Audiophile Fuses

[Ron Resnick]

Nope. I didn’t receive that memo.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Well, you have now .
Ron, in my preamp that sports 10 fuses, half at 90 degrees to the rest, just how do you decide on direction?

 

[Ron Resnick]

You don’t. I think it is silly.

Cables can be directional because of things like a ground wire drain which is connected only at one end. Is the filament in a fuse connected only at one end?

 

[spiritofmusic]

Ron, you and me.
It’s guys like my good friend Barry who obsessed over direction and burn in.
Me? I just popped them in and listened.

 

[Speedskater]

Well, you have now ?.
Ron, in my preamp that sports 10 fuses, half at 90 degrees to the rest, just how do you decide on direction?

TEN fuses in a pre-amp?
10 fuse in any hi-fi component for that matter?

 

[spiritofmusic]

I lie.
It’s 8 I believe LOL.
They’re in the SS psu for tubed pre.
Some on the DC rail, some for the readout.
But as I pressed “purchase” on 7 more SR Black fuses here than I thought I’d need, I did ponder our hobby.

 

[Barry2013]

Barry, the fuses are directional?!?!

Ron there have been a number of posts in which different members have found that fuses operate better in one direction than in the other.
I don't understand why that should be so but that's what they have reported so no harm in giving it a try.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Barry, that’s not Ron’s style.

He’s naturally skeptical, and needs more to hang his hat on.

I got enough grief starting a thread extolling the virtues of upgrading pwr cords on tt psus.

Like you, I’m of the “give it a go, nothing to lose” school.

 

[microstrip]

You don’t. I think it is silly.

Cables can be directional because of things like a ground wire drain which is connected only at one end. Is the filament in a fuse connected only at one end?

Your dogmatic opinion - as far as I know you did not carry any significant experiences on this subject, neither studied the subject. Many people consider that cables are directional because of metallurgic and manufacturing reasons independently of ground wires - for example some non shielded SE cables are directional. Many people consider speaker cables are directional.

We still do not have a reasonable scientific model why power cables sound different - the best scientific approach I have read calls it "placebo effect". Why should we consider that the effect of a fuse, that accepts noise signals of much higher bandwidth and amplitude than audio cables is well understood?

My conrad-johnson amplifiers use Bussman KTK-2 fuses in the B+ line (factory fitted, not tweak). As they are expensive, I have tried another type of less expensive fuse for initial tube burn-in, in this phase a poor tube can easily blow the fuse. They degraded sound quality.

IMHO most of the time calling a tweak as silly before analyzing it is premature.

 

[andromedaaudio]

The best way to put a fuse is vertical, the electrons then get a boost from Gravity, lol

 

[spiritofmusic]

No Andromeda, I install them horizontally.
Then get someone to hold the component at 90 degrees.
Your suggestion is just plain silly .

 

[Audiocrack]

You don’t. I think it is silly.

Cables can be directional because of things like a ground wire drain which is connected only at one end. Is the filament in a fuse connected only at one end?

Just try it out, Ron, because a good audio system will let you hear the difference quite easily. You will be surprised.

 

[bazelio]

Well, I did pay attention to the direction of the SR Blue when I inserted it the first time, so reversing the direction will be easy to do. I'll feel very silly doing so, but I will do so and report back later today.

 

[Audiocrack]

Well, I did pay attention to the direction of the SR Blue when I inserted it the first time, so reversing the direction will be easy to do. I'll feel very silly doing so, but I will do so and report back later today.

No need to feel silly at all, because the direction does matter (with the fuses I have been playing with so far anyway). Just try it out and likely you will hear a difference. Whether it will be for the better is something you will find out soon.

 

[andromedaaudio]

And if Ron doesnt hear it, what then ?
Its gonna take a while when its ready luckily.
I cant hear it for sure
i once had an audiophile over and he brought a CD played it and said my speakers didnt have bass , he could also hear what solder was used in the X over.
Go figure

 

[Audiocrack]

And if Ron doesnt hear it, what then ?
Its gonna take a while when its ready luckily.
I cant hear it for sure
i once had an audiophile over and he brought a CD played it and said my speakers didnt have bass , he could also hear what solder was used in the X over.
Go figure

If he cannot hear it, then I suppose all is fine as well.

 

[bazelio]

I've tried the SR Blue in the reversed direction this morning. The intent was mainly to determine if the SR Blue competed against the stock fuse in the reverse direction; not to scrutinize the differences between SR Blue in one orientation vs the other.

And I'd say the result is more or less the same. The SR Blue still sounds rounded, less extended, less cohesive, and it still mutes decay and ambience. I *might* be hearing a slight improvement in this direction vs the other, but *IF* there is a difference then it's much smaller than the difference between SR Blue vs the stock fuse.

So I've decided to not give up just yet, and trust the WBF gurus that fuse burn in is real. I rigged up this fuse burn in cord, and will run a low wattage bulb with the SR Blue installed for about a week. If after a week, I don't hear a noticeable improvement, that'll be wrap and it'll go back. Granted, this only draws about 63mA through a 4A fuse, but let's not get picky. I could use a higher wattage bulb, but I don't think I want to.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Bazelio, Blue58 did exactly what you’re doing.
For 300 hrs straight.
And become a major convert as a result.

 

[bazelio]

PS I noticed that Cardas Quad Eutectic solder gave the bulb a warmer glow than standard Kester solder.

#AudiophoolJokes

 

[bazelio]

Bazelio, Blue58 did exactly what you’re doing.
For 300 hrs straight.
And become a major convert as a result.

Two weeks!!