Upgrading Fuses

Years ago Peter Aczel suggested that speaker protection fuses ruined the sound anywhere in the chain, be it in the speakers or in the amp.

Years ago I tried removing the speaker fuses and ever since have bypassed them with copper wire.

I never had any disasters, no blow ups, ruined drivers or house fires.

But why tempt fate .I tried the IsoCleans when they came out and they were an improvement over the stock one buck fuses.
Now I use the HiFi supremes in my Decware amp, my Manley Steelhead.

I also use dedicated lines, Sand Shunyata Hydras and Annaconda power cords.

How these things all interact together to make a much more enjoyable listening experience is something that didn't happen overnite.
I would venture that the folks who haven't had much luck with aftermarket power cords will also not find aftermarket fuses to work either.

Some folks are just wired that way,pun intended.

The effects of upgrading your power to the gear(which to me is the real "source")is cumulative.

Each piece of the puzzle does a bit, but until you put all the pieces together, you will never see the big picture.

That's what's unique about this hobby.
People are looking for the big fix for under a buck at the dollar store, and refuse to go the extra mile to get all the music out of their systems that they spent decent money on.

Home Depot wire is great, better than most mega buck speaker wires,so they tell me.

But if they are true to their beliefs, shouldn't the home depot wire be no better or no worse?

It's become apparent to me over the years that anything that costs more than a buck is to be avoided at all costs.

And that's sad.

That tells me there is a lot of systems with a lot of money invested in them that will never sound as good as it was designed to sound, and all the money invested in massive music software has been wasted if the system is only capable of delivering part of the music.

What money is saved if you forgo 40 bucks on a fuse and spend it on a nice re-issue, if the sound of the re-issue will be compromised by the stock one buck fuse?

I think nickle and diming your way in this hobby is the most foolish waste of time and money there is.

I know it goes against the grain and wisdom of the new generation of audiophile,but then again I am old school.

I still enjoy listening to music without any distaractions and giving it all my attention.

Lacee,

Nicely said.
Blunt, but nicely said.

Info on isoclean or the other manufacturer?

Was trying to find evidence that isoclean actually exists as a production facility, not just somebody with a stack of decals & etc. in their basement in Hong Kong.
Can't get past the opening page of their website, my computer gives me a malware warning when I click on any of the options. Can't find evidence of the company in the UL registry, but that might just mean that they are modifying another company's product rather than building from scratch.
Any info that is supplied with the fuses that would help trace down the production facility is of interest.
Info of interest includes;
1. Safety certification (UL and etc.) numbers.
2. Details of markings on fuses.
3. Factory address or contact info provided with the fuses.
4. Anything else that seems to indicate where the fuses are manufactured.

Hi Lacee

I do appreciate your candor and don't mind the bluntness. You definitely do make a lot of valid points. My reasoning for not spending more than a couple of bucks per fuse is because my gear isn't as nice as yours or the others mentioned where members have heard positive sonic differences or improvements by putting in the more expensive fuses in place.

From what I've read systems that have the more expensive gear that are also very resolving benefit most from these fuses. You've got Manley and Decware gear which is real nice and expensive to me. My gear i no where near that. One of your Shunyata power cords new costs almost as much as my entire system!

I highly doubt putting a couple of hundred dollars worth of fuses is going to make a difference with my gear. I think I'd be hitting diminishing returns. If I had a big dollar system though I'd be more open to the pricier fuses.

Lacee wrote "Years ago Peter Aczel suggested".

Lacee, had not heard of Peter Aczel so I did a search for him. All I can say is thank you very much!!!!

His article"10 biggest lies in audio" at http://www.theaudiocritic.com/back_issues/The_Audio_Critic_26_r.pdf is the best audio magazine or internet article that I have ever read.

I'd put it up as the best and most accurate audio article ever written.

For someone reading this thread that wants to really understand what is going on, please read the whole article, but read section 4 a couple times.