Shadorne sez: ...
"Have you not considered that a system that magnifies the impacts of a fuse is likely obscuring what is coming from the source?
I regard audible effects from extraneous factors such as fuses to be distortion. I do not want equipment that magnifies distortion"
On the contrary Shadorne, there is nothing "magnified" by upgrading to a better fuse, especially "distortion." What is/was being "obscured" is the purity of the incoming signal by using an inferior stock fuse. That "purity" is allowed to come through the upgraded fuse and we perceive it as less grain, a lower noise floor and more three dimensional realism. Its not a defect in the equipment, but a "defect," if you will, in the stock fuse.
Are you one who also denies the efficacy of upgrading to better power cords, speaker wires and IC's?
How about upgrading tonearm wires? I upgraded my Well Tempered tonearm wires years ago, replacing it with the best copper wire that Cardas offered at the time. It was a significant improvement all around. Is it your belief that after changing the tonearm wire, the table was "magnifying distortion," and therefore revealed itself to be a defective turntable??
Another "tweak" I did was to change out the stock binding posts on my speakers for Cardas' best copper posts. Another significant improvement. What "distortions," in your opinion, were being "magnified" by the speakers after I changed the binding posts? And ... are the speakers defective because the Cardas binding posts allowed for a better signal to pass through, and as a result, offered a more realistic presentation??
How about spiking speakers to the floor? I remember when "Tip Toes" first came out back in the '70's. This was prior to anyone understanding the value of spiking speakers to the floor. The dealer at the audio store talked me into buying a set. I placed them under the speakers I had at the time and was truly amazed at the improvement those little aluminum cones/spikes made. What happened there ... did the Tip Toes simply "magnify distortions" in my "defective" speakers? That's just silly.
If there was something in your post that I misunderstood, please lay it out. Thanks ...
Frank