Audiophile Fuses

[kennyb123]

SR is highly adept at marketing. All companies requires a continuous roll out of new products in order to grow, and who better than audiophiles to take advantage of due to our continual cravings for the next great thing? My guess however, is that you can take any of their current fuses, take them to McDonald's, have Ronald McDonald bless them, and call it a new model. I seriously doubt any new model would be significantly different in a meaningful way from their current line. You're better off taking a magic marker and put a new color on your fuses and voilà, you too now have a new model! Please excuse my skepticism, but SR is the poster child for these sorts of marketing ploys. As they say, YMMV.

I have to admit that I reacted to this more as a criticism of those who have purchased and recommended SR fuse than of SR themselves.

I believe I posted previously in this thread that I heard a nice improvement from swapping Blue in for Black fuses. I would have heard the same thing had I taken them to McDonald’s for a blessing? Ouch!

 

[highstream]

@spiritofmusic Understood. Among the less costly ones, I used the Furutech TF series for a good while in my desktop Quads and PS Audio dac, and they also have a silver one for a bit more. I've also heard good comments about the Acme Audio Labs fuses, which go for under $20 in the States.

 

[BruceD]

Can't speak for the SR Fuses-but I attended a demo of those silver ball /cup things they were hawking --you put them around the room/etc.
The salesman was full of it persuading the assembled how they transformed this /that /blah blah in a system.
With these things in/out neither myself nor my compatriots seated next could tell any difference -ha!
I agree with the above Synergistic Research is a terrific marketing Company--forget the end result!

BruceD

 

[marty]

I have to admit that I reacted to this more as a criticism of those who have purchased and recommended SR fuse than of SR themselves.

I believe I posted previously in this thread that I heard a nice improvement from swapping Blue in for Black fuses. I would have heard the same thing had I taken them to McDonald’s for a blessing? Ouch!

Kenny, anything I might say should rapidly be overruled by one's personal experience. Whatever works for you should automatically negate biased comments from someone like me!

 

[Ron Resnick]

Doubt is not evidence, just trolling (in this context). I tried the SR Blue back when it came out and after a few hundred hours burnin was ready to toss the stereo system out the window for how tonally cool and emotionally uninviting it was. I couldn't sell it fast enough. Instead, I went with the Audio Magic Ultimate beeswax, which is much the opposite. Now, with the Orange it's exactly the opposite, with all the good things of the Blue plus some warmth. I don't feel the need to go for the 50% more expensive AM Ultimate in some new gear, although I'll probably make a comparison if I come across another.

Are you reporting that the fuse had a more significant sonic effect on your system ("ready to toss the stereo system out the window for how tonally cool and emotionally uninviting it was") than the entire rest of the system? In other words you are saying this fuse did more sonic damage than the entire rest of the system could balance out?

 

[the sound of Tao]

IMHO anyone who posts on fuse threads should clearly state their fuse religious status - believer, non believer or agnostic.

I am currently in the agnostic field, as I fear to use non specified fuses in my expensive equipment and as such do not feel motivated to carry fuse listening tests. However, considering I am a power cable believer I can find many technical reasons why a fuse can affect sound quality - the fuse is much more susceptible to electrical variations than the power cable. However our eyes and audiophile mind are tailored to size, not to microphysics, and we find difficult to accept that such a small element can make a difference.

Great idea Micro, we could go a bit further and put all our varied audio beliefs and disbeliefs into our signatures, that’d be awesome and would save people from having to mention this stuff all the time. Could make for fabulous reading. Love it!

 

[Ron Resnick]

IMHO anyone who posts on fuse threads should clearly state their fuse religious status - believer, non believer or agnostic.

I am currently in the agnostic field, as I fear to use non specified fuses in my expensive equipment and as such do not feel motivated to carry fuse listening tests. However, considering I am a power cable believer I can find many technical reasons why a fuse can affect sound quality - the fuse is much more susceptible to electrical variations than the power cable. However our eyes and audiophile mind are tailored to size, not to microphysics, and we find difficult to accept that such a small element can make a difference.

My fuse religion status is: skeptic.

 

[Blue58]

Damn it! You’ve got me singing this now

I thought Blue was only true in fairy tales
Black was not for me
Orange was out to get me
That’s the way it seemed
Ultimate Beeswax haunted all my dreams

 

[spiritofmusic]

Barry, get back on the Decaff.

 

[the sound of Tao]

Barry, get back on the Decaff.

This is rarely used ancient form of espresso cursing Marc... I’m horrified!

 

[the sound of Tao]

I swapped out most of my fuses for hifi tuning supreme over the years and have heard small (but positive) differences. Much prefer generally to swap valves, cables, capacitors, footers etc if I’m doing non-component upgrades but always open to learn... more of a moderately con-fused believer.

