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Furutech PROJECT-V1 English ver.

Opinion 1

We mentioned that many times before, that fluctuation of product models in the budget segment was happening in almost seasonal cycles, at least it did before the Covid and war times, in the Hi-Fi upper shelves and High-End, this turnaround happened in a much more relaxed way. Of course there were novelties and changes, but their frequency was in average around five years, what allowed for planned purchases. It also meant, that when we decided to buy something off those higher shelves, then this product will continue to live for a while, and even if something potentially better would come to the market, we would easily find people interested in what we have, should we decide to change for the newer product. And the manufacturer himself might even propose to take older item back, and would end up paying only a reasonable sum for the upgrade. This was also the case with Furutech, where new models appeared only from time to time, and the higher we looked in the catalogue, the quieter and stabler things were. Yet, completely out of the blue, the news came, that the Japanese decided to shock their acolytes with a palace coup, and maybe not dethrone the reigning NanoFlux-NCF, but degrade it a little, by introducing a new flagship model, the crown jewel of their 30 year’s history. But before things came together, once more concrete things started appearing, and not only rumours, we received, in total secrecy, the first cable shipped to Poland, which at that time did not even have a name, and was provided to us courtesy of the Katowice based RCM, the Polish distributor of Furutech. We had a look, we did touch it and listen to it, we told our opinions about it and … silence fell. However the cable returned to us once more weeks later, this time with a package of information directly from Tokyo, an official name and lifted embargo. This meant that we could finally publish our observations. So, if you were wondering what we will be reviewing this time around, I am extremely happy to announce, that we had the privilege of testing the top power cord from Furutech, the PROJECT-V1.

According to logic and simple economic calculation, you could think, that the newer model would utilize an updated, cleaner, better, etc, version of the previously used conductors, and you do not think too much about the used plugs. Especially when the top 50 NCF are a class of their own. Yet, someone with decision power at Furutech thought, that when you are putting a new ruler on the throne, around five years after the previous one (the first version of the NanoFlux appeared in 2015 and the NanoFlux-NCF with better plugs about one year later), then you also want to improve those connectors. This is the reason that the plugs, and the massive sleeves the PROJECT-V1 carries, were designed from scratch. Of course the proprietary anti-static and anti-resonance material NCF was used, combined with special nylon isolation. Seemingly this combination sounds familiar, but this time each carcass was made from four-layered, hybrid unidirectional carbon fiber and NCF, covered with a special hardened, clear, dampening coating. So looking from the outside we have the mentioned hardened, clear coating, below it the hybrid carbon fiber and NCF composite, another layer of NCF, this time combined with unidirectional carbon fiber and finally the internal layer is made from NCF nylon resin. The connectors within the plugs were made from α(Alpha) copper covered with non-magnetic rhodium and mounted in NCF bases. As a result, the carcasses of the plugs for the V1 evolved from the silvery-grey plaid in the NanoFlux-NCF towards a more grey-black, pearl mass, reminding me of a structured plaster of sorts. The external nylon sheath is shiny black, so the whole is at the same time imposing and elegant. Another, quite substantial item, especially in terms of ergonomics and every day usage, is the much higher weight and stiffness of the V1 compared to its predecessor, and this is something you really need to take into account when applying it. Finally another important difference. To date, all Furutech cables arrived in fully cardboard, or cardboard with a viewing port (e.g. The Astoria E & Empire E), then this time the Japanese went all out and the V1 was supplied in an elegant wooden box.

