Written by Terry Ellis August 2018
The Best HiFi Accessories become Necessities
Furutech are a very interesting company, I have been using their products for years and I hold them in extreme high regard for what they do and manufacture. Take a look around the International Industry and you will see their wares being used by many other manufacturers. Its a company that wants to push boundaries, that doesn't accept good as being good enough and that is something we have in common
Despite my keen interest in the company and their products when they released their NCF range I was very sceptical, I didn't believe they could improve on what was already a fantastic product range, "more fool me"
The Best HiFi Accessories become Necessities
Furutech are a very interesting company, I have been using their products for years and I hold them in extreme high regard for what they do and manufacture. Take a look around the International Industry and you will see their wares being used by many other manufacturers. Its a company that wants to push boundaries, that doesn't accept good as being good enough and that is something we have in common
Despite my keen interest in the company and their products when they released their NCF range I was very sceptical, I didn't believe they could improve on what was already a fantastic product range, "more fool me"
What is NCF?
Furutech have many products in their NCF range, nearly all of them have been made with NCF adding its sonic benefits, but what is NCF and why is it important.
NCF: Nano Crystal² Formula
Developed by Furutech, NCF features a special crystalline material that has two ‘active’ properties. First, it generates negative ions that eliminate static. Second, it converts thermal energy into far infrared. Furutech combines this remarkable material with nano-sized ceramic particles and carbon powder for their additional piezoelectric damping properties. The resulting Nano Crystal² Formula, exclusive to Furutech, is the ultimate electrical and mechanical damping material.
Any Audiophile familiar with Furutech's top tier products like the FI50 IEC range that use the combination of carbon and piezo ceramic will know the sonic benefits and likely be in love with it. With NCF Furutech have taken this design to the next level of performance and that means falling in love all over again.
Furutech have many products in their NCF range, nearly all of them have been made with NCF adding its sonic benefits, but what is NCF and why is it important.
NCF: Nano Crystal² Formula
Developed by Furutech, NCF features a special crystalline material that has two ‘active’ properties. First, it generates negative ions that eliminate static. Second, it converts thermal energy into far infrared. Furutech combines this remarkable material with nano-sized ceramic particles and carbon powder for their additional piezoelectric damping properties. The resulting Nano Crystal² Formula, exclusive to Furutech, is the ultimate electrical and mechanical damping material.
Any Audiophile familiar with Furutech's top tier products like the FI50 IEC range that use the combination of carbon and piezo ceramic will know the sonic benefits and likely be in love with it. With NCF Furutech have taken this design to the next level of performance and that means falling in love all over again.
What are NCF Boosters?
Furutech have two main products in their range, the NCF Booster and the NCF Booster Signal. These are designed to be the ultimate audio accessories for using on cables for improving the connections between devices and ultimately the audio quality of the system.
The NCF Booster?
It is a multi-material, hybrid constructed performance-enhancing connector & cable holder for superior connector and cable damping. Not only does the Furutech NCF Booster Connector and Cable Holder lift audio cables off the floor minimizing their points of contact with the floor, reducing electromagnetic interference, it also excels at providing NCF damping support for connectors and cables at points of connection. The NCF Booster Connector and Cable Holder allows for the optimum alignment between connectors and sockets and eliminates static – boosting performance by allowing a more pure and clear signal.
Why an NCF Booster?
For me the NCF Booster product range makes sense and is a wonderful idea in so many ways. Firstly it allows audiophiles flexibility. Flexibility to use NCF on all different makes of cables, in all manner of ways without making any actual hardware modifications to them. Its now much easier and cheaper for Audiophiles to try the benefits of NCF for themselves and hear what it does. It allows some creativity and tweak-ability for Audiophiles to use the NCF boosters in any number of different ways to improve and tweak the sound of their system. Its a scale-able system, Audiophiles can start with one and add as many as they like over time. They are much safer for Audiophiles to use instead of taking products apart to change the hardware. They can be used to enhance existing NCF products by adding more NCF to them. I love all these facts, they really appeal to me as an Audiophile who likes to work on my system to improve and get better sound from it all the time.
Ready to go straight out of the box and very easy to install
The NCF Boosters come pre assembled in the box and pretty much ready to go. Included is one section of extension shaft bars, more of these can be purchased as an additional extra and there are a pair of silicone bands in the box. The Installation of both the NCF Booster and NCF Boosters signals is very easy and very simple but with a huge amount of flexibility. I have created a setup guide video (below) that demonstrates the process and shows some ideas and ways to use the NCF Boosters. Furutech also have their own You Tube channel and have created several installation guide videos I can recommend.
The NCF Boosters come pre assembled in the box and pretty much ready to go. Included is one section of extension shaft bars, more of these can be purchased as an additional extra and there are a pair of silicone bands in the box. The Installation of both the NCF Booster and NCF Boosters signals is very easy and very simple but with a huge amount of flexibility. I have created a setup guide video (below) that demonstrates the process and shows some ideas and ways to use the NCF Boosters. Furutech also have their own You Tube channel and have created several installation guide videos I can recommend.
