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  3. 1448317474

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
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Mitch wrote,

"Ironically I do not uses fuses in my current set up.
Yes Geoff, the irony of how much time you have spent posting to fuse threads for someone who does not use fuses is duly noted.

Maybe consider posting your system on Audiogon so readers can better understand your point of reference when you describe what you hear, or what components or accessories you believe to render a sonic difference."

Alas, in light of all that has been said in these fuse threads lo these past couple of months I would have thought it was kind of obvious that no fuse is better than any fuse. Perhaps it would help if I wrote it in all caps. That’s precisely why I have taken the steps to eliminate fuses from my system, actually to also eliminate and bypass the house AC entirely, as well as eliminate power cords, electrical ground, wall outlets, interconnects, transformers, large capacitors, crossover networks, room interactions, things of that nature. I am just not a big fan of the distortion and noise those things bring to the table.

geoff kait
machina dynamica

oregonpapa's avatar
oregonpapa OP
4,867 posts
 
^^^ If what I am getting out of my system at this point is called "distortion," then PLEASE ... bring me more distortion. :-)
aolmrd1241
1,028 posts
 
" That’s precisely why I have taken the steps to eliminate fuses from my system, actually to also eliminate and bypass the house AC entirely, as well as eliminate power cords, electrical ground, wall outlets, interconnects, transformers, large capacitors, crossover networks, room interactions, things of that nature."   

geoff. How do you eliminate all those things short of having an acoustical band/group playing for you...in your home, at your own whim? Please enlighten us.

geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Oregonpapa wrote,

"^^^ If what I am getting out of my system at this point is called "distortion," then PLEASE ... bring me more distortion. :-)"

"Everything is relative."  A. Einstein

Before you changed fuses most likely you were not particularly aware of any distortion, either. It's all relative. Trust me, you still have distortion.  Of many different types, if I can be so bold to add.

cheerios

mapman's avatar
mapman
22,087 posts
 

All systems have some form of distortion to some degree since none are perfect.

The first basic trick to good sound is to minimize noise and distortion especially the more offensive kinds.

Fuses are low in the food chain in terms of their overall impact on noise and distortion compared to most of the other usual suspects.

If someone hears a difference with a fuse or other similar RELATIVELY minor tweak, that is probably a good indicator that most of the other bigger more common culprits are in check. Or maybe the original fuse needed reseating or had some other issue that the change fixed.

I don’t see how anyone would object to calling a fuse a relatively minor tweak on e the grand scale of things, but I suspect some will. IMHO YMMV and all that good stuff as always.


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