When we look at the conductors used inside our today’s guest, Furutech decided to use a proprietary three layer, coaxial combination of silver plated Alpha-OCC and Alpha-DUCC (Dia Ultra Crystallized Copper) conductors, a combination of the two best conductors the manufacturer has at its disposal. I will just mention, to give credit where it is due, that the supplier of the mentioned wires is Mitsubishi Cable Industries Ltd. The whole cable is double shielded and double isolated, additionally it has a special hybrid polyethylene isolation, enriched with ceramic-carbon dust, which has dampening properties. The external sheath is not only to feast the eyes, it has also the task to minimize tension and resonances of the cable. It has high elasticity and is made from a cross-woven soft (0.02mm) and hard (0.25mm) polypropylene.
Do you think it is complicated? If yes, then now you need to really pay attention, as we are coming to the point and will now vivisect the top Furutech, which can easily be described as the most advanced cable that appeared in the Japanese portfolio. To not get lost in the description I will split the upcoming information into two sections – the first one will be about the conductors themselves, while the second one – about the layers of the cable surrounding those wires. Are you ready? Then let us begin.
The core of each conductor is composed of a bundle of 127 individual wires, rotated right, each with diameter of 0.18mm silver coated α-OCC copper. The intermediate layer is made from 37 α-DUCC (7N) copper wires, rotated left. The outer layer is made from 43 α-DUCC copper wires, rotated right again. This results in a 10AWG cross-section (or 5.267mm2 if you prefer metric). I can see the vicious smile of those big poweramp users amongst you. The whole is wrapped in double isolation with internal layer made from FEP (Fluoropolymer) and the external from high quality polyethylene. The three runs are stabilized by polyester fibers, while the complete set is covered by a paper coat. This whole roll is then surrounded with a layer of PVC with nano-ceramic and carbon dust, and upon that we have the first shield, made from α copper foil. A second shield goes on top, this time made from α copper braid. This is again wrapped in paper, then a flexible nylon sheath and another layer of paper. Next we have special dampening tubes, with a diameter of 4.0mm each. Then we have a layer of cellulose wrap, another layer of PVC with nano-ceramic and carbon dust and finally an external, flexible nylon sheath. And that is it. I wish all the luck to all the copycats, who would like to try to replicate this in a garage.

