Does anyone remember Peter Aczel, the Audio Critic?
Way back in my audio salad days he said the fuses used to protect speakers were degrading the sound of the speakers.
He never explained why or how just that they did.
Most folks with Maggies like me tried omitting the fuse and yes the sound was better.
I used to use romex snipped to size with exposed tips.
Very easy for the fuse skeptics who own fuse protected speakers to give this a try, Just don't be foolhardy, act with caution, they are your speakers afterall.
Well I had no bad luck, even when I bypassed speaker protection fuses in some of my tube and solid state power amps.
When the Iso Cleans came out I tried them because I already had expereince with how degrading fuses can be.
The treat would be better sound WITH protection.
Yes the upgraded fuses were less veiling than the stock fuses, very similar to bypassing the fuse altogether.
Some may say that just the action of inserting fuses is akin to plugging and unplugging interconnects for example, that you're cleaning the contacts.Also how old are those fuses you've been using?
But it's esy enough to swap old for Supremes back and forth and have a listen, but you have to listen to specific instruments,like cymbals(my choice).
Are they more solid, or tinny,is there more or less sheen and shimmer? Is the decay longer and more pronounced?
You need to learn how to listen for differences.
If you don't know how to listen critically and get lost up in the music, you'll have a hard time hearing any improvement.
Also have you done all that you can with your gear and the power going into it so that differences can be more noticeable?
Too many times people get frustrated and write off things like fuses, power cords etc,because they either expect a single fuse or power cord to transform an entry level system into a High End one, or they just haven;'t learned how to critique the sound of their system.
You have to wear two hats in this game.
Sometime you don the cap of the music lover ,but other times you need to separate the music from the gear and fixate on the gear.
Don't worry if someone calls you a gear head.
Sometimes to get the most music out of the gear you have to do more than turn the stuff on.
Don't expect the "Magic" to happen if you don't do your part.
The "magic" begins when you start to clean up all the loose ends,get rid of the weak links, and tune your ears as well as the gear.
If you roll tubes and like to upgrade caps in old amps because it makes them sound better,a fuse upgrade should be your cup of tea.
