I’ve bought 5 Audio Horizons Platinum fuses a couple of months ago, for my amps, speakers and DAC. Three days ago, coincidentially, the 5A fuses on my mono amps (Rogue Apollos), blew at the same time on start up. Replaced them with the OEM fuses, and everything works again. I have a very good electrical installation, with independent lines for each amp, a no surges or anything strange occurred. My speakers, Evolution Acoustics MM3s are always ON, and nothing happened to the fuses on them. I emailed Joseph Chow inmediately and his response was to send the fuses back to him (at my cost, I live in Ecuador...), to repair them for $70/each, plus shipping. I have paid $138 for each fuse in October, and no warranty?... what a shame!!! Won’t buy these fuses again, NEVER!!!
Sorry to hear about your experience with the Audio Horizon fuses. They are expensive. May I suggest you try the Brimar Audio fuses? I think you'd be pleasantly surprised.
Chow charges to repair an apparently defective (at best; it could also be just a poorly designed one), two month old product? We have not reached a new low?!
Most aftermarket fuses come with 30 day money back guarantee. Only one of the 15 aftermarket fuses comes with 60 day money back guarantee. You exceeded both the 30 and 60 day periods. So, you’re actually lucky Audio Horizon will replace or repair your fuses for less than the original cost. Sounds like he was doing you a favor. This could just be a case where you need to increase the fuse rating, as others have noted.
I had one AH fuse blow within the 30 days and Joseph Chow replaced it immediately. Prior to owning AH fuses, I also had a SR black fuse blow within the 30 days and replaced immediately. I called Primaluna and said I needed to increase the fuse rating on my integrated amp and had no problems since plus I had no problems with AH fuses in my other equipment. As geoff stated above, there are cases where you you may need to increase the fuse rating. But since your fuses blew on both amps simultaneously after 2 months there may be another problem.
30 days is what it takes shipping to Ecuador... Bad customers service, to say the least. Increasing the amp value of the fuses will be dangerous for the amplifiers, don’t you think? I will always prefer to protect my equipment, not the fuses. Sometimes, you have to make EXCEPTIONS, just to keep clients happy, and replacing a pair of defective fuses wouldn’t have been a big problem for Mr. Chow... By the way, the OEM fuses are working perfectly.
I'm with you Viridian. A fuse has a designed purpose. If it is doing anything less than that, faulty design for example what exactly is the point, improved sound at the possible risk of equipment damage?
Whoa! Let’s not get crazy. 😜 Nobody has even lost equipment or had their house burn to the ground. The fuse failures for whatever reason prevent that. Even aftermarket fuses.
It coulda been anything. The whole amp catching fire thing is strictly anecdotal. You are correct, it might have been anything. If aftermarket fuses or ANY fuses caused fires they would have been litigated out of business a long time ago.
Addendum: the point about UL is actually moot. If someone is dead set on getting an aftermarket fuse but demands UL fuses, look no further than ISOCLEAN fuses, which have been around like forever and are UL listed. And they sound good. Problem solved. The only thing to fear is fear itself. 🤪
Wait a minute.....You say he charges $70 each to repair? Um,,,, don't you just throw it away and get a new one? Sounds like his definition of repair is getting his cost and then some for the replacements. In most applications replacing stock fuses with vastly overpriced expensive ones seems like a lot of BS to me.
Do some homework on ac theory, don't become another fuse patsy. For the fuse snake oil manufactures, it's a massive mark up for them, where else can you get 600% on your dollar invested, that's why it's hammered here so much and relentlessly done.
That's weird, no sure if the storm around your area cause the power surge. Is this happening right after power up? We see less than 0.01 % rating failure in our sales record and we only provide one month warranty. However, please check the current rating and either slow or fast blow in your original stock fuse.
We can reworking your fuse once it return and cost $70 each plus shipping.