After the very elaborate, also for me, description of the construction of the tested cable, there is now time to, extremely subjectively, describe its impact on my test system. It is worth noting, that, like mentioned in the introduction, I had the chance to host the V1 twice, so the falsification of the results, by me being very excited to listen to this novelty, is very low, and can be regarded as negligible. You can only make a first impression once, so during a second encounter, only routine matters. This is the reason, that when I was making the assessments, I caught myself on more or less conscious toning down any signs of excitement and enthusiasm, coming from the perceived nuances. But it was very hard to sit down calmly, as each and every time I put the PROJECT-V1 against the brilliant NanoFlux-NCF, it bounced off the latter and showed what it can really do. The definition of the sound stage, the precision of the creation of virtual sources, or the gradation of the planes, gained a completely new quality, but interestingly their evolution was not based on artificial contouring through sharpening, something you achieve in photography using the unsharp mask, or even eye soaring HDR, but by reproducing the proper proportions and realism. This does not mean, that the NanoFlux “created” the sound and only the PROJECT-V1 reproduced the sound, not interfering with its contents, but just that the higher model does it better, in a more natural and refined way. Additionally, the swing and naturality it has, exclude the wow! effect by their nature. Instead, after plugging in the V1, everything becomes more natural, organic and better absorbable by the listener. However if you would only look at the “ingredients” from which both cables were “cooked”, then you might think, that the NanoFlux, due to the gold particles in its bloodstream, would be the more rounded, darker and coherent one. Yet, the PROJECT-V1, using its silver coated copper, turns out to be the darker and seemingly quieter one. And I wrote “quieter” on purpose, as in absolute categories, our today’s hero declasses its predecessor in all aspects, starting from micro and macro dynamics and ending with resolution. And you do not need to reach for the extreme to experience this, as even on the very elegant interpretation of classical music, the album “Vivaldi: Concerti per archi II” and the fresh from the press “Vivaldi 12 Concertos Op.3 ‘Estro Armonico’, Bach Keyboards Arrangements” by Rinaldo Alessandrini and Concerto Italiano the palpability and realism of the performance struck similar to being there in the audience when the pieces were recorded. It is seemingly only a small baroque piece – only a dozen performers on stage – but in this case, both in terms of the ensemble performing and the cable, it is not about the count (people and wires), but about quality. If you sit down in your comfortable listening chair and put on any of the mentioned albums, you will let the vivid pace of music carry you. And if you reach this, very demanded, state during listening, you should be able to easily hear, that the flagship Furutech reproduces the complicated music notation with appropriate tact and refinement, while at the same time being very true to the reality, by which I mean a live event.
When we look at the harpsichord, which, regardless of what you think of it, is quite an ungrateful instrument, as while it has similar size to its sibling, the piano, yet regarding the scale and nobleness of the sounds it generates, it can rather be compared to a … mandolin. It is quite clinking and small sounding, and the more often it sounds, the more irritation it generates. Yet the Italians, and the tested cable, could extract all of the best qualities from this, not overly graceful, instrument, beginning with depth and ending with the mass of sound. Of course you would be searching in vain for expression, which is native to the string instruments accompanying it, but in the role of a baroque rhythmic section it fared so well, that its presence evolved from an annoying necessity, to a fully justified buckle, binding the individual pieces into a logical whole. The wealth of decaying sounds and a certain flow, being the contradiction of the stiff convenances usually associated with classical music, did not allow it to become boring. But the more time I spent with this kind of music, based on natural instruments, the more I became convinced, that the naturality and intensity of the sound provided by the V1, does not result from favoring any of the sound generating contraptions, but rather from allowing them the most comfortable environment to work with, their wellbeing, as it were. This boiled down to eliminating any parasitic artefacts and anomalies, which often not only degrade, but sometimes even distort and change the original sounds.
Comparing the tested Furutech to a similarly extreme competition, it could not be overlooked, that put against the Synergistic Research Galileo SX AC (review coming shortly), the Japanese cable starts to build the stage behind the speakers, and the further planes are going surprising far. This is the reason, the listener gains a phenomenal insight into the recording, while at the same time keeping this a perspective conform with nature – without any artificial blow-ups, close-ups, or more generally speaking, exaggeration.
Changing, and at the same time slightly modernizing, the repertoire by reaching for the prog-rock “Noise Floor” by Spock’s Beard, it became clear, that the denser and more complicated the action on the stage gets, the more at ease the Furutech feels with it. Multiple planes and neck-breaking melodic lines? Orchestrations mixed with guitar riffs, solid drums and percussion (again played by Nick D’Virgilio)? This poses no problem at all, and you can see, that this is not the summit of the Japanese cable’s abilities, but only an innocent warm-up. Even with the prog-metal, and dangerously close to thrash-metal, gallopade (the double kick sounds here like a fast firing, heavy machine gun) “Long Night’s Journey into Day” by Redemption, you could discern absolutely no shortness of breath. Something that cannot go unnoticed is, that there is absolutely no nervousness and no attempt and upping the tempo. Everything is delivered to the point and served as it should be – al dente, what means that the differentiation of the bass goes hand in hand with its ability to reach regions, where instead of hearing the individual frequencies, we just feel them with our whole body, so there is cannot be any talk about thinning or drying it out. The guitars are fiercely stingy, they drill inside our brain like a drilling machine at the dentist, yet they do not fall into being overly offensive. They still carry appropriate weight and punch, so this is not just a metallic clamour, but rather white hot metal, incinerating those, who come too close, while having the mass appropriate for that destruction, and an almost magnetic coherence and velvety smoothness. This is also the proof, that even a disc with heavy music can be recorded and mastered at least good, and eventual issues with reproduction may come not from its deficiency, but from the limitations of the reproducing audio gear. I probably do not need to mention, that the Furutech PROJECT-V1 does not have any such limitations.

Trying to summarize that, what the Furutech PROJECT-V1 presented in my system, with true reluctance, and badly concealed despair, I came to the conclusion, that while its presence was very much to my liking, the time I needed to unplug it, was as traumatic as root canal treatment by a dentist. You cannot fool the human nature. We were programmed in such a way, that we get quickly accustomed to something good, and when we need to lower our flight attitude, we perceive it as a very painful experience. That was the case this time. This is the more telling, that when I removed the PROJECT-V1 from my system, I returned to the, phenomenal on its own, NanoFlux-NCF. The problem was, that the V1 turned out to play in a completely different league. A league, where only a select few have access to. Fortunately enough, thanks to RCM, I had the privilege to host it twice, and gain very valuable experience. At the same time I could again raise the bar of my very private absolute, a perspective I will apply when reviewing other cables that will fall in my hands.

