Fuses that matter.

2. A fuse that sounds bad is probably defective and should be replaced

I've had ~40+ Sovtek / EH 6922s over the years and always sound bad compared to the Tele, Siemen, Amperex ... so I guess they were all probably DEFECTIVE.

Also all my stock PCs sound bad compared to after market PCs so I guess they were all probably DEFECTIVE.
... Now it finally makes sense. Many Thanks!

4. Changing a fuse might change the sound in a hearable manner but i have no clue what tk expect if i change fuse a for fuse b. I will not be spending any time worrying about this because it just is not important to me.

It's not very complicated and not good worrying about it, how about just use the one that's sounds better in YOUR component/system? If it doesn't work out and prefer stock, then no Starbucks for a week and sell it on Agon?

5. Science is not likely to offer clear guidelines for determining sound of fuses anytime soon. If i pick a new fuse it wlll have to be done based on intuition. I am ok with that. I think i will survive my next fuse change ordeal in good shape.

6. Others will also have to rely on their intuition to make these big life decisions as well unless they know of some reliable scientific basis for picking a good sounding fuse that i am not aware of.

Like everything in this crazy hobby, there are no best so just buy/use what is best to you?

05-13-12: Almarg
Just to clarify, I think that in number 3 you are referring to other fuse-related variables, perhaps unexplainable ones.

Yes. Sorry, I should have been clearer. I was saying that it's possible that there are properties of fuses that account for audible differences among them (assuming they exist) that were not measured by the guy on the the Polk audio forum. And yes, those properties might be not only unexplained but unexplainable. I'm not saying that's true, just that it's possible. And, btw, thank you for your characteristically substantive comments.

05-13-12: Mapman
Well, maybe I'm wrong. After all, it's merely intuition.

05-13-12: Tbg
Mapman, you are right relying solely on your intuition is not science at all. It is just a personal bias of no value to others.

05-08-12: Tbg
I value others' experiences...

I suppose this means that you value others' experiences, so long as they are not Mapman's experiences. Or mine. Or Al's. Or Roger's.

The role of intuition, which Mapman raises, is quite relevant to this conversation. I brought this up in an earlier post...

It's widely (though not universally) acknowledged by people who are both audiophiles and experts in electronic design that, in addition to the Known Parameters that affect sound quality, it is likely that there are Unknown Parameters that affect sound quality. Those Unknown Parameters are either unmeasured or unmeasurable, though that could change with the progress of knowledge, either theoretical or applied.

For those who acknowledge the likelihood of Unknown Parameters, what is the standard by which Possible Unknown Parameters are distinguished from Impossible Unknown Parameters? Since by definition it cannot be the standard of prevailing knowledge, it must be something else. But what? Intuition?

If the answer is intuition, I can accept that. I believe intuition is worth something. In fact, I believe it's worth quite a bit. But I will point out that intuition, even the intuition of experts, has been wrong innumerable times, with consequences ranging from trivial to amusing to catastrophic.

Whenever you are at the boundary between the Known and the Unknown, intuition is a significant factor in judgments about what is plausible, what is possible, and what is nonsense.

Bryon

I found another set of fuse measurements, this one done by Hifi Tuning. You can see it here.

bc

Thanks for the link Bryon, very informative.

Well, I was done with this thread but now that there is some more real data to apply, what the hey. Thanks Bryon (I think).

SO it makes sense to me that resistance and voltage across different fuses varies somewhat and is not exactly the same.

Also makes sense to expect fuses with more quality build, cleaner etc. to measure better in these regards. That probably applies to most any electrical part that affects the signal in gear. NOthing much new there. The thing with fuses is that they are relatively easy to change and experiment with if one is so inclined in most cases say compared to soldered parts like caps, resisters, transistors, etc.

That helps confirm some useful guidelines that make sense for deciding which fuses might perform better than others which is useful.

The article is vague though about what sonic differences were heard with different fuses and to what extent. ALso no info if these differences are unique to specific gear or general to all. SO there is a value determination to be made that individuals will make differently.

In the end it would seem to make sense to assure one uses a fuse with good relative build quality. Nothing mysterious there! Some might deem it worthy to invest time in comparing sound of different fuses in their system. Others may not. Nothing new there much either.

In general my opinion is that every part that affects the signal path that goes into making a piece of audio gear affects performance to some degree. The question is always how much and whether it matters to the user. THe answer lies largely with the needs and interests of the user more than anything else.

So what is it we are arguing about again?