CDP player, pre amp, turn table and phono stage. All 3 power bars do not contain any sort of filters inside, but the difference they made to the system's sound is very notice able indeed. The Sine being the most effective, followed by the Furutech in 2nd place, and lastly the Wireworld. I guess the old adage "You get what you pay for" still applies here! This preview is compiled using the Bryston 4BSST2 in place of my Pass Alephs.

Furutech is sold by Audiomatic, contact Eugene, tel: 012-3222698

Sine is sold by Hi-Way Laser, contact Kenny Sin, tel: 019-2813399

Posted by Panzer 3 June '09

A Tale of IEC Plugs.(a.k.a. Furutech FI-11)

This is an old post of ours in the blog we previously contributed to.


The FI-11 (G)
This experience is life changing! Why would an IEC plug, even if it's very well made, influenced me to feel like that? I hear you ask, "Are you sure?"
Comparing the crimp terminals, Oyaide fake on the left, Fururech FI-11 on the right.
The answer is a very sobering but truth be told, "YES!"
The plastic shell and inner view for comparison, the Oyaide fake on the right, the Furutech on the left.
I'll start my tale with the standard electronics grade plug, which is a get you started for all intents. It's use in high end audio is limited by it's non-ability to accept the "garden hose size" audiophile grade cables. Sound wise, what do you expect?
The standard electronics grade IEC plug.
Next up is the common grade of fakes, imitations or the so called hospital grade variety. While most will accept the big fat cables the us audiophiles love so much, it's construction quality is indeed a big step up, if in varying steps from standard electronics grade mentioned on the above paragraph. It's also a lot easier to work with, as the chunky terminals provide more space and fitting cables is not a chore. Sound wise, is a step up from the standard grade too. However, there's still some noise(tweeter hiss) detectable if you put your head right next to the tweeters on the speakers with no music playing. At this stage, the whole audio spectrum becomes clearer and you'll probably be perceiving improved staging and imaging too.

Another look at the fakie.
Now the Furutech FI-11, which design, construction and materials looks first class at this stage. The devil is in the details, and you'll never know it until you used it. It's got nice little thoughtful features like a bump stop to prevent total undoing of the cable crimp terminals. They'll never fall off! The plug collar clamps are of floating design, meaning it does not use the plastic shell to clamp the cable, but rather, the clamps itself floats with minimal mechanical contact to the plastic shell once cable is clamped. It's a very clever way to de-couple the cable from the IEC plug. Sound wise, and I really did not expect this, noise was totally zero, zilch! My speaker tweeters were eerily dead silent! I was trying very hard to hear the hiss, but never. With that last bit of noise gone, the whole audio spectrum, i.e. the highs, mids and bass were all flushed out. System transparency went up a couple of notches too. Details previously little heard is now more apparent, but never, I mean never in your face kind. Sibilance is also now a thing of the past in my system. Imaging focus and palpability also improved. Best of all, the high end "air" finally coaxed out from my system. A new level of refinement is attained.
The Furutech post cable termination, note the plug collar clamp.
Now before you accuse me of being high on a certain "illegal" substance while listening and writing this, I can assure you, that I also had my doubts too, about any sonic improvements(if any?) can be so major! It's way beyond my expectations.
Now, I am really contemplating to go Furutech all the way, by including source and pre-amps to be powered via the FI-11 IEC plugs.
Dealers:
Audio Matic (Eugene - 012-3222698)
Centre Circle (Nelson - 012-2876807)
Dong Fong (Ken Sin - 012-4678788)

Posted by Panzer 8 Jan '09