Following the considerable success of Furutech’s remarkable NCF Booster and Booster-Signal cable and connector holders, the company has introduced a third edition to the range: the new NCF Booster-Signal-L.
Since its launch in 2017, Furutech’s NCF Booster series of cable and connector holders have received rave reviews from press and customers alike, for the marked and utterly consistent difference they can make to the performance of an audio system. Furutech describes the series as “not a sound enhancer, but a sound revealer” – a subtle but important distinction.
The company has spent decades investigating the hows and whys of what they call ‘pure transmission’ – how to transmit a delicate audio signal from A to B in its most unadulterated form, neither adding anything nor taking anything away. With the NCF Booster series, they tackle the issue on a whole different level by addressing the interaction between cables and connectors and their immediate environment.
The series takes the relatively common idea of cable support significantly further. Not only do the NCF Boosters lift audio cables off the floor and enable optimum alignment between connectors and sockets, they also provide damping for both cables and connectors. That damping is specifically designed to reduce environmental interference, thus enabling a more pure and clear signal.
With the addition of the NCF Booster-Signal-L there are now three products in the series: the NCF Booster for power cables and connectors, NCF Booster-Signal for speaker and interconnect cables and connectors, and the new NCF Booster-Signal-L. The latter’s new design allows for the cradle to be lowered to much further than the other models, making it possible for the NCF Booster-Signal-L to support connections that are usually positioned lower on components like HDMI and USB.
The key ingredient in all three products is Furutech’s proprietary Nano Crystal² Formula (NCF) which features a special crystalline material with two active properties. First, it generates negative ions that eliminate static. Second, it converts thermal energy into far infrared. Furutech combine this crystalline material with nano-sized ceramic particles and carbon powder for their additional piezoelectric damping capabilities. The resulting Formula delivers superb electrical and mechanical damping.
“These are not ‘magic’ crystals,” Furutech emphasizes. “There is nothing mysterious about the way they work – quite simply, they improve audio performance in a very specific and measurable way.”
In practice, much will depend on your particular system, its individual components, your specific cables and connectors, and your flooring materials (in the latter case think radiated resonance and floating static fields on synthetic materials). The most striking results can be achieved through practical experimentation. Consider the NCF Booster, Booster-Signal and Booster-Signal-L as a trio of tuning devices. Multiple units of each placed at various points along cables will deliver clear results and the more units placed, the more changes will be heard in playback. Hitting the real ‘sweet spot’ is all about discovering the various units’ optimum placement. Electrical and mechanical resonance can be focused at certain points (connectors, points where cables contact flooring or racks, points where cables are under stress – tight bends, sagging cables, etc). Placement of NCF Booster units at such key points will tend to deliver optimal results.
If you’re expecting the difference the trio will make to a system’s sound to be subtle, prepare to be surprised.
Pricing & availability
The new Furutech NCF Booster-Signal-L is available now, priced at £140 (inc. VAT).
Other available products in the range are priced as follows:
NCF Booster £290
NCF Booster-Signal £175
Optional top clamp for NCF Booster-Signal £122
Additional extension shafts (per 10) £30
Additional NCF Booster lower cradle £110
Additional NCF Booster-Signal lower cradle £106
