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The new Synergistic Research BLUE fuses ....

New SR BLUE fuse thread ...

I’ve replaced all 5 of the SR BLACK fuses in my system with the new SR BLUE fuses. Cold, out of the box, the BLUE fuses stomped the fully broken-in SR BLACKS in a big way. As good as the SR BLACK fuses were/are, especially in comparison with the SR RED fuses, SR has found another break-through in fuses.

1. Musicality ... The system is totally seamless at this point. Its as if there is no system in the room, only a wall to wall, front to back and floor to ceiling music presentation with true to life tonality from the various instruments.

2. Extension ... I’ve seemed to gain about an octave in low bass response. This has the effect of putting more meat on the bones of the instruments. Highs are very extended, breathing new life into my magic percussion recordings. Vibes, chimes, bells, and triangles positioned in the rear of the orchestra all have improved. I’ve experienced no roll-off of the highs what so ever with the new BLUE fuses. Just a more relaxed natural presentation.

3. Dynamics ... This is a huge improvement over the BLACK fuses. Piano and vibes fans ... this is fantastic.

I have a Japanese audiophile CD of Flamenco music ... the foot stomps on the stage, the hand clapping and the castanets are present like never before. Want to hear natural sounding castanets? Get the BLUE fuses.

4. Mid range ... Ha! Put on your favorite Ben Webster album ... and a pair of adult diapers. Play Chris Connor singing "All About Ronnie," its to die for.

Quick .... someone here HAS to buy this double album. Its a bargain at this price. Audiophile sound, excellent performance by the one and only Chris Connor. Yes, its mono ... but so what? Its so good you won’t miss the stereo effects. If you’re the lucky person who scores this album, please post your results here.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ULTRASONIC-CLEAN-The-Finest-Of-CHRIS-CONNOR-Bethlehem-Jazz-1975-NM-UNPLAYED-...

Overall impressions:

Where the RED fuses took about 20 hours to sound their best, and the BLACK fuses took upwards of 200 hours of total break-in, the BLUE fuses sounded really good right out of the box ... and that’s without doing anything about proper directional positioning. Not that the BLUE fuses don’t need breaking in, they do. The improvement continues through week three. Its a gradual break-in thing where each listening session is better than the last.

Everything I described above continues to break new ground in my system as the fuses continue breaking in. Quite honestly, I find it difficult to tear myself away from the system in order to get things done. Its truly been transformed into a magical music machine. With the expenditure of $150.00 and a 30 day return policy there’s really nothing to lose. In my system, its like upgrading to a better pre amp, amp, CD player or phono stage. Highly recommended.

Kudos to Ted Denney and the entire staff at SR. Amazing stuff, guys. :-)

Frank

PS: If you try the SR BLUE fuses, please post your results here. Seems the naysayers, the Debbie Downers and Negative Nellie’s have hijacked the original RED fuse thread. A pox on their houses and their Pioneer receivers.

Frank



128x128oregonpapa
ps
746 posts
 
@almarg
"Regarding PS’s questions, I suspect from the wording of his posts as well as the rating of the fuse that he is referring to a DC rail fuse, rather than a mains fuse. Which means that inrush current at turn-on probably won’t be much of a concern, if any. However it sounds like he is considering going from a 1 amp stock fuse to a 1.25 amp HiFi Tuning fuse, and I have no idea whether the rationale I cited above for going up a rating or two in the case of SR fuses would be applicable to HFT fuses. On the other hand, though, intuitively it doesn’t sound like much of a difference to me, so IMO it is a reasonable course of action."

Thank you sir for your comments. And thanks to everyone else as well. The seller of the SR fuses did suggest going up a value from 1A after I reported the failure of one.

My mono amps are sturdy vintage MFA which have been recently highly-upgraded by one of the original designers. Each amp employs a quartet of either 6550’s or KT-88’s.

They have a 10A fast-blow mains fuse and the 1A fast blow I mentioned. I follow a careful procedure when powering up my system. First, turn on MFA preamp with mute switches in mute position. I wait a couple of minutes. I then flip the power toggle switch on each amp from off to on. I wait a few more minutes, and then flip the other toggle switch from standby to operate, waiting until power tubes have warmed up for a few minutes, and then flip the preamp mute switches to
-O DB.

I tested all the tubes in the amp in which the 1A SR20 fuse blew to make sure none had shorted out. Testing included the small tubes as well. All tubes tested fine.

As mentioned I do prefer the sound with the audiophile fuses, and will give the matter more thought. If I can safely go up in value from the 1A fuses I will consider it. I have requested an opinion from the amp designer. I’m merely a music lover and not electrically, technically knowledgeable. :)
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
The seller of the SR fuses did suggest going up a value from 1A after I reported the failure of one.

No don’t do it this is total BS, without confirmation from the manufacturer of the amp


If I can safely go up in value from the 1A fuses I will consider it. .

Amps stock fuses are specified to blow just above the amps max spec’d current draw, as to minimise any damage to the amp it self, should anything untoward draw more, the fuse should blow.

Any manufacturer will say no to this 1A upgrade, as it’s no longer going to protect your equipment like the original spec’ed fuse would.
If the manufacture "hypothetically" said yes and you have proof of that, then he is liable to fix it free of charge + shipping if the amp blows and the 1A higher fuse didn’t protect it..

Cheers George
ps
746 posts
 
Hi George,
To clarify, I am considering the possibility of increasing the value of the 1amp fuse slightly to perhaps 1.25A. The 10A mains fuses will remain the same

The rationale I'm getting is that standard fuses have a wider tolerance, perhaps 10%,  but if I understand correctly, the tolerances of most tweak fuses are narrower.  As I said, I am not an engineer or tech-head. :)

Just trying to make a fine stereo system a bit finer.
ps
746 posts
 
Just in: I have received "official clearance" to use as high as 1.6A fast blow fuses in the signal path of my amps. Learning as I go. More later.
sgordon1
418 posts
 
Received a blue fuse and Telos stickers at the same time from
the Cable Company.

I applied the stickers first, inside a cd player.  A tweezer is supplied, to pry the stickers off the plastic they are adhered to.
You want to apply pressure so that the bottom of the
sticker is moved, and then use the tweezer to move it to its final placement, carefully.  Simply tap down on the top of the sticker when in place.  Pretty simple, and quick.

In an hour I started hearing an improvement.  24 hours later,
the SQ is much better.  I would say that this enhancement can
rival a fuse upgrade, in many systems.

I am going to upgrade the player's SR black fuse to the blue, so I wanted to do the stickers first.  I think they do offer sonic benefits, and are another option that is worthwhile to put in place, considering their unique features and resulting SQ in relation to their cost.
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