Swiss Digital Fuse Box Anyone?

[GlowState]

@GlowState Where did you get the adapters? I wouldn’t suggest that one can’t do better than the Extreme Piggys. It’s that my experience (States) has been exactly the opposite of yours. There’s been nothing flat or synthetic with the EPs in my system — see my sig — and the generic adapter off Amazon never rose above muddled - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CT7HB42J?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_dt_b_product_details.

Btw, when the SR Masters came out, SR said not to use more than one in a system, but instead have the rest as Purples. What it was about the Master that led to that recommendation was never made clear. In any case, some reviewers and users ignored it (or were unaware of it).

Interesting. Just shows that all systems are different. Do you have the adapters on the wall outlet resp. power strip or plugged into the gear?

I got mine from Reichelt:

Schuko to IEC:

GOOD CONNECTIONS Netzadapter, Schutzkontaktstecker, Typ EF, C13, schwarz | Gerätezuleitungen günstig kaufen | reichelt elektronik

Netzadapter, Schutzkontaktstecker, Typ EF, C13, schwarz Gerätezuleitungen von GOOD CONNECTIONS - Schnelle Lieferung ✓ günstige Preise ✓ Für Gewerbe und Privat ✓ Jetzt online bei reichelt elektronik bestellen!

www.reichelt.com

US Male to Schuko Female:

GOOD CONNECTIONS Netzadapter, US-Schutzkontaktstecker, Typ B, F, schwarz | Gerätezuleitungen günstig kaufen | reichelt elektronik

Netzadapter, US-Schutzkontaktstecker, Typ B, F, schwarz Gerätezuleitungen von GOOD CONNECTIONS - Schnelle Lieferung ✓ günstige Preise ✓ Für Gewerbe und Privat ✓ Jetzt online bei reichelt elektronik bestellen!

www.reichelt.com

The difference in my system was like day and night. Also not veiled/ muddled in any way. Consider that female IEC sockets we have built into our gear is nothing special either. Pretty much the same material and quality as these adapters. So maybe something is wrong with the ones you ordered at Amazon.

Yes, I saw the announcement from SR. Still I was inpressed about the first Master that I ordered another one. The effect of replacing another purple with a master was still positive but a little less than with the first one. So I ordered a few more to go all the way. Turns out they were right. Especially, taking out the last purple (in the router‘s lpsu) took out all the magic. But at least 2-3 brought a positive result in my system.

 

[highstream]

Yours look awfully similar to the Amazons, Schuko aside. I just ordered a Furutech (?) adapter pair from Audio Sensibility. I was thinking of starting at the conditioner to regenerator run, to see what the effect on the whole system is. Sound quality aside, I’d love to get rid of all the piggys, which have turned the cabling of my set up into a jungle.

 

[Notdead]

I wanted to share my impressions of the SDFB. I’ve ordered one SDFB (20A) for my Sanders Magtech power amp. I ordered the box with the graphene sluggos.

I’m using SR Research fuses in my entire system. Mostly Masters and some Purples. Interestingly upgrading everything to Master fuses removed lower midrange too strongly in my system. Keeping a purple in the amp and lpsu of router produced a much more musical result retaining body. So below impressions are vs these SR Fuses and not vs stock fuses.

A difficulty here in Europe was the US socket on the output. I was only able to use the SFDB with the provided extreme pigtail. This silver plated pigtail didn’t do it at all in my setup. Timbre was too synthetic and images were flat.

So I ordered a Schuko to IEC adapter. With the adapter I was able to connect the SDFB directly to the outlet in my power bar. Also, I ordered a US male to Schuko adapter for the output. Now I could connect any power cable at home finished with Schuko plugs. None of the adapters was „hifi-grade“. Just standard products from the electronics shop.

Using these adapters instead of the pigtail completely transformed my experience with the SDFB. I strongly advise anybody to use such adapters. In the US, a simple US to IEC adapter will do the trick. You can then plug the fuse box directly to the wall outlet or power bar and from there connect your favorite power cable.

With the adapter I was absolutely blown away by the result. The soundstage had increased a lot in terms of height, width and depth. Better than with the Master and significantly better than with the Purple

While the Master fuse tends to suck out lower mids, the Purple fuse emphasize this specific frequency range. The fuse boxes frequency range remained neutral in the best sense. So there is no need to compensate anything in the process, like maintaining body and musicality with switch of cables, tube rolling, etc. It is thus a very clear improvement over both SR fuses.

With my standard power cable, the timbre was phenomenal: organic and natural. The sound had body and heft if the recording allowed for it. With leaner, airier recordings, it was open and spherical. There was a significant increase in micro and macro details too.

