With each new product, Furutech refines its craft further. Music first remains the cornerstone of this Japanese brand, and the Project V1-S speaker cable continues the legacy of combining traditional Japanese sensibility with contemporary advancements in cable manufacturing.
Project V1-S
Furutech Project V1-S sits at the top of the brand’s speaker cable range, designed to extract maximum performance from a high-end audio system. Built with the same focus and discipline as the Project V1 power cord, Project V1-L interconnect, Project V1-T tonearm cable, and Project V1-D digital cable, it prioritizes refinement over spectacle, delivering resolution, openness, and tonal accuracy without exaggeration.
At the heart of the Project V1-S is Furutech’s hybrid α (Alpha) conductor geometry, which combines a silver-coated OCC copper inner conductor with an α DUCC outer conductor, following the same approach as the Project V1-L and Project V1 series. Both conductors undergo Furutech’s cryogenic treatment and demagnetization process, resulting in improved conductivity and reduced signal contamination. In practice, this produces a sound that is composed, natural, and convincingly lifelike, appealing to both serious audiophiles and professional listeners.
Signal purity is further enhanced by Furutech’s NCF (Nano Crystal² Formula) technology. Integrated throughout the cable structure, NCF suppresses electrical noise and mechanical resonance, contributing to a quieter background and greater clarity. The effect is cumulative rather than dramatic, allowing fine detail, dynamic contrast, and spatial information to emerge more freely.
Construction quality matches Furutech’s flagship standards. The Project V1-S features a multi-layered sheath with high-grade insulation and vibration-damping elements, similar in concept to the Project V1 tonearm cable. This layered design minimizes external interference and mechanical stress, preserving signal integrity along the entire cable length.
Every aspect of the Project V1-S reflects Furutech’s methodical engineering philosophy. The combination of hybrid α conductors, three-layer shielding, single-layer outer sleeve, double-layer filler, and a dedicated cable damping ring results in a notably low noise floor and a clean, transparent presentation. The damping ring also improves handling and stability, reducing unwanted resonances that can subtly blur the signal.
Termination uses Furutech’s dedicated Project V1-S connectors, available in both spade and banana formats. These connectors feature non-magnetic rhodium-plated α pure copper conductors, housed in bodies insulated with NCF material and high-grade nylon. The connector housings and damping rings use a four-layer hybrid NCF carbon fiber structure, finished with a hardened, clear damping coating. The result is a secure, mechanically stable connection that aligns with the cable’s focus on control, neutrality, and long-term reliability.
Within Furutech’s reference lineup, the Project V1-S speaker cable feels less like an accessory and more like the final link designed to complete a carefully balanced system, quietly performing its function while allowing the music reproduction to speak for itself.
The Music
The fundamental task of any high-end audio component is its ability to present the full sonic canvas without coloration or constraint. It must preserve and reveal the information that enables a system to convey complete musical narratives, drawing the listener beyond mere sound into a more elevated, tactile, and immersive experience.
At its core, music is about emotional connection, closely tied to delivering accurate timbral information, precise pitches, timing, and all other elements that affect our sensory receptors. In high-end audio reproduction, the sound must engage and resonate both physically and emotionally.
As you can read in the following paragraphs, the Furutec new reference-level speaker cable delivers on all fronts. As always, here are a few music references that highlight the positive attributes of the Furutec Project V1-S speaker cables.
Gene Harris — Astral Signal
Astral Signal, a soul- and funk-influenced jazz album recorded in 1974 by jazz keyboardist Gene Harris, is a well-balanced and insightful album that calls for a certain level of finesse to fully comprehend its impact.
LP is infused with elements of soul, blues, and gospel. The Technicolor-like, iconic, and signature sound blend of Harris pushes the jazz foundation beyond its traditional boundaries, offering a rich landscape of texture and mood, with a powerful dose of funkiness and soulfulness that ignites a highly intricate musical and sonic twist.
