Flow 8.1 NCF

Reviewer: Srajan Ebaen
Financial interests: click here
Main system: Sources: Retina 5K 27" iMac (i5, 256GB SSD, 40GB RAM, Sonoma 14), 4TB external SSD with Thunderbolt 3, Audirvana Studio, Qobuz Sublime, Gustard U26 USB bridge, LHY Audio SW-8 & SW-6 switch, Sonnet Pasithea; Preamp: Hattor Audio ARP-S; Active filter: spl Audio Crossover MkII; Power amplifiers: Vinshine/Kinki Dazzle & mono NC500 Nord Acoustic amps on subwoofer; Loudspeakers: Qualio IQ [on loan]; Subwoofer: sound|kaos D15; Cables: Exact Express Flame, Furutech; Power delivery: 2 x Kinki/Vinshine Tai Hang on amps and source stack, Furutech DPS-4.1 between wall and conditioners; Equipment rack: Artesanía Audio Exoteryc double-wide 3-tier with optional glass shelves, Exoteryc amp stands; Sundry accessories: Acoustic System resonators, AudioQuest FogLifters; Room: 6 x 8m with open door behind listening seat; Room treatment: 2 x PSI Audio AVAA C214 active bass traps
1st upstairs speaker system: Source: FiiO R7 into Soundaware D300Ref SD transport to Cen.Grand DSDAC 1.0 Deluxe with POW; Preamp/filter: Lifesaver Audio Gradient Box 2; Amplifier: Kinki Studio EX-B7 monos; Loudspeakers: sound|kaos Vox3awf; Subwoofer: Zu Method; Cable loom: Exact Express Earth; Power delivery: Vibex Granada/Alhambra, Akiko Audio Corelli Corundum & Castello Solo; Equipment rack: Hifistay Mythology Transform X-Frame [on extended loan]; Sundry accessories: Furutech cable lifts, Furutech NFC Clear Lines; Room: ~3.5 x 8m
1st upstairs headfi system: DAC: Cen.Grand DSDAC 1.0 Deluxe with POW; Headamp: Cen.Grand Silver Fox; Headphones: Raal 1995 Magna, HifiMan Susvara
Desktop system: Source: HP Z2 workstation Win11/64; USB isolator: LHY UIP; LAN distributors: LHY AS6 Pro & SW6-SFP; Ethernet reclocker: Stack SmoothLAN; DACs: Gustard R26II & Audalytic DR70; Preamp: Topping A900; Speaker amps: Topping B200 monos; Headphone amp: Enleum AMP-23R; Loudspeakers: Virtual Hifi Viper; Headphones: Final D-8000, aune SR7000, FiiO FT7, HifiMan Susvara Unveiled
2nd upstairs headfi system: Shanling EM7; Headphones: Meze 109 Pro, Fiio FT3, HifiMan HE1000 Unveiled
2nd upstairs speaker system: Source: smsl PL200T CD transport, 1TB microSD; DAC: Shanling EM7; Crossover: Lifesaver Audio Gradient Box II;  Amplifiers: LAIV Crescendo Chorus monos; Loudspeakers: MonAcoustic SuperMon Mini with Dynaudio S18 subwoofer
2-channel video system: Source: Oppo BDP-105; All-in-One: Gold Note IS-1000 Deluxe; Loudspeakers: ModalAkustik MusikBoxx; Subwoofer: Zu Mission; Power delivery: Furutech eTP-8, Room: ~6x4m
Review component retail: TBA

Offramp. It's a fab Pat Metheny album. Its title implies orderly directional traffic. A recent TikTok craze overrides it when teenagers motor down freeways in the wrong direction, upload their cell-captured idiotic stunts in real time then cause fatalities to themselves or oncoming travellers. Audio has its own motorway. Each wall outlet is an offramp for utility power. But that alternating current, one-directional though it may seem, has sneaky motorists driving on it the wrong way. That's retrograde noise which domestic even industrial appliances inject into our hifi gear some of which acts dirty itself. Under special suspicion are switching power supplies present across all modern homes. They're considered kick-back noise makers—de-facto onramps for tonal TikTok troubles. It's why better power filters install isolation also between individual AC sockets. It's a close-the-backdoor attempt to enforce one-way traffic and repel component-generated hash from using incoming power lanes for outgoing accidents. This gets us at the figure 8. It's a line which like a circle has no end. It often symbolizes infinity. In our space it shows up in a dipole's dispersion pattern but also C7 power inlets common with not just electric shavers but smaller hifi kit. The lowly status of such sockets is exacerbated by a virtual absence of aftermarket power cords that fit them. If you've got a figure-eighter, you're likely stuck with whatever generic excuse for an AC cord came with.

Enter Furutech's Flow-8.1 NCF above. It's no power cord per se but an inline power filter with C7-terminated ~60cm pigtail. Plug said pigtail into your infinity component, a proper 3-prong AC cable into the other end. Presto, incoming and outgoing noise filtration, the latter of particular appeal since it's often flatulent switching bricks that run C7 IEC. As it happened, this very fact enabled today's gig when my factory contact Graeme Coley asked whether I even had any kit stuck behind the 8 ball. I could do him one better. I had two trusty office workers each driving double donuts: Topping B200 monos with laptop-sized external switching bricks like the one at right. I could handle the review request—if he could spare twin samples. Sorry, no mono for this mano! The NCF suffix abbreviates 'Nano Crystal² Formula'. It's Furutech's proprietary piezo-active mix as exploited in all their flagship products for either chassis liners and/or as a material compound in connector bodies. The device itself also encases a noise filter of 0.1µF and 3'300pF micro caps plus 0.3mH coils to reduce AC noise by a claimed 10dB/1MHz and >30dB/10MHz. The standard and C7 IEC both embed NCF plus nano-sized ceramic and carbon particles all in the service of policing EMI/RFI hence electromagnetic and radio-frequency interference. There's resonance damping via cable clamp and the conductors are treated with Furutech's trademarked α process, a combination of deep cryogenics plus demagnetization. Furutech's Flow-8.1 NCF or Flow for short is a kind of love letter to smaller more budget components fitted with these often dreaded receptacles; and how to get them into proper power delivery.

Why should only the posh boys have all the upgrade fun?

Readers thinking about review procedure already spotted twin variables joined at the hip: Flow itself plus power cords which, whatever I picked, would not be Topping's skinnies. While that's precisely the point of today's exercise and gives its longer legs, it does undermine the strictest isolation of comparative cause and effect. Using Flow changes two things at once. To reduce its impact, I would start with generic C13-fitted cords—far thicker than the stock 8ers but otherwise just as basic. Afterwards of course Ireland's overcast sky was the limit. Premium power cords on my switching bricks would explore how much daylight might separate such a combination from Topping's baseline. Audiophile observation has long been that switch-mode power in particular is very sensitive to how it connects to the grid. Here was an opportunity to test just that.

… to be continued…