The fact that the fuse box outperformed the SR Master and Purple in my amp, makes it very appealing. Also, fuses have blown in the past increasing the costs. After the positive experience, I ordered more SDFB to upgrade the entire system.

I can strongly advise anybody to check these out. Also, try them with an adapter. The difference in my system between the pigtail and the adapters was eye-opening.

This post is very useful for people based in Europe IMO. In fact the use of pigtails was one of the reasons I initially dismissed the SFDB.

If there was a chance you could take a couple of pictures of your installation, that would also be very helpful.

Thanks in advance.

 

[highstream]

I have to wonder if the reversal of cord order is playing a big part in our difference in results. Are there any other differences between the North American and European SDFB set ups?

 

[GlowState]

Yours look awfully similar to the Amazons, Schuko aside. I just ordered a Furutech (?) adapter pair from Audio Sensibility. I was thinking of starting at the conditioner to regenerator run, to see what the effect on the whole system is. Sound quality aside, I’d love to get rid of all the piggys, which have turned the cabling of my set up into a jungle.

Yes, they are nothing special. But to me they made all the difference. Was searching the internet for some audiophile quality adapters. Couldn’t find any.

I started with two power cables to get rid of one adapter. But doubling the amount of power cables was a no-go for me. As you say, the cable jungle is confusing enough already. That’s what brought me down the adapter alley. When I swapped one power cable for an adapter I couldn’t hear a negative effect.

 

[GlowState]

This post is very useful for people based in Europe IMO. In fact the use of pigtails was one of the reasons I initially dismissed the SFDB.

If there was a chance you could take a couple of pictures of your installation, that would also be very helpful.

Thanks in advance.

Glad the post is useful. Here‘s a pictute of the situation. Use the Schuko to IEC adapter to plug the SDFB into the outlet. Then just plug the US male to Schuko female adapter into the US socket of the SDFB. From there you can use your preferred Schuko cable into the unit.

 

[Republicoftexas69]

Glad the post is useful. Here‘s a pictute of the situation. Use the Schuko to IEC adapter to plug the SDFB into the outlet. Then just plug the US male to Schuko female adapter into the US socket of the SDFB. From there you can use your preferred Schuko cable into the unit.

That’s the way I have my system set up here in The Republic of Texas and was a massive improvement overtime the Piggy Tails (hate that name). I binned the pigtails right off. Another issue may be the Regen that @highstream is using. My amplifiers are all plugged into a power distribution system with no filters. Released the hounds of power.

 

[Republicoftexas69]

This post is very useful for people based in Europe IMO. In fact the use of pigtails was one of the reasons I initially dismissed the SFDB.

If there was a chance you could take a couple of pictures of your installation, that would also be very helpful.

Thanks in advance.

Not sure I am following your logic?

 

[Notdead]

Not sure I am following your logic?

As I understood, the final part of the cable connection is the piggy tail that is plugged to the to device. My concern was that then the sound signature of the cable would be affected/ modified.

 

[Republicoftexas69]

As I understood, the final part of the cable connection is the piggy tail that is plugged to the to device. My concern was that then the sound signature of the cable would be affected/ modified.

Yes this is logical and why I chose to use the IEC adapter and plug directly into my power distributor and use the PC I was using in my system prior to the addition of the SDFB. I use all P.A.D. and LessLoss PC. Much better without the Pig Tails.

 

[GlowState]

That’s the way I have my system set up here in The Republic of Texas and was a massive improvement overtime the Piggy Tails (hate that name). I binned the pigtails right off. Another issue may be the Regen that @highstream is using. My amplifiers are all plugged into a power distribution system with no filters. Released the hounds of power.

I‘m also not using a power regenerator. But not sure this is the reason for the difference. Could literally be anything.

@Notdead: Using the pigtail on the amp side has indeed drastically altered the sound signature. It was immediately obvious that the change comes from the cable and not from the SDFB.

I will order US male to IEC adapters. On my source, I have some LessLoss cables which are directly soldered to the power distributor. With these cables I have no other option than plugging the SDFB directly to the gear.

Once I receive the adapters, I can use them on the amp too and compare the following two options:
1. Adapter - SDFB - Adapter - Power Cable
2. Power cable - SDFB - Adapter

Obviously, option two would take one adapter out of the equation. But somehow I expected the current option 1 to be the better one.

 

[Notdead]

I‘m also not using a power regenerator. But not sure this is the reason for the difference. Could literally be anything.

@Notdead: Using the pigtail on the amp side has indeed drastically altered the sound signature. It was immediately obvious that the change comes from the cable and not from the SDFB.