As with many records I have used during evaluation, Furutec Project V1-S speaker cables provide immediacy without an exaggerated jump factor, maintain upper-echelon fluidity, and decipher the contemplative narrative with surprising ease. This is especially evident with tracks like “Green River,” where the music is present but never overwhelming.
I am used to this kind of musical flow with certain high-end audio cables, but certainly not at this price point, and this alone deserves all of the attention.
Katharina Maschmeyer Quartet Feat.: Frederik Köster — Circle of Elements
Circle of Elements is a demanding and complex album, both artistically and musically, as well as sonically. It requires a speaker cable that can anchor thunderous moments and capture the feather-like, tiniest moments, intervals, decays, and delays amid avant-garde higher-order musical density.
It was interesting to hear and feel the potency of the Furutech Project V1-S speaker cable in situ, allowing the music to float freely with precise timing, enabling the listener to lock into the rhythm and remain neutral even when the narrative becomes rampant.
Circle of Elements can too easily sound overly sharp to remain neutral. The Project V1-S’s astute nature invites an upper-echelon airiness that allows notes to levitate freely (not overlapping) in the sonic sphere and preserves the relationships between notes – an essential quality in jazz for creating the desired atmosphere.
Furutech’s flagship cable is a distinctive speaker cable, capable of filling gaps where needed rather than forcing itself at forte or pushing forward a totalitarian aural authority – a rare quality that even some much more expensive speaker cables cannot deliver.
Pat Metheny — Imaginary Day
The theatrical, tour de force cinematic quality of Imaginary Day sends a clear message about what the system can do and how the speaker cable shapes this kaleidoscopic and challenging album, which begins boldly, sonically taxing with the self-titled opening track.
With Project V1-S speaker cables, “Imaginary Day” instantly became more dramatic and exciting.
Furutech’s flagship reference speaker cables deliver weightless fullness, providing the necessary energy and momentum with absolute demand. Their horizontal and vertical expanse projects remarkable holographic imaging and overall equilibrium in both even and odd harmonic decoding, which are cornerstones of the tactile experience. This is not always achieved, regardless of the ranking, price, or pedigree of other speaker cables.
As demonstrated with a wide range of music, Project V1-S allows music to organically settle within the listening space without overwhelming the room – a particular juxtaposition that must be experienced to be fully understood.
Interestingly, when played at higher volumes (which Imaginary Day requires), the Furutech speaker cables do not need time to settle but respond with immediacy, control, authority, and a unique sense of stability and evenness across the entire spectrum, giving the music the necessary weight and impact.
The album’s multilayered, timing-sensitive compositions, featuring some of the best musicians, push most speaker cables into stressful territory.
As proof of concept, Project V1-S speaker cables are a clear reminder of profound balance, without introducing any blurriness or fuzziness into the sonic sphere. Another standout achievement worth highlighting.
The Conclusion
Furutech Project V1-S speaker cable offers a unique ability to capture the atmosphere and enhance the emotional impact of music, regardless of genre. In music reproduction, atmosphere and emotional interaction are everything, especially at the top tier of high-end audio.
From the outset, it was clearly designed not to be transformative, but to provide an aural truism without creating a false perception. Project V1-S delivers musical impact that positively shapes the entire listening experience, leaving a lasting impression that is hard to describe yet consistently uplifting.
Some high-end audio cables build in a crescendo, but quickly lead to listener fatigue. In contrast, Furutech reference-level speaker cables belong to a rare category that operate with quiet gravity – present, yet leaving no sonic imprint.
The listener is drawn to the music, attuned to an emotional resonance that is uniquely effective and lingers in memory long after the final notes fade.
When a cable is too aurally curated, music remains a mere background element. Project V1-S evenly and, most importantly, naturally enhances the sonic sphere, expands ambiance, and stirs emotion.
This is not a thrill-seeking high-end audio cable that deceives the senses with an initial spike. Furutech Project V1-S represents a rare, mature, and cleverly/carefully designed high-end audio speaker cable with a striking ability to deliver on all fronts, bestowing pure listening pleasure.
