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
Wolfie Cotton Ears sez:

"... the Believers who seem to simply not care about the technology, but don't hesitate to toss piles of money at it based on faith…"

Count me in as one of "The Believers."  Contrary to Wolfie Cotton Ears' above statement, there is nothing about the SR fuses that was "taken on faith."  The only "faith taken" was the faith that the dealer would honor the 30 day money back guarantee on the initial fuse purchase a year ago.

Nope, nothing has been taken on "faith."  Everything stated in this entire thread was taken on HEARING THE RESULTS. 

True that there are those of us who couldn't care less about the technology. So What? I'm a salesman not a techno-dweeb.  I don't sell the steak ... I sell the sizzle. 

I worked as a salesman for a few years in an ultra-high end audio store. While there, I saw the owner, (an engineer) master mind his way right out of business by overwhelming prospects with technical jargon until their eyes glazed over. What was lost on the owner was that the prospects weren't coming into the store to spend money on low slew rates, wire metallurgy, or speaker cone material. They came into the store because they wanted to recreate reproduced music as accurately as possible in their home. Because of the owner's failure to understand the prospects basic needs and wants, and his continual refusal to learn basic salesmanship, I watched while an entire fortune was flushed down the drain and the doors of a fantastic audio store were closed forever. 

On the outlay of cash:  My system uses five fuses. That came to a full retail cost, including state sales tax, of $659.00.  What have I received for the cash outlay?  I've gotten in return an audio system that completely disappears. It doesn't call attention to itself in any way. Its totally three dimensional at this point. The instruments are reproduced in a very believable way.  The dynamics are amazing, from the softest triangle strike to the big tympani's and the lowest organ notes. Its quite amazing, really. Vocals are "reach out and touch it" real. 

When you can take a  truly great amplifier like the ARC REF-75 se, that bowled you over by its grain free presentation straight out of the box stock, then simply replace the stock fuse with an SR Black fuse and discover what the meaning of grain free truly is, well ... that's worth the price of all five fuses combined right there. Why would I need to know how the fuses work at that point? I don't need to know. I just want the music. That's it, period. 

Each year, its estimated that approximately 350,000 1/4" drill bits are sold in the U.S.  Did the buyers of those drill bits want drill bits, or did they want 1/4" holes?  Do they need to know how drill bits work, other than knowing how to attach the bit to the drill motor?  Nope. They just want the hole.

Dear Wolfie Cotton Ears ... try to get your  head around this: We don't want the fuses. We want the music the fuses so greatly improve upon. Simple, no???

OP
I like the accesory "Fuse" because it is :
1- inexpensive (as an accessory)
2- Very efficient (in many systems, be it SR, AM, AH, Furutech' etc.)
3- unexpected : when the first audiophile fuses appeared, who could believe it could make such a difference ? No one I net.4- there is several manufacturers that made their fuse sound all slightly different one each others. So with the help of the audiophile community you can have a first valiable approach to expected results in your system.
With the help of good return policy you can test "in real conditions", in your system and balance the sound by putting a SR Black here, and an AM'or AH there.
It's a kind of cooking we all make and that is part of the fun when we buy an X pre to mate with an Y amp etc, or am I wrong ?

Last year I tested several expensive speaker cables (5ooo to 6500€ for a 2,5 m stereo). I kept none. Yes several were audibly superior to mine but not enough for the difference in price.
When I discovered the difference an SR Red did in my pre : wow !  For a mighty 79€ it was great. After that I heard of the SR Blacks thanks to Oregon Papa and this thread.
I looked at all the fuses and all what be said around, I installed a AM Beeswax that made me happy  in the pre and sometimes later, SR Blacks in the amps and the DAC.
 Very happy too.
When The Beeswax SHD appeared I replaced the pre fuse with it. Not fully broken in (about 40 hours only) and it is soooo musical and airy. The musicians and singers seem so happy to play together, I consider it now superior (in my system, room, tastes etc) to the Black.
I believe in Fuses because I tested them with my ears and brain. No need to substitute machines to tell me what is good or bad.
In a way of being a bit provocative if we speak of faith, so yes I have the Faith in  Fuse. To my delight I heard his Word'and it has lighted my audiophile path.
Being serious anew a think a kind of competition is beginning and maybe in a few weeks SR will biuld a new one still better and so on. As for bank cards there will be the Gold, the Platinum etc 🤑.  A new territory is being explored by the builders and who knows where it will stop...
As my girlfriend discovered recently (we are together for a few months) : "Mais mon Cheri, your Hi Fi... It is endless?". 

It seems this thread has run its course with respect to believers and naysayers, with all the parties planted firmly on one side or the other, except Geoff who has no fuses in his Walkman yet enjoys working the bellows to keep the fire hot. Any attempts at humor seem to have evaporated like the magic dust inside of a blown “audiophile” fuse.

With respect to Oregonpapa, the original question he posted was “Any comments from anyone else who has tried these fuses?”  Therefore, this thread was never intended to be an argument over the scientific validity of "audiophile" fuse technology but rather a discussion of what people do hear. I have tried the SR reds but didn’t hear the “bang for my buck” so I am mostly happy using UL/CSA Eaton Bussmann type fuses. I think this thread is best left to those who have discerned sonic improvements from installing “audiophile” fuses in their hi-fi systems, and from orienting those fuses so the half-inch fuse wire is pointed in the right direction.  Agreeing to disagree can be a reasonable resolution. 
mitch2,

Those are good words, but will most likely go unheeded by those who are driven by a need to stir the pot.

barbapapa:

Thank you for such a thoughtful post. It is the perfect statement why it is worth the effort to audition the audio grade fuses you listed.

David Pritchard