Fuses that matter.

"All that am saying is that it is ridiculous to a priori reject that any variable can be found that contributes to the sound of a fuse."

I would agree if reworded slightly.

"All that am saying is that it is ridiculous to a priori reject that any variable that might be found contributes to the sound of a fuse."

That would include the user thinking he heard a difference, not just factors with the electronic equipment. That can clearly be a factor.

Bryon, you and Al think there are NON-QUALITATIVE reasons to believe fuses/direction can have audible effects? That's very interesting. Do you mean psychological reasons? Please expand.

Bryon, you and Al think there are NON-QUALITATIVE reasons to believe fuses/direction can have audible effects? That's very interesting. Do you mean psychological reasons? Please expand.

My statement of Al's views in my previous post was based on the same information you have access to -- what Al has said in this thread. So I cannot speak for him beyond what I already have.

Speaking for myself, the answer to your question is no, I wasn't talking about "psychological reasons" when I used the phrase "non-quantitative" (not "non-qualitative," as you wrote). I was simply talking about ANECDOTAL evidence, which is typically non-quantitative.

But we've been through all this already. On 4/28, you wrote...

B C - not sure why you use the word intuition, that appears to be your way of saying this whole thing is psychological.

To which I replied...

As far as my own view, I made it clear that I DON'T believe that fancy fuses are nonsense, though I acknowledge that it is a possibility. So you could put me down as a Tentative Believer. That is a far cry from saying the whole thing is psychological.

My view has not changed since then.

Bryon

Geoff, I would put it that all of the technical rationale, technical data, and technical speculation that I have seen offered to explain the claimed benefits of expensive fuses, and Bryon has done a particularly noteworthy job of unearthing much of that, has been shot down on technical grounds by me, Roger, and others.

What remains is anecdotal evidence. What I have said regarding that is that I suspect that SOME (but not all) of that evidence is the result of either failure to recognize and control extraneous variables, or system dependent effects that in other systems may make either no difference or a negative difference, or misperception.

The reader can (and will) make his or her own decision as to how to proceed.

Regards,
-- Al

Almarg, you said!

"What remains is anecdotal evidence. What I have said regarding that is that I suspect that SOME (but not all) of that evidence is the result of either failure to recognize and control extraneous variables, or system dependent effects that in other systems may make either no difference or a negative difference, or misperception."

I'm not sure what you refer to as "anecdotal evidence" can be so easily dismissed. I'm referring to evidence that the aftermarket fuses work, not how they work. The aftermarket fuses from Hi Fi Tuning, Furutech, Isoclean and perhaps others have been thoroughly reviewed in the press, usually with rave reviews. Every important audio magazine has reviewed them. There is also the evidence of many users of aftermarket fuses who have posted on the subject on a number of forums over the years. Could this really be mass hallucination, placebo effect, expectation bias, or some sort of tweak frenzy? I tend to doubt it.