Furutech vs Neotech gold plated schuko sound quality


Hy!  I'm new in this forum. First of all,  sorry for my English please. My question would be next. I have a Harmonic Technology fantasy ac10 power cable,older blue serie,  i love it. It was originally USA connector plug, but somebody put it on a hifi tuning (10euro price) schuko connector plug,it is ok because i'm using a schuko power plug everywhere,because i live in Europe.My AC10 cable has original furutech fi15cu pure copper iec plug. Now i want to plan to buy a bit better schuko plug.I have a dedicated power line,with the end furutech gold plated wall outlet. I like gold sound better than rhodium,so i plan to buy a gold plated schuko for my HT AC10 cable. Somebody have an experience these 2 plugs, furutech fi-e11g and  neotech nc-p312g. Neotech is upocc pure copper,(my cable is upocc) furutech schuko plug is phosphor bronze. My amplifier has a fi-06gold plated pure copper iec inlet. So ,if i choose a neotech nc-p312 , my dedicated line would be full copper,nothing bronz or something else. Can somebody help me wich would be better for me?Or what's a difference in sound these two plugs?  I know ,it's crazy :) Maybe should i buy both and run a month both. Thank you for your help.
jupiter303
Don't know about those two specific models but I have built a few pcs recently with Furutech, Oyaide and Neotech connectors and given the choice would go with Furutech or Oyaide. You  may want to look at Sonarquest as well.

First things first, there are two models of the F11:

FI-11-N1 (phosphor bronze)

FI-11  (copper)

I believe the copper model is more expensive.  Phospher bronze is typically used in female IEC connections where you need a really strong metal.  Male AC plugs don't really require phosphor bronze, so copper is a better element.  Phospher bronze really isn't that bad.

I just went through some extensive re-listening and combinations with both Neotech and Furutech AC connectors.  They both have their place.  However, they are VERY different.  The Neotech gold-plated OCC plugs are extremely fast and "push hard" when compared to the Furutech.  I think they would be good with electronics that are very slow/warm and have a lot of decay (i.e. tube electronics or similar sounding).  If you have a very messy sound, the Neotech will help clean it up.  The Neotech do not have any decay.  In a sense, it sounds like it's letting the wave form hit and them immediately stopping it without any ringing.  They are very controlled and it may sometimes sound like the music was recorded with massive amounts of sound absorption in the room because you will hear no echo.  This may be good for messy electronics or tube.  However, on a very strong solid state system it will be too much and it will push the upper mids and highs way too much.

The Furutech plugs are more relaxed and natural sounding.  If you pair these with messy/tube electronics, it can make the sound even more messy and you will lose any concept of "separation of instruments" (where you can pick out one instrument in the middle of an entire band).  However, on strong solid state electronics it will sound more natural.

If you liked the Cu furutech that was attached to the cable before, I might suggest going with the gold-plated copper Furutech conectors or just the un-plated copper.  In my experience, 220V will push harder on the power supply and you will get a harder "push" of voltage into the circuit.  The gold-plated copper will help calm things down and sound more natural.   Unplated copper Furutech is a little more stronger/aggressive than gold-plated and Rhodium-plated is the strongest/cleanest.  That being said, un-plated Furutech will sound more relaxed/natural than gold-platted Netoech.

It's up to you -- it's a balancing act with your electronics.  Furutech has an excellent description on the differences of their plating in the following URL (rhodium/gold/un-plated):

http://www.furutech.com/2013/02/02/1750/

Thank you for your really nice and detailed answer. :)   I used  furutech rhodium plated in the past time-years ,but a few months ago,i tried gold plated furutech plugs and schuko socket and i liked so much better than rhodium. I haven't decide it which plug should i buy,but i think i will choose fi-e11g-n1 or fi-e38gold,fi38 is  copper. I agree with this   "Neotech gold-plated OCC plugs are extremely fast and "push hard" "   i have a neotech teflon insulated hook up wire huw1,3T as a power cable for source ,with gold plated neotech plugs,and these combo are really too much for me...in sound.

It's funny that you mention that.  I use Neotech hookup wire for all my power cables as well.  I use 20awg Teflon solid-core OCC Neotech.  There are 6 conductors per power cord leg (18 conductors total) and I braid the individual hot/neutral/ground wires together.  There are 6 individual braids which gives me a 12awg size power cord.  I have found that, in my systems, it works best if I balance Neotech/Furutech connectors.  I use a male Furutech AC and a Neotech IEC connector.  I have found that too much Furutech will make the sound too slow/messy.  The male Furutech connector gives it a good warm signature and the Neotech IEC will carry this warm signature into the amp/preamp as best as possible.  Having a Neotech connector on each end puts this too much into the "solid state" sound and you lose warmth/engagement.  It's a fine line balancing act.

I use 20awg hookup wire.  I have tried 18awg solid-core and it just pushes too much.  There is too much midbass push and it makes it boomy/blary.  The high frequencies tend to roll off somewhat as well with 18awg.  When I tried 22awg, I lost bass/midbass punch and the high frequencies became overwhelming.  So I have found 20awg solid-core to be the best overall for anything relating to power/voltage (this includes interconnects as well).