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Furutech GTX-D Rhodium NCF Outlet

Hi

I have been using a strip with Cary tube preamp and digital sources on a Furutech GTX-D Gold outlet and Pass power amp to a Maestro on the wall for a while now.

The combination seems decent but lately with some bass heavy recordings I have found the bass thick and boomy on extreme low bass notes. The mids and highs are fine and I tend to be sensitive to bright treble.

I took the preamp out and put it to the Maestro on the wall and this ameliorated the bass somewhat. Everything became fuller sounding but as a result, there was less low bass reverb (sounds contradictory?)

I suspect it is the GTX-D Gold. I am guessing if I replaced that with a GTX-D Rhodium NCF, it will tighten up the bass and hopefully eliminate the excessive low bass reverb. But in doing so, will the highs become too forward, hard or bright as Rhodium tends to be vs Gold?

Any experienced feedback from users who have tried the Maestro, GTX-D Gold and GTX-D Rhodium NCF is much appreciated.

Thanks
mikey8811
mikey8811 OP
259 posts
 
Echoing the comments of others after 60 hours - the burn in is a pain!

It alternates from sounding better to sounding worse in the treble. Earlier the tight bass got boomy but that seems to have cured itself.

I can't recall the GTX-D Gold being that bad with respect to burn in.
davidpritchard's avatar
davidpritchard
866 posts
 
mikey8811:
Your memory is correct. Rhodium outlets have the longest and most frustrating burn in of the outlets that are available. Elizabeth's approach to condition the Rhodium outlets for Months outside the audio chain and only then install them is the only approach that makes sense. I have endured the long break in with the Furutech GTX Rhodium outlets and I hated it.

I must say this is why I prefer the Synergistic Research Blue outlets. Twenty four hours after being installed they sound good, 3 days latter they sound better, and after 10 days they sound great! If you are unsure you like them at 21 days, send them back. This makes for a quick and easy experiment.
paulcreed
566 posts
 
NCF has the worst break in of anything I've ever seen, be prepared to wait at least 7 to 8 weeks and maybe it will level out, this outlet is totally schizophrenic. NCF information retrieval is unbelievable but at at a cost of sounding a little analytical in my all tube system after break in. To solve problem I left NCF in wall and bought furutech gold to go in power conditioner. Gold with rolled off highs took away what I liked about NCF. I almost pulled NCF but with one last shot I bought the new version of PI Audio modded Pass Seymour heavy duty outlet. PI Audio outlet totally solved problem! PI audio outlet has same characteristics as NCF but more musical to my ears. This combination saved NCF from living the rest of its life in a junk drawer. I also found after break in if NCF does not have power running through it and system is not being used for 4 or 5 days it can sound thin for 4 to 12 hours. Good luck, if you can find a good combination NCF is well worth the purchase.
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mikey8811 OP
259 posts
 
I whopped a Cardas Golden Reference power cord on the DAC (I had a Cardas Clear Beyond there) and it ameliorated the issue with the highs brought about by the GTX-D R NCF, making the listening more enjoyable and less of a chore during the burn in process.

There was less air and space between notes than with the Clear Beyond but a fuller more "golden" sound kind of like with the GTX-D Gold outlet but with more detail.

All these tweaks and cabling are tone controls - just saying.  
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