Hi Aux. First of all, the Furutechs have plenty of time on them. I typically leave a component running for 3 weeks with signal going thru them. In other words, 500 hours...
Now, for the foot-in-mouth apology.
I came across the Furutech fuse (I had four, but packed up all but one and the others are in a drawer somewhere else) and decided, after staring at it harshly, but them remembering your convictions, thought, "It’s not very scientific to not test it out again. He might be right." - as well as that, add in the fact that I have refined my already (very) refined setup by adding the Townshend Audio Seismic Isolation Platform and the Townshend Isolation pods under the NAD. And separated the positive and negative leads of the Shunyata Cobra speaker cables from even touching even slightly at the NAD’s amp end. I have found even tiny differences like this - although one would think they shouldn’t matter - DO.
Whatever it was that did the trick, it happened AFTER the separation of the lead, and THEn the re-insertion of the Furutech into the lead position on the NAD. And then I replayed the entire "What’s New" album by Linda Ronstadt, which is a very well-recorded album, and one I’ve been listening two for the past two days. The difference in the delicacy of her voice (the pure emotional feeling) came across quite noticeably. The intake of breath demonstrates a continuity throughout all the cuts, not something that happens on one phrase, in one song, but not the next one. It is consistent from song to song. Yes, the soundstage is more transparent - and the ambience is, again, noticeably better, but I couldn’t have cared less about that: the vibrato in Ronstadt’s voice is considerably better, which makes the song more intensely "feeling" and captivating in the most musical sense. In other ones, without consciously trying to turn off the critical faculties and just let the emotions wash over you, it happens by itself, and the music takes you away. Also, the timing of her phrasing is simply lovely, where only hours before I put it (the Furutech) in the system, I enjoyed it, but not nearly to the same degree. It is clearly the insertion of the fuse: the harmonic overtones are beyond what would happen by separating the leads (something I’ve done before and besides, I played it after the separation and then put the fuse in, went off to my 50th class reunion and came back - 5 hours later) and played it. Not even close to the same sound. I listened directly after putting the Furutech in and was put off by a recession in Ronstadt’s vocals. When I returned home 6 hours later, the vocals sounded as though she moved closer to the microphone and aspirants are "pushing" out towards the microphone. Which results in her voice having more "power" in the emotional sense. It’s really strikingly improved.
So, using one Furutech on the NAD was superior to using 4 of them (which is what you had stated at one point). Therefore, you were right, and I am (happily) wrong. The re-evaluation (with a much superior isolation system) shows out the Furutech as better than I had thought. So, thanks. I don’t think this would have happened without the better isolation capabilities the system now has, but that’s moot. The Furutechs will sound better as one’s room acoustics, electrical quality and isolation improve. I’m really glad you persisted. Thanks again.
Now, for the foot-in-mouth apology.
I came across the Furutech fuse (I had four, but packed up all but one and the others are in a drawer somewhere else) and decided, after staring at it harshly, but them remembering your convictions, thought, "It’s not very scientific to not test it out again. He might be right." - as well as that, add in the fact that I have refined my already (very) refined setup by adding the Townshend Audio Seismic Isolation Platform and the Townshend Isolation pods under the NAD. And separated the positive and negative leads of the Shunyata Cobra speaker cables from even touching even slightly at the NAD’s amp end. I have found even tiny differences like this - although one would think they shouldn’t matter - DO.
Whatever it was that did the trick, it happened AFTER the separation of the lead, and THEn the re-insertion of the Furutech into the lead position on the NAD. And then I replayed the entire "What’s New" album by Linda Ronstadt, which is a very well-recorded album, and one I’ve been listening two for the past two days. The difference in the delicacy of her voice (the pure emotional feeling) came across quite noticeably. The intake of breath demonstrates a continuity throughout all the cuts, not something that happens on one phrase, in one song, but not the next one. It is consistent from song to song. Yes, the soundstage is more transparent - and the ambience is, again, noticeably better, but I couldn’t have cared less about that: the vibrato in Ronstadt’s voice is considerably better, which makes the song more intensely "feeling" and captivating in the most musical sense. In other ones, without consciously trying to turn off the critical faculties and just let the emotions wash over you, it happens by itself, and the music takes you away. Also, the timing of her phrasing is simply lovely, where only hours before I put it (the Furutech) in the system, I enjoyed it, but not nearly to the same degree. It is clearly the insertion of the fuse: the harmonic overtones are beyond what would happen by separating the leads (something I’ve done before and besides, I played it after the separation and then put the fuse in, went off to my 50th class reunion and came back - 5 hours later) and played it. Not even close to the same sound. I listened directly after putting the Furutech in and was put off by a recession in Ronstadt’s vocals. When I returned home 6 hours later, the vocals sounded as though she moved closer to the microphone and aspirants are "pushing" out towards the microphone. Which results in her voice having more "power" in the emotional sense. It’s really strikingly improved.
So, using one Furutech on the NAD was superior to using 4 of them (which is what you had stated at one point). Therefore, you were right, and I am (happily) wrong. The re-evaluation (with a much superior isolation system) shows out the Furutech as better than I had thought. So, thanks. I don’t think this would have happened without the better isolation capabilities the system now has, but that’s moot. The Furutechs will sound better as one’s room acoustics, electrical quality and isolation improve. I’m really glad you persisted. Thanks again.