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Synergistic Red Fuse ...

I installed a SR RED Quantum fuse in my ARC REF-3 preamp a few days ago, replacing an older high end fuse. Uhh ... for a hundred bucks, this little baby is well worth the cost. There was an immediate improvement upon installation, but now that its broken in (yes, no kidding), its quite remarkable. A tightening of the focus, a more solid image, and most important of all for my tastes, a deeper appreciation for the organic sound of the instruments. Damn! ... cellos sound great! Much improved attack on pianos. More humanistic on vocals. Bowed bass goes down forever. Next move? .... I'm doing the entire system with these fuses. One at a time though just to gauge the improvement in each piece of equipment. The REF-75se comes next. I'll report the results as the progression takes place. Stay tuned ...

Any comments from anyone else who has tried these fuses?
128x128oregonpapa
wstam
8 posts
 
I have the Reds in my Amp, phono and DAC. I am cooking the Blacks now.

Someone has asked earlier in this thread but I don't see any answer: is the SR label on the fuses indicating direction? i.e. they are not randomly pasted.

For those who can observe the effect of the direction, do you notice any relation with the direction of the label? Do the label follow the direction of the current flow?

Just wonder if we can use the label (if it is indicating a direction) to determine the direction of inserting the fuses instead of just trying....

Thanks.
cymbop
315 posts
 
I my case, the clear winner is fuse seemingly reversed from current flow, such that incoming current sees the R side of the fuse.
almarg's avatar
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almarg
9,670 posts
 
Would an external fuse holder with a battery ac oss the leads to get an amp or two across suffice?
Household alkaline batteries would at best only last a few hours when supplying that much current, and in many cases less than an hour.  Also, you would need to have a resistor in series, to limit the current to an amount that is appropriate for the rating of the particular fuse, taking into account the internal resistance of the particular battery.

What might be reasonable to consider is using an AC-powered power supply, providing some reasonably low output voltage, wired to a suitable fuseholder in series with an appropriately chosen resistor.  In the case of a rail fuse (that would be conducting DC within a component) a power supply providing DC on its output should obviously be chosen.  In the case of a mains fuse, though, in the absence of a detailed technical understanding of what changes occur during the breakin process that are audibly significant (or even of how these fuses work their magic) I have no idea as to whether it would be best for the output of that supply to be low voltage AC or low voltage DC, or if it would make any difference either way.

Regards,
-- Al
 
gwalt
162 posts
 

Hi Audiolabyrinth:

Sorry for the late response as I have not been watching thread for quite some time.

I have not had any experience with the Black vs. Beeswax but only the RED vs. Beeswax.

I sold the RED while I could as a result of the sonic attributes of the Beeswax. The new owner of the RED has had some success so all things differ as you know already. I guess after the RED with limited success I moved away from the Black but I still wanted something to compare.

 I have the Beeswax installed in my VAC preamp. where the RED sounded thin in comparison.  I have since tried a Audio Horizons fuse in the same position with great success. It certainly is directional also. The Beeswax might be marginally better in the preamp. but you will need to put at least 150 hours on it or more to allow it to fully develop. I have heard a couple say they experienced improvement of the Beeswax out to 300 hours. In my case, the Beeswax is the one to beat but there is no trial period as SR has 30 days and AH has a 15 day return. AM claims there is too much labor installing Beeswax into the fuse to allow returns and they have to drill a small hole in the end of the fuse and syringe in the Beeswax along with another electrical process.

The idea of all of these fuses is to reduce noise vibration in the signal path and it has become quite a game in how that is accomplished.

Again I have not tried the Black for comparison but may as time permits but the Beeswax is just so musical so I have figured why bother for now. SR will no doubt have something beating the Black in the near future anyway.

Since there are certainly some great options out there I took it upon myself to just experiment with one component that feeds the system and I have not regretted that move.

If you would like my experience with purchase options on the Beeswax to save some money just shoot me an email at gwalters@charterwest.com.

davidpritchard's avatar
davidpritchard
866 posts
 
wstam:
The label direction on the Synergistic research fuses do indicate the direction the fuses were treated. Current flowed from the capital "S" of Synergistic towards the "R" in the second word Research.

I do install them with a best guess of how the current flows in the equipment, but then I always reverse direction and relisten. I do not use a multimeter to assertain the direction of electrical flow. Especially at the main fuse location the difference is not subtle.

David Pritchard
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