PADIS are ISO certified and I believe HiFi Tuning fuses are as well. I would venture to say, without looking it up, that all fuses made in Germany are ISO certified or they wouldn't be sold. They have their standards as well as us.
viridian If only one in 10,000 fails why is the warranty only one month? Only in audio and politics do you find these kinds of disconnects IMHO.
Geoff, I don’t think that the point about UL listing is moot at all. The AH fuses are apparently not UL listed and may be out of spec. I would prefer a UL listed, or ISO certified as someone else mentioned, fuse in my gear and if Isoclean is UL listed that’s great. I also prefer UL listed plugs and outlets. There is a reason that electrical connectors are safety tested and rated.
>>>>Not to belabor the point unnecessarily, the UL issue is moot because all types of fuses ocassionally fail, even stock fuses, you know, Littelfuse and Bussman. It’s not the fuse’s fault if it blows — as far as we know. Aftermarket fuses have been with us for almost what, 20 years? We have know FOR ALMOST 20 YEARS that sometimes the fuse rating must be increased somewhat to prevent premature blowing. Problem solved.
As I pointed out previously, if there was an issue with a fuse’s manufacturer, the manufacturer would be subject to legal repercussions, perhaps. But that has not happened. As least not to my knowledge, and I have been following the subject rather closely for many years. A fuse blows sometimes. That’s what a fuse is supposed to do. And when it blows it PREVENTS DAMAGE TO ELECTRONICS AND FIRES.
Did you not read my response above? Both the AH and the SR Black fuses blew in my Primaluna integrated amp. After calling the distributor, they recommended I increase the fuse rating which worked with no consequences.
Do you believe SR would have replaced your fuses after the warranty period?
I've had audio horizons fuses in both my preamp and amp. Easily audible improvement in sound quality (no A/B comparison required) and no issues with them blowing. Just wanted to chime in with my experience.
George, you just don’t get it. Audiophiles want fuses that sound good. Haven’t you been paying attention? They don’t want some cheap jive fuse. They’ve been there, done that. That’s why audiophiles have bought ten thousand aftermarket fuses since they first can out almost 20 years ago. Don’t be a cube, rube, go ape! 🤪 Holiday tip: resolve for the New Year to try an aftermarket fuse for yourself. See what all the hoopla is about. Don’t be a hater, be a lover. And be sure and try both directions.
Maybe Audio Horizons might just practice a bit of "love" as well. No warranty on a 138.00 fuse and a cheerful and presumably empathetic offer to "repair" for the generous price of 70.00 each plus shipping? Some of us clearly get it Geoff. You say don't be a rube, i say don't be a chump to such overt greed. It's principle not sound.
Huh? Are we still talking about the same fuse? I thought Audio Magic was the only one with liquid inside. You mean Audio Magic is not the only guy who drills teeny tiny holes in the fuses? Could I be wrong?
Hey Geoff check the op opening to the thread and the subsequent post by the op that it takes 30 days to ship to Equador, duh. Besides you miss the point which is hardly unusual for you.
Huh? I know it takes 30 days to get there. But the clock doesn’t start ticking until it gets there. That’s the whole point. The customer thought the travel time was part of the trial period. He still exceeded the 30 day period. Get with the program.
I get the program Geoff loud and clear. What isn't clear because it hasn't been made clear is when the warranty clock started and when the fuses blew other than immediately upon installation. Bottom line is IF the tube purchased is the same value as what is specified by the manufacturer why is it failing so early but MOST important to the point I attempted to make, did Mr. Chow even inquire or ask questions or was it no problem, ship them back and I'll "repair" them at 70.00 each plus shipping. The fuse blew when installed. Clearly this is more than about warranties. What don't you get about that?
Mr. Chow never asked anything, just asumes that it was my problem, not a pair of defective fuses... almost impossible to believe that two fuses of the same batch blew at the same time... such a coincidence!!! I’m in the 0.01% of the losers group... and the winner is...Mr. Chow!!!
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