Upgrading Fuses

Vhiner... "Measure" the same.

As I have pointed out, the human ear, which we all agree is the ultimate judge of how it sounds, can be used to make a measurement of any difference between two audio amps by listening to the null across the hot output terminals. Since "difference" is what we are interested in it makes sense to measure (listen to) difference. Small difference is almost impossible to objectively detect in the presence of the strong signal. "Almost impossible" opens the door to subjective opinions as we see in this discussion.

Well, I don't recall William Zane Johnson of Audio Research fame providing endless technical documentation of why the famed SP3-1A preamp sounded better than the solid state competition. As I recall, curious, suspicious, and doubting potential buyers auditioned the product at the store, brought it home for the weekend to run it through its paces, counted their gold pieces, and then many brought in their old unit and treasure to make a trade. There was no trumpeting by Audio Research of their "proof" backed up by specifications of why their preamp sounded better (in fact, when compared to the solid state competition of its time, its specs were not as good) it just did. (Not that the SP-3 had bad specs!) People that heard the difference, may have questioned why, but still plunked down their dollars to bring music into their homes. The tube revolution was on. Even today, according to documents I've read, there are theories why tube equipment gets the music right but no exact scientific explanation that all agree on. (Something about electrons buzzing through a vaccuum?) Today solid state and tube equipment both sound excellent, though in general, getting the best from solid state is more expensive then a comparable tube circuit. Ok, my purpose here is not to debate the virtues of tubes vs. solid state, (I own both), but to illustrate that it is possible for an audio component and its included parts to make music without a technical, measured explanation. I might audition a component that makes me curious as to why it sounds so musical, examine the specs, and try to find a reason for the sound, but I'd never even think of auditioning a piece of equipment in my system by examining the specs first.

To me, these stupid little fuses that have caused such a debate, make music happen in my system. It would be interesting to know why, but in the end I don't really care.

So if interested in finding the truth for yourself, order some fuses from a respected retailer with a 30 day return policy, keep an open mind (if you still have one), and see if these expensive (but not unreasonably so when compared to price of your system) little ceramic and metal cylinders help you discover some notes you have not heard before.

Oh, and please honestly report your findings here, especially if you've found a way to measure why they make music.

"Oh, and please honestly report your findings here, "

Have been thinking about all the things that get in the way of meaningful findings and would prevent 'honest' testing, if you don't believe in measurement or double blind tests.

1. Limitations in system performance & in hearing capabilities.
2. Limitations in acoustic memory.
3. Normal listening bias associated with testing something new (we listen more intensely when trying to detect a change than we do when comparing the change to a "known" system. Usually that means we 'hear' more when listening to the changed system).
4. Long term bias due to existing beliefs, ego, desire for improvement, etc.
5. Transient bias due to particular mood during listening session.
6. Transient perception differences due to exposure to noise, quality of sleep, minor sinus issue, etc. before listening session.
7. Difficulty of eliminating all equipment & environmental variables that could confuse the testing.
8. Most likely additional items that I haven't though of.

Wow this is such a lively discussion. I'm going to try and read through all this later.

I wonder what Needfreestuff has done now fuse wise.

Well looking through the archives this debate has raged on for years in different threads. I did find a nice review by longtime A'gon member Albert Porter where he discusses Isoclean fuses.

http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue22/isoclean.htm

As for me I just can't get myself to spend $25 to $40 on a fuse. I am going to try ceramic fuses in place of my glass ones. They are about $1.50 per fuse rather than $.60 per fuse. One hi-end install shop told me that when they changed stock fuses to the more expensive fuses in some amps and preamps in some of their big dollar installs and the changes in sound were good but only very slight. Nothing earth shattering.

Jedinite,

It'd be interesting to hear from someone who has compared the Isoclean, hifi tuning and cheaper ceramic fuses.

I have compared the stock ceramic fuse in my Classe' Delta 2200 amplifier with a Supreme Hifi Tuning fuse with a friend present. I won't share the full measure of my enthusiasm (apparently it enrages some people) but my friend opted to order some for himself after he heard the difference. I'll leave it at that. There's no doubt that what a change is worth is utterly personal and I would never challenge what another person hears (or doesn't).