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Furutech GTX NCF receptical break in, how long

Bought NCF with 6 day burn from seller. I have it burning in last 5 days on 2 cheap power bars with old desk top towers, fans, TiVo box, home theater amps. My amp and Preamp, phono stage and CD player are all tube so I don't use them. Ran system on outlet tonight and no bass, bright, sounds bad. First day with outlet it sounded very nice. Any owners of rhodium outlets can tell me what I'm in for time wise, or what to expect sound wise in next couple weeks, thanks
paulcreed
charleskz
16 posts
 
Like evolution being a fact, some equipment,cables, fuses, etc need time to break in. Based on 15 years of listening, Its obvious to my ear that this is true. And, are you sitting down, my stereo sounds better after the circuitry has warmed up for a 1/2 hour or so. And still more madness. Ready for this one, get the padded room available, it sounds better later at night then the rest of the day.
To all you snake oilers, there's is more in heaven and earth than is dreampt of in your philosophy. Electro-magnetism, she is a strange and wonderful mistress
serblinfan
50 posts
 

Hallo, Paulcreed, I must admit I have opened an account on Audiogon only to thank you for your posts about breaking in Furutech NCF. It is because I am experiencing much the same thing and I found so much comfort in your posts. I appreciate the experience you shared like hardly anything ever.. But my journey is not over. In fact, I’m becoming a little impatient… and paranoid ;) My system consists of a high-resolution tube amp based on KT88 power tubes (with nice Mullard NOS tubes in the preamp section), Metronome CD8 S player and Franco Serblin’s Accordo speakers (my listening room is 22 sqm and the Accordo can really give me the required slam in terms of bass, I appreciate the speakers also for the exceptional soundstage they can create even in a regular living room). Before installing Furutech’s rhodium NCF receptible, I had used Furutech’s top performance gold receptible, but just barely long enough to break it in. For the most part of the breakin period, the gold sounded closed in, not open, not resolute enough. Eventually, the sound opened up, being detailed but smooth. 

However, acting on my audiophilia nervosa, I replaced the gold receptible with Furutech’s NCF rhodium outlet. At the same time, I installed a Furutech FI-50M NCF  plug on the power cable for the power strip (both the power cable and the power strip are Polish made, but from a recognised manufacturer). And, at the same time, I added a Furutech NCF booster to hold my new precious FI-50 firmly in the wall outlet. You might think, a hell of an upgrade! When I first played a CD (a Kari Bremnes I like to use for testing), I wasn’t sure if I was going to love my new sound, but what I heard was promising: so much more clarity, resolution! But I missed some musicality, but I thought, wait, people say things will improve.. It’s just that things got worse… Two weeks after the change, with moderate listening of 2-3 hours a day, the sound is actually worse than it has ever been, even before the installation of the new NCF outlet, FI-50 NCF plug and the NCF Booster… There’s a lot of resolution, but the sound is harsh, totally unlistenable!!! And I’m thinking to myself: what?? I’ve spent so much on the upgrade, and I’m to suffer THIS? But then I found your posts.. So I’m waiting… I’m afraid I’m actually your stalker ;) I have read carefully every sentence you wrote, and I do hope the sound of my system will improve eventually… J

It's just that I have begun to doubt. Is it possible the sound can improve so much? Because what I want to hear, after about 200h of breakin, is soooo far not only from my expectations but even from before the costly Furutech upgrades.. L I’m not talking subtleties here, oh no..

Anyways, thank you for sharing your experience, I found it so helpful!

And do you have any new thoughts on the subject? Are you now totally happy, in terms of Furutech, at least? ;)

Peter


davidpritchard's avatar
davidpritchard
866 posts
 
serbinfan:
You are experiencing a problem with making three changes to your system at the same time. I would suggest removing the Furutech NCF from your audio circuit and putting in another circuit. At this location plug something into it that uses electricity nearly 24/7. That product needs 3 months to diminish the Rhodium harshness sound. Then put it back in your audio circuit. A week latter make a final decision.

You may like the gold outlet - NCF gold plug combination as much or better.
David Pritchard
paulcreed OP
560 posts
 
Schizophrenic is the only way I can describe the NCF. There is no immediate gratification with this purchase. It's really a long bad ride but once it's over it was well worth the aggravation. I almost pulled it out of the wall and stuck it in a drawer so I could listen to music again. David is right if I had to do it again I would put it on the fridge/deep freezer and forget about it for a while.  I do think if it gets hit with quick draw of high current on and off it helps but 24/7 is a must. If you make it through the break in of NCF any other component breakin will be a breeze. I had to give it 7 to 8 weeks before it was okay to listen to music and improvement begins after that. The part that got me was the first few hours it sounded fantastic came back later and sounded like trash. I just moved recently and set my system up and it sounded okay, thought maybe everything just needed to settle in but then I remembered I forgot to install NCF. Stuck it in the wall and everything was right. I realized the NCF really does make a large improvement in my system. I also own the furutech gold and there is no comparison. Hang in there it gets better I promise.

leolucchesi
1 posts
 
Hey guys, just wanted to react to things that were said earlier.
A system can indeed sound better at night than during the day or better one day compared to another day quite significantly. 
This has to do with the power itself in your region and how people are using it at the listening moment. The more power is used by the population, the less you have for your hifi, that's really a fact.
Don't take my word, even in the 60's and 70's some recording engineers would prefer to record and mix-down at some moments during the week/day because they definitely heard a difference in the performance of all the analog gear involved.
So basically you take a winter Saturday evening with a football match on TV and also the Foo Fighters playing in a stadium in the next city, well be ready to hear a slight change in your Hifi system. Now you take a (I don't know I'm making it up) let's say a calm Tuesday in July at 22h, It should sound better because the power available to you is just better.
You will hear this effect especially with a high-quality and transparent system. I heard it here. Actually the most obvious is when my neighbours do washing machines, I slightly hear the noise itself cause its vibrating but I swear I'm missing punch and authority in the sound when they use it/them.
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