As always the proof is in the listening pudding
I wanted to start the testing of the NCF Boosters slowly so I could build a full picture of what each one did after I added it. I started by adding just one NCF Booster to my reference review system. I placed this on the IEC power connector (Furutech FI50) that powers the JCAT 200w Linear Power Supply that in turn powers our Chord Electronics Qutest Dac. Straight away I could hear a cleaner and purer sound from the review system, some haze and fuzz had been removed from the leading edges of notes. Cleaner leading edges of notes will always result in an overall sound stage improvement for space, clarity and definition. It was a very positive start, so much so I had to get another NCF Booster out of the box and into the system straight away. This time I placed it on the power IEC connector (Furutech FI50) that fed into the Luxman C700U Pre Amplifier that was also here on review. This was a bigger improvement and one that had me pinned to my listening chair for about 3 hours enjoying an unplanned listening session where I had a big smile on my face song after song. The sonic benefits mirrored what I had already heard but just allowed more of it. Clearer and cleaner overall presentation with more well defined leading edges of notes and overall sound stage clarity and space improvement. At this point I felt addicted to NCF and wanted more in the system as soon as possible.
The NEW NCF Booster Signals added something different
The latest addition to the NCF Booster range is the Booster Signal, this is clearly a different designed product to the original NCF Booster and is designed for use with signal cables, speaker cables, analogue, digital etc. In a way this will be a more familiar product to a lot of Audiophiles who have seen all manner of cable lifters, elevators or risers over the years. I added three NCF Booster Signals to each of my Tellurium Q Black Diamond speaker cables following the advice to make sure the speaker cables were completely off the floor and not touching the speakers, hifi rack or anything.
My advice is do not tarnish the Furutech brush with any negative preconceived ideas you may have built up from history about cable risers because the NCF Booster Signals effect on the sound of a system is quite profound. Where the NCF Booster improved leading edge clarity, sound stage and the overall focus of our reference review system the NCF Booster Signals added energy and sparkle to the sound, a very different effect. There was now more high frequency energy to the music which resulted in a snappier and more lively presentation. This was very welcome, I would have criticised my system for being a little dark and heavy sounding but the NCF Booster Signals had helped address that negative attribute and actually turned it into a positive, impressive stuff.
Adding more and getting the right balance
I still had two more NCF Booster Signals and one NCF Booster to add to the system and I decided to experiment with them trying them in a few different locations. Each time I could easily hear the difference they was making, so I decided to work out where to place them to achieve the maximum benefit from each one. I decided to add one NCF Booster Signal to the Chord Qutest Dac, with clever placement I was able to lay all the incoming and outgoing cables from the Dac across the Booster Signal getting the benefits of NCF for all the cables with just one product - very economical.
With the remaining NCF Booster and Booster Signal I decided to get creative by using both of them together on the same stand, using the NCF Booster on the IEC as normal. I flipped the Booster Signal top plate upside down and lowered it down to be in contact with the balanced analogue cables going into the Luxman M700U Power Amplifier. This gave another very noticeable and nice improvement to the sound of the system.
Being Greedy and wanting even more NCF
During the testing of the NCF products I had noticed two of the IEC connectors I was using wasnt gripping very tightly and moving them around the would fall out of their connection socket very easily. I might never have noticed this but I am so glad I did as it gave me ample reason to be NCF greedy and order in two Furutech FI50 (R) NCF to replace the older IEC connectors with. These really are fantastic products and you can read more about my experience with them here
I added them to two very premium XLO Power Cables (Unlimited Edition 2 & Signature 3) and instantly the connection was rock solid. This seemed to unlock the magic of the system and I enjoyed some of the best sound I had heard from my reference review system to this point. Wonderful clarity and focus, with energy and drive to the music, a really full and tangible mid range with tons on subtle and intricate details. It was so impressive I had to get on camera and record the system because it was sounding truly stunning. Adding all the NCF Booster products and the two FI50 IEC NCF to the system had helped elevate its performance to a level I hadn't experienced before and made me into a self confessed NCF addict.
Time to take them all out and do an A/B Comparison
I have often found the benefits of audio products to be more obvious when taken away rather than when added to a system, we adapt very quickly to improved sound, but worse sound is instantly alienating. It was time to remove all the NCF Booster products and record the song A/B demonstrations demonstrating their effect - see the video below.
Taking them out of my review system reinforced to me all at once their positive impact that was now very much missing.
Final Thoughts
My first closing thoughts are of admiration towards Furutech for their investigation into the area of cable supports and the development of a truly fantastic product range that builds on their NCF line making it more accessible to all Audiophiles. The whole range including the additional products such as the Shaft Bar Adjuster and Extension Shaft Bars are flexible and will allow Audiophiles to install the NCF Boosters regardless of what kit, setup and space they have. I have found the Extension Shaft Bars to be extremely useful and have used far more of them than I originally thought I would, that is a top tip there for you.
I do have one gripe and it is a very minor one so I will get it out of the way now. I feel Furutech could include more sets of silicone bands with each NCF Booster. One pair doesn't seem enough for a product that encourages change and experimentation, a few have snapped on me. If Furutech offer packs of them for sale as an additional item that would be perfect but I think the inclusion of another pair of bands with each NCF Booster would be a welcome addition.
Spending time with the Boosters has not only shown me the benefits of Furutech's NCF technology, its turned me into a full blown NCF addict, constantly thinking about where I might add some more NCF to get better performance from the system. Its hard to praise a product range any higher than that. With the NCF Boosters Furutech have achieved an elegant and effective solution to a problem I didn't realise was there. With the NCF Boosters in my system I achieved a sound quality no other hardware change had achieved prior to installing them. When you consider that end result, the importance of the connection quality between audio components becomes even more critical than previously considered. The best audio system accessories become necessities and the Furutech NCF Boosters are now necessities for my system and I am excited to add more.
