Synergistic Red Fuse ...


I installed a SR RED Quantum fuse in my ARC REF-3 preamp a few days ago, replacing an older high end fuse. Uhh ... for a hundred bucks, this little baby is well worth the cost. There was an immediate improvement upon installation, but now that its broken in (yes, no kidding), its quite remarkable. A tightening of the focus, a more solid image, and most important of all for my tastes, a deeper appreciation for the organic sound of the instruments. Damn! ... cellos sound great! Much improved attack on pianos. More humanistic on vocals. Bowed bass goes down forever. Next move? .... I'm doing the entire system with these fuses. One at a time though just to gauge the improvement in each piece of equipment. The REF-75se comes next. I'll report the results as the progression takes place. Stay tuned ...

Any comments from anyone else who has tried these fuses?
128x128oregonpapa

I have an important question. Let's say you are using one of these aftermarket fuses and it blows and causes damage to your equipment. Are the manufacturers still going to honor your warranty?
I have an important question. Let's say you are using one of these STOCK fuses WITH THE WRONG RATING and it blows and causes damage to your equipment. Are the manufacturers still going to honor your warranty?

Am I clear?    Duh!!!



Taters, I see what you mean.  That's if the fuse doesn't blow I'm pretty sure. I.e., if the fuse rating is too high to prevent current from roasting capacitors by the open fire. 

OK, so I have been reading this wonderful thread, and a while back I had this idea. My fuses are of the smaller kind (20mm) and they just so happen to be exactly 4 Ga. in thickness. Home Depot sells 4 Ga. grounding wire which is solid core copper bare wire. At $1.11 per foot you can make a bunch of "fuses" from that. So I got some, and with a hacksaw (which took less than a minute) was able to make a segment that is the same length and of course width as a fuse.

Now I know I am effectively putting a 100 Amp fuse in there, but it's only an experiment for a short time. I'm going to see if it makes any difference in the sound. So now to my question... Who thinks the solid copper rod will sound better, worse, or about the same as one of those fancy $100 fuses? Again, this is only an experiment to see if there is an audible improvement. I know people are saying things like "substantial", "dramatic", even "night and day", but audiophiles throw these terms around to describe minute differences sometimes, and before I spend hundreds I want to see what a buck will do.
Charles 1:

Congratulations on a wonderful taken path to sonic improvement. The wall A/C receptacle and equipment fuses have a significant effect on the sound produced by the system. 

Once an audiophile has these bottlenecks removed the sound is so much better.

And finally overcoming the fear of changing a wall receptacle or a fuse in a piece of equipment is actually quite liberating!

David Pritchard