Marcin Olszewski

System used in this test:
– CD/DAC: Ayon CD-35 (Preamp + Signature) + Finite Elemente Cerabase compact
– Network player: Lumin U1 Mini + I-O Data Soundgenic HDL-RA4TB
– Digital source selector: Audio Authority 1177
– Turntable: Kuzma Stabi S + Kuzma Stogi + Dynavector DV-10X5
– Phonostage: Tellurium Q Iridium MM/MC Phono Pre Amp
– Power amplifier: Bryston 4B³ + Graphite Audio IC-35 Isolation Cones
– Loudspeakers: Dynaudio Contour 30 + Brass Spike Receptacle Acoustic Revive SPU-8 + Base Audio Quartz platforms
– IC RCA: Tellurium Q Silver Diamond
– IC XLR: Organic Audio; Vermöuth Audio Reference; Acrolink 7N-A2070 Leggenda
– Digital IC: Fadel art DigiLitz; Harmonic Technology Cyberlink Copper; Apogee Wyde Eye; Monster Cable Interlink LightSpeed 200
– USB cables: Wireworld Starlight; Goldenote Firenze Silver; Fidata HFU2; Vermöuth Audio Reference
– Speaker cables: Signal Projects Hydra; Vermöuth Audio Reference Loudspeaker Cable
– Power cables: Furutech FP-3TS762 / FI-28R / FI-E38R; Organic Audio Power + Furutech CF-080 Damping Ring; Acoustic Zen Gargantua II; Furutech Nanoflux Power NCF
– Power distribution board: Furutech e-TP60ER + Furutech FP-3TS762 / Fi-50 NCF(R) /FI-50M NCF(R)
– Wall power socket: Furutech FT-SWS(R)
– Anti-vibration platform: Franc Audio Accessories Wood Block Slim Platform
– Switch: Silent Angel Bonn N8 + Silent Angel S28 + Silent Angel Forester F1 + Luna Cables Gris DC; Innuos PhoenixNet
– Ethernet cables: Neyton CAT7+; Audiomica Anort Consequence + Artoc Ultra Reference + Arago Excellence; Furutech LAN-8 NCF
– Table: Solid Tech Radius Duo 3
– Acoustic panels: Vicoustic Flat Panels VMT

Opinion 2

I do not know how you see it, but in my opinion, the Japanese brand Furutech escapes the stereotypical view of audio brands existing on the market. I mean with this, that it has two aspects to its products. They carry their own portfolio of ready made products, but at the same time a wealthy palette of half-products, like cables on spools and all kinds of confection dedicated to them. Is this madness? Are they trying to cut the branch they are sitting on? Absolutely not, as this is ongoing for years, and still Furutech is a brand, which is even recognized by my wife, a person completely not interested in our hobby. This is the result of the engineers of the mentioned company are not slacking, but consistently introduce new patents, with the NCF technology being a recent example. And when it would seem, that after this milestone, the research and development department could go on vacation, it turns out, that the Japanese present to the world their newest and, importantly, most technologically complicated product in the company’s history. I am talking about the hero of this test, the Furutech Project-V1, a product not leaving any illusions even when you look at it – as it is substantial in size, provided to us for testing by the Katowice based RCM.

Starting the abbreviated description of the tested cable, let me say this: if the Japanese talk in their company materials, directed to their potential clients, about high complication of the construction, then in case of Furutech, it is like that in one hundred percent. Seemingly we have here only three conductors, but let me assure you, this is only the iceberg summit of the technical advancement of the cable. Let me provide you with a very shortened version of the construction. The conductors are made from silver coated copper Alpha OCC and Alpha DUCC. Upon those a dual-layer isolation was placed, made from fluor-polymer and polyethylene. Next, there this “three-pack” is encased with polyester fibers and a paper tube, that sets its diameter. Another step outwards and we have a nano-ceramic enriched PVC sheath, dampened with carbon powder. This complicated sandwich is again placed in a paper tube, which functions as a soft, antivibration stabilizer of the whole construct. Finally the whole is again dampened with carbon powder and PVC tubes, enriched with nano-ceramic. Of course, the fathers of this model would not be satisfied, if they would not fight for the best signal transfer with appropriate shielding, so the cable has double shields outside of the first dampening layer of carbon particles and nano-ceramic PVC. One layer of the shield is made from copper foil, the second one – from a copper braid. The whole cable is placed inside a nicely looking, opaque black braid sheath. Now you must confess, we are talking about a construction madness. But why do that? Of course, this is all for getting the best results in transmitting lifegiving electric energy. Now about the plugs used to terminate the cable. We have here the most recent models, dedicated to this cable. The cable has two different diameters – in the middle, it is about 1.5 times thicker than its ends, so the manufacturer opted to conceal the places, where the diameter changes with barrels, looking almost identical to the plugs, both visually, as with regard to the used technologies. Finalizing this very short description of the very complicated construction of the V1, I will just mention, that the standard length of the Furutech power cord is 1.8m.

