Furutech LineFlux-NCF RCA Cable Review

This time in the test: LineFlux- NCF RCA, the latest top-of-the-line cinch interconnect cable from Furutech
 
It is Furutech’s first signal cable to incorporate the company’s proprietary NCF antistatic and antiresonance material, as well as α (alpha) conductors composed of fine OCC wires treated with Furutech’s alpha cryogenic and demagnetization process. 

Furutech LineFlux-NCF 

NCF – Nano Crystal² Formula is included in select Furutech products and is made of a special crystalline material that has two “active” properties. First, it generates negative ions that eliminate static. Second, it converts thermal energy into far-infrared. Furutech combines this remarkable material with nano-sized ceramic particles and carbon powder, which have additional damping properties through the ‘piezoelectric effect’. The resulting Nano Crystal² Formula is the ultimate electrical and mechanical damping material. It was developed by Furutech and is exclusively included in Furutech products.
All audiophiles seek the same qualities: faithful reproduction of the event, a sense of engagement that promotes suspension of disbelief, an intuitive immersion in the audio-video experience. 
The dilemma many faces is that the more clarity, transparency, and resolution audio systems provide, the more obvious poor recordings become. Recordings that still sound acceptable on an inadequate system can become distracting as the bass, midrange, and upper frequencies open up. The broadband, smooth, extremely low noise, and highly musical presentation achieved with Furutech’s beautifully crafted LineFlux NCF (RCA) cables are the result of careful engineering and careful testing of various suitable materials. The result is the excellent overall balance of characteristics Furutech is known for, allowing one to feel, experience, and communicate with music.
Furutech LineFlux NCF (RCA) interconnect cables feature a solid α (alpha) OCC conductor, double-layer shielding, and a high-quality polyethylene dielectric, as well as a composite jacket with resonance damping material – nano-ceramic and carbon powder for improved signal transmission. 
The result is extremely fine resolution in-depth and through the very low noise floor, enhanced sound staging and image palpability, a musical, attractive, “round” midrange, tight and controlled bass, and power and dynamics galore.

Connectors

When it comes to high-end audio cables, every little thing matters to the final sonic outcome. As with everything, the Furutech team has paid a lot of attention to the connectors. 

LineFlux- NCF RCA includes the CF -102 NCF(R) RCA connectors with α (Alpha) OCC rhodium-plated, one-piece construction conductor tube pin injected with Furutech’s ultimate anti-static and resonance damping material – NCF.
NCF provides improved soundstage depth and focus, harmonics, and tonal balance. Low frequencies are cleaner and have better definition due to lower noise floors.
α (Alpha) Copper Alloy Rhodium-plated Body uses a multi-layered Hybrid NCF carbon enclosure consisting of an outer hard clearcoat layer and another layer of Hybrid NCF silver-plated 3k carbon fiber on a non-magnetic stainless steel body. The best damping and isolation materials improve frequency extension and tonal balance. The conductor wire is fixed with a set screw. 

Highlights

  • Solid core α (alpha) OCC conductor. 
  • Double layer shielding for improved noise isolation.
  • Insulation/dielectric: high-quality polyethylene.
  • Resonance damping material – nano ceramic and carbon powder & PVC composite jacket.
  • Dimensions: Cable diameter: approx. 13.0 mm.
  • Total length: 1.2 m/pair.