I will order US male to IEC adapters. On my source, I have some LessLoss cables which are directly soldered to the power distributor. With these cables I have no other option than plugging the SDFB directly to the gear.

Once I receive the adapters, I can use them on the amp too and compare the following two options:
1. Adapter - SDFB - Adapter - Power Cable
2. Power cable - SDFB - Adapter

Obviously, option two would take one adapter out of the equation. But somehow I expected the current option 1 to be the better one.

Many thanks GlowState!
I do appreciate you comment and the picture!

 

[corepowertech]

I wanted to share my impressions of the SDFB. I’ve ordered one SDFB (20A) for my Sanders Magtech power amp. I ordered the box with the graphene sluggos.

I’m using SR Research fuses in my entire system. Mostly Masters and some Purples. Interestingly upgrading everything to Master fuses removed lower midrange too strongly in my system. Keeping a purple in the amp and lpsu of router produced a much more musical result retaining body. So below impressions are vs these SR Fuses and not vs stock fuses.

A difficulty here in Europe was the US socket on the output. I was only able to use the SFDB with the provided extreme pigtail. This silver plated pigtail didn’t do it at all in my setup. Timbre was too synthetic and images were flat.

So I ordered a Schuko to IEC adapter. With the adapter I was able to connect the SDFB directly to the outlet in my power bar. Also, I ordered a US male to Schuko adapter for the output. Now I could connect any power cable at home finished with Schuko plugs. None of the adapters was „hifi-grade“. Just standard products from the electronics shop.

Using these adapters instead of the pigtail completely transformed my experience with the SDFB. I strongly advise anybody to use such adapters. In the US, a simple US to IEC adapter will do the trick. You can then plug the fuse box directly to the wall outlet or power bar and from there connect your favorite power cable.

With the adapter I was absolutely blown away by the result. The soundstage had increased a lot in terms of height, width and depth. Better than with the Master and significantly better than with the Purple

While the Master fuse tends to suck out lower mids, the Purple fuse emphasize this specific frequency range. So in combination this works but it needs attention and the willingness to balance things out. The fuse boxes frequency range remained neutral in the best sense. So there is no need to compensate anything in the process, like maintaining body and musicality with switch of cables, tube rolling, etc. It is thus a very clear improvement over both SR fuses.

With my standard power cable, the timbre was phenomenal: organic and natural. The sound had body and heft if the recording allowed for it. With leaner, airier recordings, it was open and spherical. There was a significant increase in micro and macro details too.

The fact that the fuse box outperformed the SR Master and Purple in my amp, makes it very appealing. Also, fuses have blown in the past increasing the costs. After the positive experience, I ordered more SDFB to upgrade the entire system.

I can strongly advise anybody to check these out. Also, try them with an adapter. The difference in my system between the pigtail and the adapters was eye-opening.

@GlowState

grateful for this feedback - thanks very much.

Peter is away back East for several days, but I'm in touch with him and the team about what's been said and opined.

Getting better results matters a great deal to me. Appreciate all the input received from you and Miyagi-san

Best wishes - Mark

 

[corepowertech]

Juast to get it said - I have zero ego in this (re our cables)... if other connection protocols are better = I'm all in.

Thanks - Mark

 

[GlowState]

@GlowState

grateful for this feedback - thanks very much.

Peter is away back East for several days, but I'm in touch with him and the team about what's been said and opined.

Getting better results matters a great deal to me. Appreciate all the input received from you and Miyagi-san

Best wishes - Mark

Thanks Mark. I‘m impressed by your product. It really lifted things to another level for me. Very much looking forward to the next three units I ordered.

Also good to hear that you don’t take the cable feedback personal. Cables are so individual and it really depends on the components and setup. While it didn’t work for me, I‘m sure there’s many applications where the experience is a different one.

 

[highstream]

I‘m also not using a power regenerator. But not sure this is the reason for the difference. Could literally be anything.

@Notdead: Using the pigtail on the amp side has indeed drastically altered the sound signature. It was immediately obvious that the change comes from the cable and not from the SDFB.

I will order US male to IEC adapters. On my source, I have some LessLoss cables which are directly soldered to the power distributor. With these cables I have no other option than plugging the SDFB directly to the gear.

Once I receive the adapters, I can use them on the amp too and compare the following two options:
1. Adapter - SDFB - Adapter - Power Cable
2. Power cable - SDFB - Adapter

Obviously, option two would take one adapter out of the equation. But somehow I expected the current option 1 to be the better one.

Why would you need or want an adapter between the SDFB and the power cable to the device?

@Notdead While it's user choice, my suggestion is the piggy or adapter before the SDFB and the power cable to the component after. I noticed last night that mine were reverse to that and switched them. Improved the sound a bit.

