Audiophile Fuses
- Thread starter MylesBAstor
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In post #757 I gave a brief but concise description of the sonic improvements using an Orange fuse in my amplifier. By improving the depth of the soundstage, I hear each individual instrument more precisely. This improves my ability to pick out each musician and their contribution to the music being played. After 10 days of the amplifier being on 24/7, I do not hear any frequencies being exaggerated. Details are improved without losing any richness to the harmonics. In summary I am hearing more musical information with less hearing effort.
David Pritchard
David Pritchard
I thought #757 was a compare of orange to blue. I do have an extra ceramic fuse. It is when you've been swapping between $100+ audiophile fuses that swapping to a standard ceramic fuse can show you how the artificial midrange bloom and overall lack of articulation from over-damping is actually holding back the system. Whether or not you'll prefer what the Orange does in a Pass amp, which is unrestrained, is your personal preference. But you should be able to *acknowledge* the difference.
There certainly is a sonic difference in all three fuses that I evaluated in the Pass Lab amplifier. Each fuse was also listened to with the fuse inserted in both directions. So a total of six possible different sounds, and indeed there were six audible different sounds. In my system I prefer the Orange fuse. I found this experiment to be very much like tube rolling when listening to one of my SET amplifiers. Some tubes sound better to me and some tubes do better with different music than others. Unlike tube rolling, you can return the Orange fuse if you do not like it.
What is fun to me is there is more than only one fuse that I can use, and I can pick the sound that I like.
David Pritchard
What is fun to me is there is more than only one fuse that I can use, and I can pick the sound that I like.
David Pritchard
I'm not sure whether most participants on this thread are USA based nor I am familiar with the mains supply arrangements in the USA. In addition I am not an electrician and know that I and anyone else who is unqualified in this area should not engage in electrical work.
But in the UK our mains feed comes through the consumer unit equipped with one or more RCDs and then many MCBs of which one is easily dedicated to the audio system. These RCDs and MCBs are not "blue" or "orange" nor are they reversible, but it could be argued that, with appropriate (and unavoidable) MCB protection there may be situations where no further fuse, standard or special, is required. And, in this case, perhaps no additional fuse is better than a special blue one or a special orange one.
I suspect that this aspect has not gone unnoticed by astute high-end fuse manufacturers who may therefore already be marketing "blue" or "orange" MCBs, no doubt directionally tested, to satisfy those who are advocates of such accessories.
Those contributors here who are adequately doubly protected by a dedicated MCB and a "blue" or an "orange" fuse might be advised by a qualified electrician that there is no risk in temporarily removing the latter to decide whether one ordinary fuse sounds better than or worse than a combination of one ordinary fuse and one special fuse.
But in the UK our mains feed comes through the consumer unit equipped with one or more RCDs and then many MCBs of which one is easily dedicated to the audio system. These RCDs and MCBs are not "blue" or "orange" nor are they reversible, but it could be argued that, with appropriate (and unavoidable) MCB protection there may be situations where no further fuse, standard or special, is required. And, in this case, perhaps no additional fuse is better than a special blue one or a special orange one.
I suspect that this aspect has not gone unnoticed by astute high-end fuse manufacturers who may therefore already be marketing "blue" or "orange" MCBs, no doubt directionally tested, to satisfy those who are advocates of such accessories.
Those contributors here who are adequately doubly protected by a dedicated MCB and a "blue" or an "orange" fuse might be advised by a qualified electrician that there is no risk in temporarily removing the latter to decide whether one ordinary fuse sounds better than or worse than a combination of one ordinary fuse and one special fuse.
bazelio: If I lived in a part of the US that has known bad and unreliable electrical power I would not use expensive fuses either. I would also probably bite the bullet and put in top of the line surge protectors- even though they often decrease the quality of the sound. No blown fuses - standard type or boutique type in 19 years of living in southern New Mexico due to power surges.
I lived in Northern California for two years and do not miss it. I am glad your amp was not damaged.
David Pritchard
I lived in Northern California for two years and do not miss it. I am glad your amp was not damaged.
David Pritchard
Anyone compared the AM Ultimate Beeswax with the new SR Orange? I've been using the first, having not liked the SR Blues, which I found exciting but tonally cold. I read that SR has bumped up the Orange's lower mids/upper bass to warm it up a bit. Since they are on a 3 for 2 special until Dec 31, I'm considering if it's worth the time and effort, even for a money back trial.
I have not done the evaluation you suggested, but I did add one Orange fuse at a time until I had three fuses in place. First in
the amplifier, then sub woofer, and lastly the DAC. I did wait about 10 days between each new fuse installation . I am still happy with the sonic improvement with all three in place.