Furutech is a top-level product, not a kaleidoscopic travelogue that leaves the listener speculating or lost in imagination. Project V1-S possesses a rare emotional magnetism, allowing music to be explored as a vast, uncharted universe, always wrapped in an enduring experience. It delivers significantly more musical drama than I expected, always ready to reveal musical stories, lyrically, never subdued.
For any high-end audio speaker cable, it is a genuine challenge to render the repertoire with endless musical textures. Exemplary, at every turn, Project V1-S seamlessly and effortlessly reinforces a sense of authoritative control.
Many high-end audio cables, regardless of price, offer merely an acoustic simulation. Furutech speaker cable stands apart, demonstrating that when things are envisioned and executed properly, the sum can be greater than the parts, with expertly rendered spatial and textural qualities.
Not all high-end audio cables have the ability to deliver and effectively track harmonic density equilibrium. When a cable manufacturer knows its craft, the cable does not need to announce itself loudly; instead, it should let its capabilities operate quietly beneath the surface.
With Project V1-S, musical momentum remains consistent over time, achieving greater spectral integration and richer harmonic density than one would expect at its price. Everything flows easily and fluidly; even and odd harmonics do not interfere with each other. When everything is balanced properly, as with Project V1-S, nothing gets in the way.
This Japanese speaker cable renders music as a single, enormous organism, never sculpting it, letting symbiotic motion, and always avoiding clashing harmonics or smearing decays and delays. All this cements the music’s magic in place.
If high-end audio speaker cable is not tuned and voiced adequately, music feels chaotic and cannot convey a natural emotional bond, lacking a sense of groundedness in the music’s essence.
With the wide variety of high-end audio cables available, searching for the right cable can be a costly and inconvenient endeavor, often leading to skepticism or even a loss of interest.
Furutech reference-level speaker cables, by all means, avoid rigid expectations and go far beyond defined boundaries with their versatility and balanced nature. Quite oppositely, they foster music reproduction with a deeply rewarding impact that lingers long after the final notes fade.
Project V1-S stays true to the essence of music, creating a transformative, tangible listening experience by masterfully bridging mechanical material understanding and voicing, which adheres to the golden trinity of colour, timbre, and tone.
When the system allows, and the very veins of the high-end audio setup are matched in a balanced way, music’s unparalleled ability to draw you into its mystique emerges.
This is where Furutech speaker cables excel, conveying genuine musical expression and avoiding the emphasis on specific attributes or relationships with timbre.
With an impressive legacy of accuracy, realism, and sonic honesty, Furutech does not seek to replicate what doesn’t exist. Instead, it fuses its heritage, expertise, and a blend of materials and technical savvy to serve the narrative of music.
The fusion of Japanese craftsmanship and engineering is made possible by the integrated structure of materials and technical concepts. The real magic comes from a synergistic approach that pushes expected perimeters, comprehends material and technical constraints, and uses them to its advantage while surpassing the threshold of expectations.
That said, the Furutech Project V1-S speaker cable is not inexpensive, but on a commercial scale, it offers remarkable potency that opens up new sonic frontiers.
For what it represents musically and in terms of performance, I am pleased to grant the Furutech Project V1-S speaker cable the 2025 Mono & Stereo Upper Echelon Product Award. ❖
Price
- 15 000 € — 2,5m pair
Technical specifications
- Multi-material Hybrid conductor with special 4 tier concentric design.
- Specially designed Sleeve.
- Sound enhancing, resonance damping, double sleeve, 3 shield design.
- Insulation：Audio-grade Polypropylene.
- RoHS complaint Nano-ceramic and carbon powder damping material.
- cable outer diameter: 26mm approx.
- Length：2.5 M approx.
Contact
FURUTECH CO.,LTD.
Furutech Bldg.
3-9-1 Togoshi
Shinagawa-Ku,
Tokyo 142-0041
Japan
Tel: +81-(0)3-6451-3941
Web: www.furutech.com