 

[Republicoftexas69]

Why would you need or want an adapter between the SDFB and the power cable to the device?

@Notdead While it's user choice, my suggestion is the piggy or adapter before the SDFB and the power cable to the component after. I noticed last night that mine were reverse to that and switched them. Improved the sound a bit.

For the EU adapter I would assume.

 

[Mendel]

I have had the SDFB (Graphene Sluggo) and extreme Piggy in front of my Rogue amp for 6 days now. I have the Piggy plugged into my power distribution box (no conditioner, dedicated line with 10 gauge armoured cable) to the SDFB, and my power cable connecting the SDFB to my amp.
I have waiting this long so I could carefully hear what is happening to the sound, and it is certainly changing, so consider this is a preliminary report. To be honest, as I played the first album side I was not very happy. The tone seemed off, very thick with no highs and no musical flow. By the second side things were already starting to improve. I have now put about 30 hours on the piggy and SDFB and the sound has definitely improved to the point that it is definitely better than with the fuse. I had a Hi Fi Tuning Supreme fuse in my amp previously. As a side note, when I took the fuse out one of the metal ends came off, rendering it useless. The amp had also previously blown a SR Orange fuse. Money down the drain, but that won’t happen again with the SDFB now in place.
The main benefit I am hearing at this point from the SDFB is in imaging and soundstage. The centrefill seems much better, the music is less tethered to the speakers and floats more freely in the centre between. This is big for me as imaging is key to the music sounding more real, less reproduced. There is more depth and the players are more there in the mix. Dynamics also seem to be better.
But the tone still does not seem quite right to me. It’s very close, but the music doesn’t seem quite as “pure” as it was prior with the fuse. Not sure how else to put it. I’m hoping more hours will help, but I believe what I am hearing is the effect of the Piggy and extra connections on things.
I am a big believer in power cables. Every one I have tried on each piece of my equipment has sounded plainly different. I use a 20 year old, thick inflexible blue Furutech cable on my amp (it was their top of the line power cable at the time). It has fought off all challengers over the years. But the signal to my amp now goes through an extra 3 prong connection, a one foot piece of different wire, an extra connection to the SDFB before it goes through the Furutech power cord. That just can’t be good.
I have heard some talk on these SDFB threads about the sound of a Sluggo alone not being as good as a Sluggo with the SDFB. This makes no sense to me at all. The Sluggo (instead of a fuse) is what improves the sound. The fuse box is nothing more than a microprocessor “breaker” that protects the equipment in which the Sluggo is installed. It can’t make the sound better, at best it is totally neutral on the sound, and very likely does have some (negative) effect on the signal. An amp with just a Sluggo alone in it would give you all the sonic benefits (or more) of the SDFB. Your piece of equipment just would not be protected from electrical surges and other power line hazards.
So it seems obvious that the weak link in the SDFB system is the need for another power cable to make the connection, although several posters have noted an improvement using adaptors instead. Fortunately Audio Sensibility is about a 20 minute drive from me, and I intend to have Steve make the necessary adapter(s) for me. Not sure why it has to be two adaptors as shown in his picture by LuisMontreal. Can’t it just be one adaptor with three prongs on one end and a male IEC connection on the other to plug into the SDFB? You would save one extra connection point that way.
For that matter, the SDFB should really be just be a plug in device with three prongs (built in) on the one end and female plug on the other so you could plug it into your distributor or wall plug and then just plug your cable into it. Or alternatively, it could have a built in male IEC on one end and a female IEC connection for your power cord on the other so you could use the device on the equipment end. You should be able to order it either way, depending on your what worked best in your setup. Without an extra power cord involved, it should not make any difference where the SDFB was located along the power cord. That would make a lot of sense, allowing this device to reach its full potential.
I will continue to break in the Piggy and Sluggo while I wait for the needed adapters. Even though this has turned into an expensive proposition given another possible $200+ for adapters (and I got dinged for $250 in “brokerage fees” and taxes when my package arrived) and despite Mark’s generous discount he provided me with, I still think it is worth it. I expect the SDFB and Piggy will continue to improve with break in and will be better still with the proper adapters. A very interesting tweak indeed!

 

[GroovySauce]

@Mendel I've never used one of the Piggies that are an option. The SDFB like other items in the system does need some time to settle. The graphene sluggo took a few hundred hours to really shine in my system.

 

[LuisMontreal]

I see that many are upgrading the piggy tale. One more option is from AudioSensibility. After discussion with Steve, he added the option of two quality Furutech connectors. It was very positive in my system versus the base piggy tale.

AC Adapters - Audio Sensibility

View attachment 144997

Here it is with updated price: Audisensibility adapter