Fake, snake oil, scam, money beating, the well-known terms are flying around when someone starts talking about a Furutech NCF Clear Line, with which the display can be optimized simply plug the black thing into a wall socket. Before you quit now, a short test was simply playing music for my wife (who doesn’t like all those antics), plugging the NCF Clear Line in and out of the wall socket and asking: â ???? ?a????. I should leave it alone, she said.
But what is it?
Furutech has been working with Nano Crystal² Formula, abbreviated to NCF for some time. The material, according to the manufacturer, has the property of producing negative ions to eliminate static electricity and it converts thermal energy into harmless infrared radiation. Combine it with ceramic nanoparticles and carbon powder to form crystals that dampen electrically and mechanically. Furutech uses it in plugs, sockets, cable lifts and more, but now NCF is very easy to get at home: with the Clear Line.
The NCF Clear Line contributes to a cleaner mains voltage, does not replace mains filters, it is an extra. You simply plug the black plug into the wall socket where the power for the audio system comes from, or into a junction box. If necessary elsewhere in the room. In video application, the NCF Clear Line is also recommended for a more defined image. It will not be due to the chosen material; rhodium on the contact pins, and further consisting of Alpha Process copper from Furutech. Nylon and glass fiber in a carbon fiber housing, cryogenic treatment, demagnetization and stainless steel screws.
The NCF Clear Line naturally includes NCF, as well as a pair of? (Alpha) -OCC coils, the copper enamelled and sealed in an airtight area. The coils are not connected to the phase and neutral of the plug. Internally, four layers of carbon fiber with NCF have been used. In short, for 260 euros you will get the necessary high-quality material from Furutech, which has in any case been thought about on paper.
Furutech’s claims are tough:
Improved display and stereo image Improved resolution and signal to noise ratio Improved three-dimensional and more intense image rendering And all that in one thing with a length of 88, 4mm, and 39, 5mm thick. The weight of the NCF Clear Line is 69 grams. He must respond 24 hours, said Furutech.
My set has a number of tweaks, such as two Acoustic System Resonators, a Bybee Quantum Signal Enhancer, Harmonix tapes around a number of cables and here and there some bags of tourmaline sand. Tweaks bought after reviews because they are proven to work. Not shocking, but clearly audible as an improvement. Other tweaks are return to sender because they were sometimes too expensive in relation to the improvement, or did little to nothing and sometimes even managed to negatively influence the display. I do not consider a large net filter as a tweak, rather a must have given the net pollution, so I just count that under hardware.
Cables aren’t tweaks either; necessary and affects the display. So the NCF Clear Line comes in a fairly tweak-free environment and is allowed to prove whether Furutech’s claims are correct. The listening environment is my living room and the set is above average I can say. That’s the way it should be, for a mini-system from the white goods trade, Furutech’s prices really go a few steps too far.
What does it do? Three tracks were chosen because I through and through, can appreciate and the recording is good to very good. Starting without the NCF Clear Line. I pull the plug from the wall socket. While Radio 5 is streaming I notice that the stereo image changes, the sound changes, as if I stepped back into my system. On the internet Radio 5! I play Anette Askvik and keep finding beautiful music. Plays to my liking. Playing the track a second time but with the NCF Clear Line brings an inexplicable difference. Second voice is better separated, the stereo image becomes further three-dimensional, music simply flows away more. Is more intense, softer and polished without losing drama or experience.
With that grown 3D image, the image shifts somewhat up, very welcome, loosens up from the speakers. Even the low tones get extra definition. My wife heard that correctly, although she could not describe exactly what happened. She perceived it and that is enough for her. Track two is from Allan Taylor with the NCF Clear Line still plugged in. Nice and spacious, deep with definition, beautiful voice that knows how to release completely. If I remove the Clear Line, the image immediately becomes flatter, percussion has partly lost its metallic sound, the music is more boring, simpler. Just as was the case with Anette.
Clear Line quickly reconnected, again the track, hop there is the metal, the guitar jumps forward, the tune out of the band. My brain says it is impossible and yet it happens. Last track is Combattimento with classical work. Recorded in the Waalse Kerk i Amsterdam, it possesses a fine sound balance and layering in the members of the orchestra. Remove the Clear Line and the recording becomes busier, messier, does not bring the soloists to the fore as quickly, the matt shine calls for a cleaning in the form of the Furutech. The fact that especially the stereo image becomes flatter, narrower and limited in height surprises me most of all.
All that in one system, therefore took the plug to another room, different system, same music. With Vivaldi, the result is little different from the first setup. The depth increases so that you look into the orchestra, as it were. Soloists get extra space, the sounds become richer and fuller. Without changing, only the fadedness disappears. A dullness that was previously not noticed because the system has been carefully tuned and built. Askvik has two voices pulled apart, especially in the larger 3D image, revives the piano and brings out the sax extra. In a system where everything is different, mains filter, cables, amplifier, speakers and especially the acoustics, the NCF Clear Line performs exactly as it did before. That gives me confidence in the operation of the device. Allan Taylor to get further confirmation is actually unnecessary. Remove the NCF Clear Line and the voice becomes less intelligible, music becomes cluttered in a flatter stereo image, Taylor â ???? bringsâ ???? no longer read the text but read it aloud. Exaggerated? Certainly, but I would like to show you what I can perceive. Percussion unfortunately no longer has the sound richness of just now.
Is it right? Matters that Furutech claims on paper are they true? Improved display and a better stereo image? Check, especially that 3D stereo image stands out! Improved resolution and signal-to-noise ratio? Yes and no, I don’t hear that signal / noise like that, but the resolution does! Is the TV picture better? I don’t know, to be honest, that depends so much on the recording, and my image is on a different power group than the audio.
With accessories or tweaks if you want, it is often the case that placing it can bring a positive effect, the removal is a lot more painful. Once you get used to it, you can easily observe what disappears along with the tweak. It is just like with a salary, something more is nice but is invisibly merged with the burdens, less salary makes you realize what wealth was previously shared. The Furutech NCF Clear Line has left a very positive impression. I don’t want to miss the accessory anymore, an opinion that my wife shares this time. In fact, I’m thinking of a second one for my other system. Isn’t that a nice recommendation?
Moreover, it is so simple to evaluate the effect; simply plugging in and out of the wall socket and pulling is enough to estimate the NCF Clear Line.
Furutech NCF Clear Line
â ?? ¬ 260 , – | www.x-fi.nl
