Furutech 4.1 Series Cables - Outstanding Performance and Value


My review for the following bulk cables from Furutech:
DPS-4.1 Power Cable (to be referred to as "PC")
DSS-4.1 Speaker Cable ("SC")
DAS-4.1 Interconnect Cable (balanced, "IC")

I got a hot tip about these, and ended up loving the first power cable and IC so much that the majority of my cabling is now made from this Furutech 4.1 series bulk cabling. I have four of the PCs, two SCs on each speaker for a bi-wiring configuration, one pair of balanced ICs from DAC to preamp, and one IC as a digital AES/EBU cable. SCs and ICs are terminated with the latest, non-magnetic versions of the top of the line Furutech NCF rhodium plated connectors (highly recommended for the best performance). The exception is that chose the older model of the Furutech rhodium plated ceramic-damped spades for the low-pass SCs (to save money). PCs are terminated with a mix of excellent rhodium plated and silver/rhodium plated connectors, including the Furutech NCF FI-50 R and the Viborg 503R series. I've had these cables in my system for multiple months, and they were all cooked on an Audiodharma cable cooker shortly after being built. They are all fully burned in now, with many hundreds of hours on them.

These cables are sold in bulk for DIY cable building, so you would need to terminate yourself or find someone to make the cables for you. I'm a DIY person and most of my system is self-modded or self-built, but for this many cables I wanted to save time. I went to Chris at Romeo Cables to do all of the work on these cables and his end product and communication were both excellent. When I ordered, we customized all lengths, connectors, and any other details through back-and-forth emails. I think he put Furutech Nano Liquid contact enhancer on the conductors of all of these cables. The Romeo Cable products are good looking cables, too; I like the softer, less plasticky-looking sleeving he used on the PCs compared to the typical sleeving that I see.

Construction:
Top tier materials and construction. For details, visit Furutech's bulk cable product page: https://www.furutech.com/products/bulk-cables/
The PC and SC cable isn't super rigid, nor floppy. It's flexible enough for my system's requirements. The ICs are actually pretty flexible compared to other ICs I've used.

The Sound:
One remarkable thing about the PC, SC, and IC is that they essentially all impart the same sonic characteristics and they work together beautifully. I absolutely love all of these cables in my system, and I'm nearly certain that I will never look to replace them. They make music sound alive/dynamic and realistic. They can express all the subtle nuance your components want to express with a sense of openness and a total lack of restriction that makes music come alive with musicality, fine details and superb focus and imaging. They are not colored, but have a neutral/natural tonal signature with a realistic degree of natural feel/warmth.

The top end is wide open and the bottom end is as deep and authoritative and controlled as your components and speakers are capable of producing. I literally have no complaints, which is crazy for me :) As for the soundstage, that's going to be left up to the rest of your system to determine. This 4.1 series seems to go as deep/wide/high as your system's ultimate frequency response, timing, and acoustics will construct the sound stage. Bottom line: they get out of the way; cabling is no longer a bottleneck. If you think it is, try terminating with different connectors and wait for full burn-in.

If I were to suggest one cable to start with for the best cost-to-performance upgrade, knowing nothing about a system, it would be the PC on a power conditioner(s). However, an IC could be a major bottleneck in achieving dynamic, expressive, and high resolution audio... so it really depends on the system. I would generally say do the SCs last, but again, a generalization.  And by the way, don't overlook using this cabling for making a digital cable. You won't find anything with better focus, detail retrieval, and naturalness than the 4.1 series for this purpose. The digital cable makes a difference in a resolving system, and can be a overlooked bottleneck.

This very enthusiastic review is not an advertisement for Furutech 4.1 series cabling!! I'm still kind of shocked, months later, at the price:performance on these cables. The Furutech Project V1 is their top tier finished power cable, which retails at over $9.5K, and it's nearly the same construction as the DPS-4.1, except some of the wires are silver-coated and it has more vibration damping built-in. I'm not going to start listing all of the pricing for this bulk cable, but a DPS build is going to be way, way, way less than $9.5K :)

 

128x128gladmo

I received the DAS-4.1 interconnect w/Furutech top of the line rca termination.

More greatness!

While this line of cables is by no means inexpensive, it embarrasses more expensive competitors. 

I now have the DSS-4.1 speaker cable on order.

People, you need to try these cables!

@gita 

I know exactly what you mean 😁. I have owned too many exotic PC and my full loom of DPS cabling is just, Amazing...

Wig

 

I'm in the process. 

I had switched from a tubed integrated to a solid state integrated and found my loom of silver plated copper cables to no longer be synergistic.

After much research, I had a DPS 4.1 power cable built for me, with FI-50 NCF termination. After (necessary) lengthy break in on a cable cooker, I was surprised at the exceptional performance. Even though the parts seem expensive, and I paid a pro to build it, it's an extreme bargain. It outperforms other highly regarded, more expensive cables I had on hand.

I had another built. Same results. I now have on order a pair of interconnects using the DAS 4.1 and NCF RCA termination. I fully expect to buy the DSS speaker cables in the near future. I've been in the hobby for 40 years and I consider these products to be a steal with no downside, excepting the long burn-in.

Full loom of Furutech DPS 4.1 power cables.  They were always quite good, but at 500 hours they all woke up together.  It was like oxygen being pumped into the system.  Everything opened up:  Blacker background, wider sound stage, more dynamics, quicker attack and more space between instruments and vocals.

A wondrous cacophony of sound.  Cheers 

@gladmo 

I do and can't help from smiling each night I sit down for therapy.😁

Wig 🎶🎵

@gladmo 

You knocked it out of the park with this sleeper Furutech DPS cabling...My whole system is outfitted with Furutech DPS variants except the speaker cables in which I'm using Furutech #2 FS Alpha 36 and it's playing Way above its modest pricing.

Wig 👍🎵🎶

I've done the same. I have two full range DPS-4.1 speaker wires on each speaker, (people comment that I shouldn't do that and use one pair only with jumpers) Why, because what I'm doing isn't any good, No other explanation!  I've built 6 DPS 4.1 power cords various lengths.
 

For my DIY IC's I'm using 20 awg (sourced from VH audio) silver helix, dac to preamp balanced, I think these can be better, see the threads on those, now these are really fun to build more so than the Furutech, Parts were over $900 for a 1 meter pair.  Could've saved some on that and probably had the same result. 
I'll be building a full set of helix but for now I only use a streamer so I don't need that many pairs other than a usb cable. Then I'll try a helix power cord. So I guess any of these cables we build are just temporary!