David Pritchard
the amplifier, then sub woofer, and lastly the DAC. I did wait about 10 days between each new fuse installation . I am still happy with the sonic improvement with all three in place.
David Pritchard
My post is aimed at gathering information about a comparison, most importantly about tonality, cold vs some degree of warmth.
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Yes: I do hear an increase in warmth and an improvement in localization and depth. The Orange fuse imparts an improved tonality to my system.
I felt it was worth the experiment and they are staying in the system.
David Pritchard
I felt it was worth the experiment and they are staying in the system.
David Pritchard
Hi guys,
I just popped in a Orange fuse into my SPEC amp, I do like it, there is a slight bump in SQ compared to the stock Little Fuse. The thing I notice though is that my volume needs to be dialled up slightly more than my usual setting. Is this normal? The fuse does need a bit of run in I guess. It's also very directional too. For now I'm hoping it opens up more. It feels a tad closed in now, but its very detailed and musical at the same time. The soundstage will expand I hope.
I just popped in a Orange fuse into my SPEC amp, I do like it, there is a slight bump in SQ compared to the stock Little Fuse. The thing I notice though is that my volume needs to be dialled up slightly more than my usual setting. Is this normal? The fuse does need a bit of run in I guess. It's also very directional too. For now I'm hoping it opens up more. It feels a tad closed in now, but its very detailed and musical at the same time. The soundstage will expand I hope.
In my personal opinion, although I readily stipulate that I was not there with you to experience this, this is not normal. There is no theoretical basis known to me upon which a fuse change could attenuate signal amplitude.
You wrote that you raised the volume. Could this be fooling you into perceiving an increase in sound quality?
Right, but there are possible reasons why one would perceive this. When distortion is lowered at the same signal level, it can be perceived as a reduction of volume (one often turns the volume down when one comes up against rising distortion). If the fuse reduced some distortion/artifact level, it would result in a perception of smoother, more forgiving sound, inviting one to push the volume up to higher levels, as higher listening level is now more tolerable without that distortion present.
I think most here have probably experienced making a system upgrade, and then finding ourselves generally listening at a bot higher of a level due to the lowered amount of distortion/artifacts.
Yes, give it most of three weeks in gear that stays at least minimally powered. Altho I’m an Audio Magic beeswax fan, I took advantage of the 3 for the price of 2 offer to see if the Orange had truly improved on the Blue, which I found intolerable. I’ve been burning in one in a PrimaLuna Dialogue preamp as a test, and it’s far enough along to have tentative opinions. First, the better direction with mine turned out to be the opposite of the instructions. No problem. Sonically, it definitely does have a degree of warmth that the Blue lacked, and staging, speed and clarity are very good, although they don’t stand out as much as with the Blue. That’s a trade off I frequently see between cool and warm fuses and cables. What’s bothering me thus far with the Orange is the sense of sedateness it’s introduced. The raw dynamics and vitality with the OEM fuse are now seemingly defused with the Orange’s sense of warm smoothness. That’s good news and bad in my view. But at the price I can afford to be patient beyond the audition period and see what develops.
PS. I just noticed Ron’s and barrows’ replies. I’ve also found the Orange to be softer, to require a little more on the volume knob. I haven’t measured whether that’s actually true or an artifact of the fuse’s different tonal balance. The latter is consistent with barrows’ explanation.
PS. I just noticed Ron’s and barrows’ replies. I’ve also found the Orange to be softer, to require a little more on the volume knob. I haven’t measured whether that’s actually true or an artifact of the fuse’s different tonal balance. The latter is consistent with barrows’ explanation.
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Hi Ron,
I too have no idea, but as Barrows has chipped in, could it be because my floor noise has come down and I am enjoying the bump in SQ that I inadverntely am turning up the dial to enjoy the lowered distortion? But I must add, the details is pretty awesome with the Orange. I will update again after say 100 hours or so, SR recommend 150-300 hours of run in and I tend to believe them cause the Blue fuse I was using before on my Simaudio took quiet a while to open up.
This debate only survives on the semantics of the word distortion. Distortion is an objective entity, that can be measured and quantified very accurately and easily. However people refer to it subjectively as anything that changes the perception of sound quality. It would be great if people would be more precise on its use calling the objective one as distortion and the other as distortion ! (unfortunately quotes will mix them again ... )
And yes, fuses can change the distortion, but not the distortion.
Exactly the same way power cables do.
And yes, fuses can change the distortion, but not the distortion.
Exactly the same way power cables do.
Hi Highsteam,
U hit the nail on the head with that word "sedateness", thats what I am getting which was missing with the stock, but as u said correctly there is a trade off for the warmness. We wait I guess. I have high hopes though with this fuse. Its got great potential, just needs to open up a tad bit more and I'm sold. All else is perfect.
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