The music

Music perhaps comes closest to the utopian idea of time travel. It is not the exact physical manifestation, but a more metaphysical experience where a seemingly endless musical material recorded in different eras can revive a gist of time and grasp some of the magic from the time capsule in the form of records. 
Furutech LineFlux- NCF RCA cables have proven that they are capable of achieving the same level of quality in all genres, providing a unique immersion in music. 
As always, here are some of the tracks that highlight the benefits of Furutech LineFlux- NCF RCA. 
After all these years, Norah Jones – Come Away still offers an eerie enchantment. Despite being labeled by many as an audiophile record, I can actually enjoy the music without ever contemplating why and how it was recorded.  
The LineFlux- NCF RCA cables projected a different kind of clarity and resilience of vocal, making the Jones even more real. 
A natural, dark embellishment that defined Jones’ vocals with no masquerading effect, but with a different attitude of subtlety.
Norah Jones’ voice and the instrument escaped the spearing that many cables exhibit regardless of price. 
The interweaving of the instruments was not forced, but essentially correct, without the instruments stealing each other’s designated space or frequency range. 
Kiril Kondrashin – Khachaturian: The Masquerade Suite/ Kabalevsky: The Comedians can too often sound insensitive.
With Furutech LineFlux- NCF RCA cables, the sheer proximity of the orchestra became apparent with no hard efforts. 
Orchestral music always requires sonically demanding readjustments and the mighty powerful, yet the fragile core is easily bendable.
Furutech LineFlux-NCF behaved impartially when it came to dynamics and fusing massive sonic energy. It was very interesting to observe an unexpected rendition that not only fully excavated the deepest layers, but also reproduced the attacks and leading edges of the notes with lightning speed.
Furutech LineFlux- NCF RCA allowed dynamic fluctuations to soar to great heights in a very short time. The complex swarm of the orchestra blended just right, escaping the fragmentation that too frequently occurs with the majority of the cables.
LineFlux-NCF somehow managed to bridge the passages more naturally, showing widespread dynamic differences without holding them back to be fully expanded.
 
The Masquerade Suite’s witty narrative was enhanced with spot-on tempos and pinpoint fulfillment of the holographic sound canvas. 
With Miles Davis – Someday My Prince Will Come, a point of great subtlety and reconciliation with the music was vividly displayed and fixated.
An all-star ensemble featuring Miles Davis (trumpet), Paul Chambers (bass), Jimmy Cobb (drums), John Coltrane (tenor sax), Philly Joe Jones (drums), Wynton Kelly (piano), and Hank Mobley (tenor saxophone) presents a mixture of dynamics and harmonic richness that can be considerably slowed down and formed chaotically if the cables are not “up-to-the-speed”.  
At the helm of affairs, the energy of the music bursted with potency and Furutech LineFlux-NCF RCA could let it follow undisrupted. 
Someday My Prince Will Come was recorded over three days in 1961 and is still as fresh as when it was released. The rhythm section and sparkling interplay between the musicians create a unique experience that LineFlux-NCF has only deepened both sonically and musically. 
Daft Punk – Random Access Memories, the fourth album by the now-defunct band Daft Punk, is a very different kind of contemporary disco/dance music that excels both musically and sonically. 
Awarded. Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, Best Dance/Electronica Album, Best Technical Album, non-classic Grammy Awards in 2014, and for good reason. The iconic duo invested heavily in the musicians and the time and quality of this chart topping studio recording. 
With everything in the system set right, Random Access Memories should rejuvenate the listening experience and provide a sublime immersion into this outstanding electronic music. 
The instantly recognizable guitar chords of “Get Lucky” should immediately tauten the listener in with a downpour of emotion and the Furutech LineFlux- NCF RCA cables were not shy about presenting them in full bloom. 
The LineFlux NCF cables conveyed the energetic journey with the capacity to fill the room with highly pulsating and powerful music, never sounding uninvolving or distracting the listener with particular forced on peculiarity. 
Jean Guillou J. S. BACH – Toccatas Et Fugues, released by AudioNautes Recordings, needs no special introduction. Still, the sheer massiveness of the organ music is fascinatingly captured, to say the least. 
If you want to experience Bach’s fugues to the fullest, this is the recording to explore. Not only because of the exemplary, unsurpassed sound reproduction but also because of Guillou’s expert playing. 
There is nothing like turning off the lights completely and being intoxicated by these Bach Fugues. The opening piece, which most will easily and instantly recognize, sets an impressive tempo and offers a unique holographic presentation that is steadily presented across the album. If you have ever witnessed the majestic, full-blown impact of a church organ in person, it’s not exactly easy to replicate the tremendous sonic force. 
A lot of “air” needs to be moved properly by a well-balanced high-end system to make it happen. But, when it’s there one can witness a magnificent portion of reality. 
 