 

[spiritofmusic]

This is rarely used ancient form of espresso cursing Marc... I’m horrified!

Graham, the guy is rambling. A direct result of his brain crumbling as it became apparent he needed hundreds of hrs to burn the Blue in.

 

[spiritofmusic]

My fuse religion status is: skeptic.

Sure Ron. That's because you want to be. When you do the A/B at the coal face, then get back to us.

Maybe next you're gonna say you're skeptical on audiophile pwr cords.

 

[spiritofmusic]

My official status is skeptical on anything I can't afford, or can't get to hear (these two often connected).

Everything else will have at least one example I'm a convert on.

 

[the sound of Tao]

Graham, the guy is rambling. A direct result of his brain crumbling as it became apparent he needed hundreds of hrs to burn the Blue in.

It’s fascinating as the ancient mantra with fuses was largely based on expectations of small shifts but those who use the black orange and blue are seemingly reporting much more significant shifts. I haven’t tried them so I know nothing of these things but we all get comfortable with our default ways of improving stuff and it reminds me of the untold complexities of setting up digital and how we can just keep going at it. So sometimes I think we can also possibly just be pushing stuff sometimes subtly around. So as much as we experience outcomes as night and day it’s likely amplified because we are so focussed on the appreciation of the specific area of the changes.

Perception is a marvellous but tricky thing.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Graham, this hobby is rife w all the expectation biases and subjective thinking that almost all hobbies predicated on the experiences of the user are also prone to.

At no point has specs and data and objective arguments ever convinced the majority when it comes to choices.

I fully admit and am open to the charge of "a sucker born every minute".

Had my early experience w conditioners, cables and grounding been poor or non commital, no way would I have investigated fuses. And right now I'd be scoffing at fuse devotees as needing tinfoil hats.

However, one early Sablon cable experience totally shook up my skeptical world view, initial grounding demo absolutely suprised me hugely, an early conditioner overturned previous reasons not to believe.

Whether I then went on to convince myself of the efficacy of every black magic tweak, maybe. And maybe I'm a target for skeptics' criticism.

At the same time, I'll deny that. Because I've then gone on to reject more frippery than I get turned on by.

So basic Entreq w basic Apollo cbls converted me. But pricier Atlantis cbls and spkrs xover grounding didn't work.

SR fuses charm me. But SR Black Box room treatment does zilch here.

Mooks work in my old room, but not here.

Sablon pwr cbls w gold plated fittings overpower, but rhodium totally works.

Revopods footers under Zu totally charm, IsoAcoustics Gaias are euphonic.

And yes, a Sablon pwr cord to tt psu that the great and good (so you'd think Lol) tells me is impossible.

Audiophile fuses? Even here it's a mixed picture. Don't do much in my preamp, stellar elsewhere.

I'll conclude if I'm a sucker, I'm not across the board. Hate to be consistent in being fooled Lol.

 

[the sound of Tao]

I’m not saying anyone is being fooled tho, it’s just that the ratings scheme we use for change isn’t standardised. I love that people modify things and experience benefit.

I also think our conclusions are always contextual... as much as we’d like to think we have a thing’s qualities nailed it’s still just all about system and preference. One man’s utterly charmed is another’s overly euphonic. I don’t think findings therefore translate across universally.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Graham, of course it's totally impossible and fruitless to effectively convey all this. This is not like being at dinner w you, and trying a bit of yr dessert. You'll never fully convince me how great it was online. And then there's the argument over 95% plain v 80%.

For me at least, the sound I liked and looked for in changes ie euphonically warm, overly bassy, "sugar in yr coffee, sir?"...has undergone a 180, mainly because of my new room.

So, when I used to listen in a hugely harsh, reflective, anomalies-ridden space back in London, I turned the bass up, I looked for softer sounding sources and cables that bloomed.

And of course this exaggerated the issue. Instead of imprecise harsh, I went on to imprecise wooly.

With the new room being gently warm, but hugely intelligible and even, those previous preferences became a liability and changes that allowed absolute tonal variation btwn discs became the new holy grail.

That's why a bias twds soft sounding Gaias footers under Zus changed to more discriminating Revopods. And why Mooks had to go.

Fuses? I had some expectation based on Sablon pwr cords being so convincing. But still, these little ol' things? Really?

Really.

 

[bonzo75]

Damn it! You’ve got me singing this now

I thought Blue was only true in fairy tales
Black was not for me
Orange was out to get me
That’s the way it seemed
Ultimate Beeswax haunted all my dreams

There was a guy called Blue58
Who tried to write limericks in a caffeinated state
He thought hard and long
But got it all wrong
For limericks go 8-8-9-9-8

 

[Blue58]

I think most know it’s “I’m a Believer“ but good try on the limerick Ked.
I didn’t know you had some Irish in you. ??