November 2020

We Ask 10 Questions For High-End Audio Manufacturers
Featuring Furutech
Enjoy the Music.com's 25th Anniversary brings you a new special feature!

  During Enjoy the Music.com's very special 25th Anniversary we're asking various high-end audio manufacturers to answer the same ten questions. Their answers may surprise you! This month we're featuring Furutech as they answer a few of our 10 questions. Furutech, founded in 1988, designs and manufactures an extraordinary range of A/V cables made with extremely high purity OCC single-crystal oxygen-free copper. We have several complete lines of analog and digital, power and coaxial cables available in terminated and bulk quantities. They make a wide range of highest quality OEM A/V connectors and other signal transfer parts including power, speaker, IEC and specialized Hyper Audio Quality outlet receptacles.

All metal components are treated with Furutech's proprietary two-stage Alpha Cryogenic and Ring Demagnetization Process during manufacture that ensures the lowest achievable levels of distortion and noise according to the company. Furutech offers a full line of elegantly engineered and designed power distribution and filter components made with great attention to detail. Furutech knows each and every part of the chain, no matter how small, is as important as the next, so they lavish maximum attention on all aspects of AC power transfer.

Q. What, and when, was your company's first product?

A. Furutech, founded in 1988, designs and manufactures an extraordinary range of high-end audio accessories and A/V cables made with extremely high-quality materials and precision manufacturing techniques. Now in our 33rd year, Furutech had its beginnings as the international distributor for Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd., bringing Furukawa PCOCC single-crystal oxygen-free copper cables to international audio related industries and markets. Two years after our start in this "no compromise" industry, Furutech introduced its line up of Furutech branded cables and started accessory sales to its distribution network. In 1992 Furutech developed and released the FI-15 IEC and power connector series which was well received worldwide and remains extremely popular to this date.

Q. How have your products evolved over the years?

A. Furutech set about expanding its lineup of products to include further power-related products, signal connectors and an extensive range of audio cables. Key to any Furutech product is a unique story, effective technology, and improvement in sonic performance.

In the early years, Furutech introduced three principles for product development: use of only hyper-pure non-magnetic materials, use of hyper-precision manufacturing techniques, and special plating techniques. While these principles are fundamental, Furutech has since introduced the "Pure Transmission" design concept as central to product design and development. This concept looks at the improvement of every element of signal transmission, from the AC to the speaker, tackling the little known foes of audio signal transmission such as common-mode noise, differential mode noise, electrical and mechanical resonance, static and magnetic fields.

In the following years, Furutech consistently introduced groundbreaking products featuring technologies designed to combat these foes, including Furutech's Alpha Process (two-stage deep cryogenic and demagnetizing) improving conductor transmission; Furutech's patented Floating Field Damper eliminating electromagnetic fields from developing around power flow through connectors; Furutech's Piezo Ceramic and Carbon Series exhibiting Piezoelectric effects to "interconvert" thermal, mechanical, and electrical energy away from power transmission; and Furutech's Nano Crystal² Formula (NCF), 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. The resulting Nano Crystal² Formula is the ultimate electrical and mechanical damping material. This did not happen overnight — the material is the culmination of 30 years of steady and consistent research at Furutech.

We now boast a lineup of over 400 products, each unique and each effective, boosting our reputation in the industry and high-end audio consumer market and lending to our already strong reputation as a leading Japanese audio and accessory manufacturer.

Q. What is your company's most popular product(s)?

A. Furutech is a leading manufacturer of audio grade AC related products and if you asked any loyal fan of Furutech products, they would most likely say we are most famous for AC solutions.

However, since the development of NCF (Nano Crystal² Formula) and its introduction into our products, we have seen a huge jump in the popularity of other segments of our audio accessory lineup. Furutech first incorporated NCF into three market-topping products, the GTX-D NCF wall receptacle, the FI-06 NCF IEC inlet, and the FI-50 NCF series connectors – all award-winning products adopted by leading manufacturers worldwide for use on their flagship products.

In the fall of 2017, we introduced the NCF Booster – a connector holder and cable lifter designed to support and damp connectors at components or wall outlets and to lift and damp cables between components – eliminating static fields around connectors and cables, boosting connector and cable performance. April 2018 saw the series grow to include the NCF Booster-Signal and optional modular parts and in early 2019 the NCF Booster-Brace series.

With the NCF Booster Series of products, Furutech has made it easy for anyone to hear the differences that this NCF technology can bring to any audio system. These differences include noticeable improvements in imaging and clarity, a reduction in distortion in higher frequencies, and a more dramatic tonal definition.

Q. What is your next planned product offering and its' features?

A. Furutech will begin introducing NCF material into a new line of signal connectors, beginning with RCA and XLR. After three years of intensive research, our engineering team has incorporated NCF material inside and around signal conductors in signal connectors and the results are extremely exciting.

Also, released two weeks ago – NCF Clear Line: Furutech's new NCF Clear Line is an audio grade passive AC optimizer, small enough to hold in your hand, that instantly enhances the quality of your power supply. Simply plug it into any vacant mains socket on either a power distributor or wall outlet, then sit back and relish the improved performance of your audio and video systems.

With the NCF Clear Line, we have introduced perhaps the simplest way to bring the benefits of NCF technology into your home. The NCF Clear Line is an entirely passive device that contains no electronics; hence it does not interfere with the power current. Instead, it effectively eliminates electrical and mechanical resonance from the power socket and AC circuit thanks to a combination of the NCF material with air coils designed to draw and damp the vibrations from the socket's electrodes.

Thanks to a lowered noise floor and increased signal to noise ratio, music lovers will immediately hear much more detail in the sound reproduction, with clear improvements in harmonics, tonal balance, and the depth and focus of the soundstage. Low frequencies will sound cleaner, with a greater sense of definition.

Test one, test two, test three... it only gets better.

Manufacturer
Furutech Co. Ltd.
Furutech Bldg., 3-9-1
Togoshi, Shinagawa-Ku
Tokyo 142-0041, Japan

Voice: +81-(0)3-6451-3941
Fax: +81-(0)3-6451-3942
Website: www.Furutech.com