Hi all, I have a question again, regarding the FI-28 Connector Rhodium variant. My system is a hybrid tube system from Unison Resarch with green Sylvania NOS tubes and the new Dali Opticon MK2 as speakers which are also already Burned in, as tuning I have a fine fuse from Alan Maher Fourier Audiophile Fuse. Until now I had an enormously good power cord on it that was already equipped with Furutech F11 Gold.
It sounded really everything already excellent but as they say, it always goes better. So I was once again faced with a decision, Furutech FI 28 gold or rhodium?
I must admit earlier I always wanted to have only an analytical system ... but since I have this F11 Gold power cord, I feel the music so extreme that it makes me addicted.
Important to mention I come from Switzerland, which is why my Schuko plug is not a real Schuko respectively consists of gold, there are only about 2 high-end plugs the market is really small there and this gold plug but does a very good job.
Since I got carried away by the people who prefer the rhodium, I decided to go that way.
I am aware that it will take quite a while until the new plugs are in place...but I wonder at the moment if I have not made a big mistake.
The music, unlike the F11, plays more spatial and tactful and analytical but the treble is enormous and almost tiring. The bass has gained in power is even more precise but still everything sounds a bit artificial ... In total, I have the FI 28 Connector now played 20 hours. Of course I know that with time everything will stabilize a bit... but I wonder if this is possibly also the character of rhodium. Or can it be that rhodium plug and gold Schuko not fit together?
What do you think, should I save the time and directly get the FI-28 Gold or should I get give the Rhodium a chance?
Furutech Rhodium is excellent. However, it does take a long time to burn in. It can be extremely harsh and painful to listen to during this process (and you are definitely in that area with 20 hours of use).
I would take that power cord and connect it to something non-critical for 2-3 weeks straight. You shouldn't waste your hours of burn in on that tube equipment! The Rhodium really needs 300-500 hours to sound good (depending on system). Just connect it to some application or gear that is always powered on (anything that uses that IEC connector).
Well waiting is unfortunately not quite my strength but you are right. Will now connect the cable in my PC that is always on and will look again after about 3 weeks if something has changed. And otherwise continue to wait until it is acceptable.
Well as I said, I had the F11 gold with the current Schuko plug which are also gold. The plugs were completely burned in and it sounded heavenly but, you noticed that there is still something going up. Thus, the FI-28 should actually play in another league. Sure I could also buy the FI-50 but that’s a lot of money because I expect then also enormously more power but at the moment this is too expensive for me.
I think I had read in a thread that it depends on whether with what you connect the cable, respectively front and rear should be rhodium. With me is now front rhodium back gold ... because unfortunately there are not many possibilities in Switzerland for a Schuko plug in rhodium ... except Viborg I think ... otherwise there is only the possibility of a fixed adapter to the Schuko ..but the question is whether then the Performence decreases because it is an intermediate piece. Have me also already considered the matching Schuko Furutech FI e38R to buy.
But as the other forum members have mentioned I should wait a while before I make my decision.
I believe in good quality plugs but matching different materials at iec and schuko is a hard way though it may prove a good thing like having a gold and plain copper at ends.Why don't you try rhodium at both ends with 28/38? Sure they will be lacking compared to 50NCF but performance would be more uniform.
Now the 38R I would still have to get me. As already mentioned, I would then have to use a fixed adapter, this can then no longer be removed. This is how it would look https://cdn.competec.ch/images2/7/8/2/58496287/58496287_xxl3.jpg What do you think it would greatly affect the sound? this is actually only a kind of transition from EU to CH plug.
On the other hand I still have a Viborg Rhodium plug with CH connector. Unfortunately I do not know Viborg so well, is it any good? And what is the break-in time there?
Thank you again for the great advice. Well I really racked my brain for a long time with what I will feed my plant gold or rhodium.
I’ve done a lot of small tunings and my system already plays very open, precise, fast and natural... I think rhodium is wonderful but not for already live systems.
Since I have now found a very good offer, where FI-E38 and FI-28 are already included for a good price I will buy this.
Since I love a smooth unstressful analog sound I think it is more in line with my wishes. You have helped me a lot in my decision. Thanks again
I don't know why steakster thinks the FI-28 is so bad. I have used the entire range of Furutech rhodium plugs (FI-28, FI-50 NCF, FI-15 Plus, FI-11R). They are all very excellent. The low cost FI-15 Plus is actually a very good deal and sounds excellent. It uses the same exact rhodium plated conductors and clamping mechanism that you find in FI-28 and FI-50. The only different is a plastic folding case. Even the case screws are still grounded on the FI-15 Plus.
The metallurgy of the FI-11 and FI-28M is identical, so you’re only gaining the ground connection to the screw hardware. All are great plugs. Take the plug savings for the receptacles to GTX Rhodiums or better yet Rhodium NCF.
I just wanted to let you know that in the meantime I have bought the FI28 Gold including the FI38 Gold and have already played over 60 hours and it is already a revelation. My ears somehow can't get used to Rhodium, although it is supposed to be very good. But all the more I am enormously satisfied with this combo.
In my opinion, rhodium plated is the end game. However, I have found that it can be the great revealer - including revealing flaws in your electronics. It can make sterile or bright sounding equipment sound even worse. In this case, the Furutech gold-plated stuff is the better option. If you find that it is too warm/slow sounding for you, the Neotech gold-plated is actually a bit faster. Furutech loves to put a very heavy plating on their stuff and it definitely influences the sound.
After reading so many positive reviews about furutech rhodium plugs i swapped all my fi15 plus gold to rhodium. I have about 6 sets of cables going into pre, monoblocks, dcs network bridge and a lampizator dac. I ran in all my rhodium plug including a fi50 ncf iec plug for at least 600 hrs in a daisy chain configuration powering a fridge.
I should also mention my entire system my dac to pre to amps is fully tube powered.
Okay in a nutshell i would not recommend you go 100% rhodium. You'll feel the tone tilt towards upward frequency, you will lose the golden mid range. You'll hear more detail but you'll also feel like someone had push the mic away from your singers. You'll lose the mid range magic. Mixing and match some pure copper plugs and gold restored some of the magic. Going all Rhodium definately was not the end game in my system. I only use furutech plugs. The iec plugs i used were fi15 c ncf.
Do consider the Furutech GTX-D NCF duplex outlet. This one combined with good power cords is heaven.
I do not have experience with Furutech plugs or power cords but did look at the various options when I was looking for a high quality power cord earlier last year. There are just too many types to choose from - Gold, silver, Rodhium and copper. In the end I went for something else, a non-Furutech cord since I can’t make up my mind on the right Furutech plugs and matching cable. The Furutech dealer was pushing the higher range factory terminated cords but I had already bought something else during that time.
In total, I have the FI 28 Connector now played 20 hours. Of course I
know that with time everything will stabilize a bit... but I wonder if
this is possibly also the character of rhodium.
I don't know about the F28 but the GTX-D NCF duplex requires a minimum 300 hours break-in period in my experience. Others have reported up to 500 hours. It sounded quite terrible between 50 to 200 hours.
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