When, after a few listening sessions, which turned out great, I started to think, how to best approach the topic of telling you the most important characteristics of the tested product, I was a bit baffled, and did not really know how to do it, until I received the information about its construction from the company marketing department. Evidently, the cable presented itself very interestingly, in an unexpected way, but in the good meaning of that word, I would even go as far, as calling it phenomenal. But I was not sure, how to phrase all the nuances I heard, and not spoil the test. Should I praise it from the start? Or maybe try to build-up tension gradually? Fortunately, the company materials helped me not only with the description of the cable’s internals, but also in terms of how to describe its sound. Of course, I read that kind of information every time I am testing something, but in most cases, those are just wishful thinking. But fortunately most cases does not mean all cases, so I was glad, that also with this aspect, the tested brand showed, how to care for the reputation it has built during the many years of being on the market. So what were the Japanese writing about?
They wrote about high resolution of the musical spectacle, with special attention not for the treble, but lower and medium ranges. Also about improving projection and palpability of the virtual sound stage by lowering the amount of noise. About coherent and controlled bass. About the energy of the reproduced music. And brilliant dynamics of the presentation, thanks to all the things mentioned before. So how did I perceive it?
You might be surprised, but in the first moment, the perceived “expression” of the sound got pushed back. The sound stopped asking forcefully for applause. But when I read the assumptions of the manufacturer, this push back just turned out to be the result of those. This was an evident case, when the seemingly harmful “less” turns into the expected “more” in the end. The keyword here is resolution – achieved not by the usual upping of tonality or slight thinning of the upper midrange, but by removal of the background noise, which allows the softest bits and pieces of the musical information to come forward. And those are just the first results of resolution improvement, as due to the increased transparency of the lower octaves, those started to reach far more down, the midrange became more readable, as expected, and the treble, which was a bit less intensive at first contact, exploded with a wealth of micro-details. If that would not be enough, the tested Furutech power cord clearly confirmed, that you can convert the effort of cleaning power supplied to your audio system into pure energy, and not into averaging of the sound. The bass and midrange became more dense, but not at all thinned, anorectic or edgy; they became nicely pulsating, with rounded edges, sounding with more energy and brilliantly vibrant.
Up until this test, I thought that I reached the mythical Olympus in that aspect, yet the V1 showed me clearly, how much I was mistaken. And you need to know, that I was using only one piece of it, powering the CD transport. So what would happen, if I would apply this cable, with its multiple isolators and shields, in the DAC or use more than one? Truly? First of all – I had only one cable at my disposal. Secondly – I was afraid to plug it in elsewhere in my system. This fear was caused by the outstanding, and during the test absolutely brilliant, handling of the most demanding genres of music by the system. Against expectations, this genre was not rock madness, ruthless electronics, or even big symphonics, but jazz, exposing the sound of the double bass, like Paul Bley and similar artists, the multi-coloured virtuoso bow work, as well as the phenomenal sound of the viola da gamba, like the one from the Jordi Savall repertoire. What is the reason for that? To verify the resolution of the sound, you just need to find a seemingly monotone playing single instrument, which in capable, virtuoso hands, turns into a phenomenal piece of art, something very difficult to reproduce. Yes, big, symphonic orchestra is also a good example, but if something as simple as the mentioned “blown-up violins” is important for you, then you will easily know, where the phenomenon of the tested cable is. For me this was a knockout. A brutal one. Because it did not happen after desperately searching for positive aspects of it, but just after a few minutes of casual listening after plugging it in. I did not think, that improvement of resolution can influence the projection of energy in the mid and lower range of the sound spectrum that much, with s general explosion of information throughout the whole range – and I need to remind you about the treble being seemingly quieter. The contrabass and the viola started showing the state of their strings each and every millisecond, while having received an injection of vitality, expanding the decay of the notes. Additionally, visible improvement happened to the attack, which became much more condensed and boiling with energy, while not having artificially sharpened edges.
It is difficult for me to express my state of mind, in which I was placed by the tested power cable. However if I would still try to do that, it would be total excitement, a feeling I mostly forgot, because of the quality of my system. This excitement happened not only due to the described resolution per se, although it worked on my brain like narcotics, but through its input in the reproduction of a very palpable and extended in each direction – width, depth and height – musical world, which was visualized, in 3D terms, much better, than usual.
This was so consequential, that I caught myself many times on unconscious focusing on the smallest movements of the bow on the string, and the sonic effect of that movement, instead of looking at the musical piece as a whole. And please do not worry – I did not loose anything during those moments, I know those pieces by heart, but this state of mind was the result of very minute way of showing the musical material. This subconsciously invited me to start searching for the beginning and the end of the vibration of any given string, yet without being choked by the technicalities of the viola and bass players employed to achieve this results. I was still listening to the same recordings. They had the attack, energy, speed of rhythm changes, finesse and unlimited decay of the notes. But in the configuration with the Japanese cable plugged in, the refinement and way of providing information was on a level, that my system did not achieve before. A miracle? Not by any means – just the effect of hard work of the research and development department of Furutech.

