Thank you for this, I am looking at doing it, too.
Review: Furutech Carbon Fiber 104D Receptacle Cover Tweak
Category: Accessories
This will be a short review, because what does one say about a receptacle cover, whose only job, it would seem, is to eliminate vibration and RFI from getting to the receptacle.
All I can say is that, for me, the cover does it job and does it damned well. It increases transparency furthur into the soundstage and lowers the noise floor. It is similar to changing the fuses that come with components, and the fuses (I have the HiFi Supremes, The AMR fuses, and the Synergistic Research Tesla Plex SE, onto which it so happens this Furutech rests).
The cover seems, by repelling RF, to make clearer the ambient atmosphere of the recorded environment on the CD, so that harmonics shimmer into silent (but not "deadened" space) and the space around instruments is even more obvious. Perhaps it is simply the carbon fiber material.
Whatever it is, it surpasses your standard wall cover, and the FIM outlets I had as well. I WON'T say it increases the 3D aspects of the musicians and singers: it simply allows them to be more apparent when they are there (some recordings are beyond hope, yet even they seem less electronic, particularly on female voice). Brenda Holloway, one of Motown's better unknown gems ("Every Little Bit Hurts," "When I'm Gone") has a 2 CD set recording of her songs for Motown. The recording seemed edgy and electronic, and her voice, on certain notes, dropped out in a way that made it seems as though she was taking a breath. With the Carbon Fiber cover in place, her voice is not only more continuous, so that those notes that once disappeared, are now apparent, but the soulfulness of her singing, her artistry if you will, is easily on display and she can be heard as the very good singer she is. It is more of a "clarity" thing than a "transparency thing," as though what is being revealed is more of whatever music is there while killing off an obvious degree of grain. Is it worth $104?!? Only you can decide that, but on a sonic level, to my aging ears, it is most assuredly worth it.
And of course, the cover is quite nice to look at. Black, with a nice, shiny, textured finish to it, looks very classy and expensive (the last part, if definitely is, but I didn't mind parting with the bucks after I heard the sonics. I bought another one for my other Synergistic Tesla Plex SE ac receptacle, but soon the Furutech GTX-D Rhodium ac receptacle will arrive and replace one of the Teslas, so I'll have a matched pair: outlet AND outlet cover.
In any case, Furutech's products may fly under the radar of most High End audiophiles, but they shouldn't. Electricity is where it all starts: get it right at the wall before it even starts out of the outlet itself, and there's one less thing to gaze at and wonder..."Hmmm....I wonder if I can get a more musical sound by improving the electrical transmission at the wall socket..." Wonder no more. You can.
Associated gear
CJ Classic SE, Arcam FMJ 23 CD player, Nordost Valhalla interconnects, MG Audio AG interconnects, MG Audio Planus 3 speaker cable, ASL Hurricane amps
Similar products
FIM Outlet Covers
This will be a short review, because what does one say about a receptacle cover, whose only job, it would seem, is to eliminate vibration and RFI from getting to the receptacle.
All I can say is that, for me, the cover does it job and does it damned well. It increases transparency furthur into the soundstage and lowers the noise floor. It is similar to changing the fuses that come with components, and the fuses (I have the HiFi Supremes, The AMR fuses, and the Synergistic Research Tesla Plex SE, onto which it so happens this Furutech rests).
The cover seems, by repelling RF, to make clearer the ambient atmosphere of the recorded environment on the CD, so that harmonics shimmer into silent (but not "deadened" space) and the space around instruments is even more obvious. Perhaps it is simply the carbon fiber material.
Whatever it is, it surpasses your standard wall cover, and the FIM outlets I had as well. I WON'T say it increases the 3D aspects of the musicians and singers: it simply allows them to be more apparent when they are there (some recordings are beyond hope, yet even they seem less electronic, particularly on female voice). Brenda Holloway, one of Motown's better unknown gems ("Every Little Bit Hurts," "When I'm Gone") has a 2 CD set recording of her songs for Motown. The recording seemed edgy and electronic, and her voice, on certain notes, dropped out in a way that made it seems as though she was taking a breath. With the Carbon Fiber cover in place, her voice is not only more continuous, so that those notes that once disappeared, are now apparent, but the soulfulness of her singing, her artistry if you will, is easily on display and she can be heard as the very good singer she is. It is more of a "clarity" thing than a "transparency thing," as though what is being revealed is more of whatever music is there while killing off an obvious degree of grain. Is it worth $104?!? Only you can decide that, but on a sonic level, to my aging ears, it is most assuredly worth it.
And of course, the cover is quite nice to look at. Black, with a nice, shiny, textured finish to it, looks very classy and expensive (the last part, if definitely is, but I didn't mind parting with the bucks after I heard the sonics. I bought another one for my other Synergistic Tesla Plex SE ac receptacle, but soon the Furutech GTX-D Rhodium ac receptacle will arrive and replace one of the Teslas, so I'll have a matched pair: outlet AND outlet cover.
In any case, Furutech's products may fly under the radar of most High End audiophiles, but they shouldn't. Electricity is where it all starts: get it right at the wall before it even starts out of the outlet itself, and there's one less thing to gaze at and wonder..."Hmmm....I wonder if I can get a more musical sound by improving the electrical transmission at the wall socket..." Wonder no more. You can.
Associated gear
CJ Classic SE, Arcam FMJ 23 CD player, Nordost Valhalla interconnects, MG Audio AG interconnects, MG Audio Planus 3 speaker cable, ASL Hurricane amps
Similar products
FIM Outlet Covers
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