Furutech GTX-D Rhodium NCF Outlet

mikey8811:
I think your description of Rhodium is spot on plus it often takes 500 hours to fully break in. I have compared the GTX-D Rhodium (nonNCF) to the Synergistic Research Blue outlet and I really like The Blue outlet. The sound is more precise without being hard or bright. The music has a relaxed flow but with wonderful details and a full bodied texture to individual notes. 
I also like the fact that the Blue outlet comes with a 30 return and during September there is a special that gives you a free Synergistic Research Blue fuse with the purchase of a Blue outlet.

I hope this is of some help.

David Pritchard

Thanks guys.

Will put the Blue on my shortlist - the 30 day return probably doesn't work for me as I am not in the US.

Has anyone tried and compared the Cardas 4181 outlet? Very little is spoken about it at all.

I am wondering because most of my power cords are Cardas Clear Beyond.

I recently purchased ten Furutech GTX-D Gold, and seven Furutech GTX-D NCF Rhodium duplex, over a period of two months to install  in my system (wall, extensions to system with six duplex on floor in boxes, plus all duplex in two power conditioners) (I actually have removed two gold and added two Rhodium as time went on)
I fully agree the Furutech Gold are warmer and slightly more 'congested' sound than the Rhodium. And that the Rhodium are a PITA during break in, which is LONG.. The Rhodium bring a tilt to the treble which is somewhat annoying during break in, and it comes and goes... Think all is well and the next day the tilt is back.(Some of the exaggerated experience I had may be due to adding in more of them as time went on, plus adding in a total of six Furutech AC plugs with Rhodium.. all over a two month long period. So My experience may be  more extreme than others with the Furutech Rhodium products.  But the Rhdium are totally worth it! I like the Rhdium for amp, from wall, and preamps. The Gold seem better for most sources.    
As for what positive they have done? CLARITY. My Magnepan 20.7 speakers sound for say, Rock vocals is as clear as listening via good hadphones now. Used to be I struggled to understand too many of the vocals. Now, clear and natural.  better attack, better leading edges of notes.....         
One other phenomenon I noticed is if I stick powercords with a brass plug, even one PC back into the system (think Wattgate basic plugs) I can hear a distortion in the sound, particularly in he upper midrange, a background with a sort of velvety haze behind the notes. As soon as I remove the brass plugged PC, the haze is gone.  (Wen I replaces the Wattgate with Furutech Rhodium, keeping the DH Labs wire, the haze went away)         
This goes to (all in theory all in my head to 'explain' the phenomenon.. True or not??? And it may only be the Wattgate plugs, and not 'all brass'?) Anyway, my 'theory' is since the Furutech have NO BRASS or bronze, (Furutech uses pure copper parts inside the Duplex, using a clever spring arrangement around the blades to maintain tension) SO with only pure copper, and no brass parts, a distortion hitherto unknown to me, has been exposed.So I am convinced (just on this one set of experiences) brass AC parts suck. And the only reason folks do not know, is they have never been without such parts! Once you get rid of the brass AC bits.. You will also know it is true ... Brass sucks.(I don't have experience with bronze AC parts.. so unsure about those.So right off I would say all you with $$$ duplex still made with brass.. sorry for your loss. hah hah hah... (Rub in it will you? and suddenly all those big buck duplex made from basic Duplex stock owners and maker are up in arms) Whoa put out this fire!...

mikey8811:
Since you are in Malasia you could try a Synergistic Research Blue outlet from their Hong Kong dealer. Lowther China. E- mail: creevyyu @gmail.com.I have not tried or read any feedback with the Cardas outlet. I have tried the SR Blue outlet and the Furutech GTX-R outlets and while both are excellent I do prefer the SR Blue.

David Pritchard

OK so I got the GTX D Rhodium NCF’s.

I have about 5 hours on them now. I have the Cary tube preamp and digital sources on a strip to the outlet. I have the Pass Labs power amp on the Maestro.

There is greater clarity, air and instrumental separation. Image outlines are also more distinct, but with less bloom and fullness - I guess this would constitute a minor negative. The bass has tightened up and there is more micro detail all round.

More on the downside, the treble has become "silvery" with a bit of hardness and brightness. There is more extension but the sound doesn’t seem like it has opened up yet and still sounds etched and shut in.

I do hope the treble hardness and brightness goes away. How long does this take?

The GTX D Gold had boomy low bass but I liked the top end on that. Overall, if I had to choose one among the 3 outlets, I prefer the Maestro so far.

Heh.  Anywhere from 200 to 400+ hours, depending on resolution of your system.  Yes, 5 hours in is when you start that painful burn-in.

Yeah, the bad news it does take time for the 'extra' treble to stop.I cannot say exactly since I kept adding more Rhodium plugs and outlets over a few months. So I had a long long time with it. It will stop.

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.

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.

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.

I have to agree teh Furutech NCF outlet has a very long annoying burn in. Nothing to do with the NCF material, and 100% to do with the Rhodium plating. At this point, about a month since my last Rhodium oulet installation, the sound is great. not problems. Juat a week ago I had a 'day' of enhanced treble. I knew exactly what it was caused by..   
Anyway, the Rhodium duplex and plug are great, once they are broken in. Until then.. (I use my system every day 8 to 10 hours a day, and leave all solid state on 24/7)

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.