So how would I classify our tested hero? Whom would I recommend it? You may be surprised, but I have very trivial responses to both questions. The first response is the argument, that the characteristics presented by the tested cord are unique in every aspect. And I am not thinking about the masterful amount and quality of bass, midrange and treble, but about the brilliant balancing of essence, energy and information carried by those ranges, and all being just means of painting a palpable world of music. Of course it was as real, as current technology of recording music on discs allows it to be. Regarding the second question, the answer is, that anyone should be invited to test it out, regardless of the sound aesthetics achieved by his or hers audio system. This recommendation is based on the splendid resolution of the tested cable, which I described above. This cable was capable of upping my system to the yet unheard levels of quality, while having a dense and dark projection. Do you think, that I am stretching facts now? Try it out for yourself, and you will know. Alas, everything good must come to an end. What do I mean by that? I am not sure what will finally become of that, but initially the Furutech Project-V1 power cable was to be limited to only 40 pieces. And if this is really the case, I urge you to hurry, and borrow it for even a casual listening, and I will not be surprised, when you decide to leave it plugged in your stereo. And that means, that this small pool, distributed around the world, may be exhausted in just weeks. So be warned – in this case not the price, but availability may be your biggest enemy.

Jacek Pazio

System used in this test:
Source:
– transport: CEC TL 0 3.0
– streamer: Melco N1A/2EX + switch Silent Angel Bonn N8
– DAC: dCS Vivaldi DAC 2.0
– Master clock: Mutec REF 10 SE-120
– reclocker: Mutec MC-3+USB
– Shunyata Research Omega Clock
– Shunyata Sigma V2 NR
– Preamplifier: Gryphon Audio Pandora
– Power amplifier: Gryphon Audio Mephisto Stereo
– Loudspeakers: Gauder Akustik Berlina RC-11 Black Edition
– Speaker Cables: Synergistic Research Galileo SX SC
– IC RCA: Hijiri Million „Kiwami”, Vermouth Audio Reference
– IC XLR: Tellurium Q Silver Diamond, Hijiri Milion „Kiwami”
– Digital IC: Hijiri HDG-X Milion
– Power cables: Hijiri Takumi Maestro, Furutech NanoFlux NCF, Furutech DPS-4.1 + FI-E50 NCF(R)/ FI-50(R), Hijiri Nagomi, Vermouth Audio Reference Power Cord, Acrolink 8N-PC8100 Performante
– Table: SOLID BASE VI
– Accessories: Harmonix TU 505EX MK II, Stillpoints ULTRA SS, Stillpoints ULTRA MINI, antivibration platform by SOLID TECH, Harmonix AC Enacom Improved for 100-240V, Harmonix Room Tuning Mini Disk RFA-80i
– Power distribution board: POWER BASE HIGH END
– Acoustic treatments by Artnovion
Analog stage:
Drive: Clearaudio Concept
Cartridge: Essence MC
Step-up: Thrax Trajan
Phonostage: Sensor 2 mk II

Polish distributor: RCM
Manufacturer: Furutech
Price: 8000€ / 1,8m

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