The sheer, almost ghastly real experience, enhanced by the Furutech LineFlux- NCF RCA, continued with another outstanding AudioNautes Recordings recording, The Westminster Choir O MAGNUM MYSTERIUM, a Chesky Records reissue in which the organ is accompanied by the mixed male and female choir.  
This is one of those recordings where the word translucency is in the right place. No other processing than the obvious RIAA equalization has been implemented, and you can not only hear that, you can feel it. The pure massiveness of the organ hits the chest unapologetically surrounded by thousands of acoustical anchor points. 
One of the Furutech LineFlux-NCF’s greatest virtues is on full display with Toccatas Et Fugues. 
The realism, the feeling of being on the spot, and the holographic, three-dimensional recurrence create a fundamental marriage of all the qualities that both audiophiles and music lovers can enjoy. 
Transparency is often cited and described, but rarely experienced in practice, but Furutech LineFlux- NCF RCA cables are worth all the praise for this quality alone.

Conclusion

In the high-end audio universe, there is only one constant. The music! The rest of the associated paraphernalia is constantly changing with the new advances in materials, new circuits, electronic parts, and so on. 
Music holds a mysterious substance and, unlike anything else, offers that distinctive interaction of higher domains. 
Fortunately, of course, high-end audio and everything related to it is not a status quo but is in a constant state of change. There are so many ongoing efforts and companies that are trying to go beyond the ordinary and usual to increase the performance and quality of music reproduction. And it still feels like we are still on the path of discovery.
The key point and the ongoing question is how close and at what proximity we can replicate the original. 
In this endless endeavor, the high-end audio cables are the building blocks of any audio system and cannot be neglected. 
Of course, not every cable is the same, and not everything new is better.
The differences can be puzzling, but with careful consideration, impedance matching, and old-fashioned trial and error, the desired endpoint can be reached. 
Often, perhaps too often, signal cables can cause the music to collapse into a closed singularity instead of opening it up to musicality and expression. 
Furutech LineFlux- NCF RCA is one of those cables that enrich music reproduction, but not in the sense of artifice, but by letting the signal pass with a density that is not degrading. 
With the LineFlux-NCF Furutech has developed the right overall equilibrium that ensures a great spatial impression and an impressive projection of the horizontal and vertical acoustic extension, without tinkering with the golden trinity of timbre, tone, and color. 
While many RCA cables are somehow bound to the audio syllogism and often operate around the tiny point of radius, Furutech LineFlux- NCF RCA explores the complex and delicate arrangement of “atoms”, material, and principles in a much broader sense. 
With Furutech LineFlux- NCF RCA there is no cable mystery or mystique. No placebo, no false extremes, but the technology used to great effect, capable of both preserving what is valuable in the music and, through the clever implementation of different technologies and materials, not changing what is sonically successful. 
Music should never cause discomfort or fatigue, and for that, high-end audio components are as important as anything else. In a high-end audio setup, the output is as strong as its weakest part.
Furutech LineFlux- NCF RCA cables are among the few rare signal cables that are befitting to the music without the inconsistencies found in various signal audio cables regardless of the price.
Furuterch LineFlux- NCF RCA is an exquisite analog cable that conveys the electric and eclectic lease of life. 
Furutech has always been a visionary, highly venerated brand, and LineFlux- NCF RCA continues this path unconditionally. Their bold determination to explore, innovate and never compromise is reflected in the products that are welcomed with open hands by music lovers and audiophiles. Expectations for the introduction of any new Furutrech products are always a bit higher than with the rest of the crowd, and so far they have always delivered a recognizable consistency of quality and progression. Technically and sonically. 
For what they represent on many fronts, I am more than happy to give Furutech LineFlux- NCF RCA 2022 Mono and Stereo 2022 Upper Echelon Class Product Award. 
Matej Isak

Price

  • 2,130/pair EUR

Technical

  • Specified for cable diameters max. 11.0mm.
  • Dimensions: 14.0mm diameter x 54.0mm overall length
  • Net Weight: 29.5 g approx.

Contact


FURUTECH CO.,LTD.
Furutech Bldg.
3-9-1 Togoshi
Shinagawa-Ku, 
Tokyo 142-0041
Japan
Tel: +81-(0)3-6451-3941