Have you ever spoken with a designer or audio engineer


I'll never forget I was doing an audio banquet some years past. At my table were 2 audio engineers. At the banquet they had a lottery for audio accessories. I happen to win a power cord from a fairly well known companies. One of the engineers laughed when I was showing it to people at my table. He said power cords are totally hocus pouch and there is no scientific studies proving there any better than stock cords. He said there basically made for insecure audiophiles. I had mentioned I already had some after markets cords in my system and they definitely made an improvement. He just laughed and said a sucker is born everyday in the audiophile world.


Now the guy I am talking about isn't some unknown schlub. He works for one of the biggest high-end companies in the world and is fairly well known. In fact some people think he is a great designer of audio equipment. I have only talked to a couple of audio engineers in my life and they were both skeptical.  I wonder if this is common among engineers and designers?
taters
The next thing you know Skeptics will be saying aftermarket fuses cause cancer or make hair grow on the palms of your hands. Gimme a break. Music Reference Audiocircle Forum? Isn’t that an oxymoron?

So thinking about Audio Designers and Fuses this morning.
Yeah, a boring looking day but still no snow and we will hit double digits again today Celsius. Not cold so I will take it. Coffee starting to kick in..8^0

The guys on these fuse threads seem to be having a lot of fun. I like to have fun too. I want to ask them a couple of questions directly on those threads but I don’t dare; you see I have owned an amp that committed suicide due to a "no fuse" and "no protection" design years ago. My skepticism and doubt, I fear, will become too obvious so I will ask here instead in a third party kind of way. Disclosure. My career line of work is Business Continuity Planning. So I am I guess a little biased. Anyway it’s healthy to let it out.

1) Are the "fuse" effects some are hearing any different from moving your speakers in or out. Toe in-out, forward or back; or your listening chair back or forward?

2) Am I reading right ? Some are putting these fuses in a $20,000 70 lb amplifier still under warranty; which if it experiences a failure even with a cheap resistor, will need to be shipped across the country, and maybe even have to go through customs ?

(Re: Music Reference) You know I own two of Rogers amps. I guess this makes me a kind of fan. Over the years when I have contacted boutique amplifier makers near me about their product, I have had offers from some to bring their amps over for me to compare. But you know what; I think it was more for them to compare. I don’t dare ask Rogers’ permission to try this in one of my MR amps else risk his wrath. Mind you my RM9 has been so modified over the years.....still.

These are the fuses contained in the Music Reference amplifiers.

http://www.littelfuse.com/data/en/data_sheets/littelfuse_fuse_215_series.pdf

the Fuse thread Bdp24 referenced.

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=ui1k9vdahb93345kn9urh39hd0&topic=105425.0

Roger Modjeski
Does anyone care that Tuning Fuses have no agency approvals or time/current curves? How do we know if these fuses will protect our equipment? They have already proven to have no protection in DC circuits where myself and many designers are protecting tubes directly. Have a look at the data from Littlefuse, the brand I use. They are approved by 10 significant agencies. I doubt Tuning Fuses could get any of these agency approvals. If indeed they provide inadequate protection then we might as well short out our fuse holders.

??

You know... I do know of this one guy; his system kit is hardwired from one end to the other including its branches - no fuses at all.

and then ....

there is this other amp I own - this big, heavy thing called Krell. It has no fuses the last time I looked. What’s up with that Dan D’Agostino?

How boring is that?



Thanks Chris. I really gotta learn how to insert a link into a post! I found Roger's warning about using the Tuning Fuses on power tubes and in the amp the tubes are in very, very important. Whether a fuse sounds different/better is a question separate from whether or not it actually works as a fuse. I don't consider Roger's findings on a fuse's ability at acting as a fuse is supposed to at any way unaudiophilic. An amplifier damaged by a fuse incapable of performing it's given task will "sound" very much worse than the same amplifier with a stock fuse ;-). 
Incapable of performing it's function.  What ARE you going on about?  There is no such issue with aftermarket fuses.  If amps were blowing up do you really think the company could remain in business?  Give me a break. Now, can a customer put the wrong fuse in?  Of course. But he can with any fuse, aftermarket or off the shelf.  This is all some silly Old Wives Tale.
All we need now is some smart ass audiophile attorney offering to sue after market fuse companies for damage to people's equipment.
Just like the ads you see on late night commercials suing pharmaceutical manufacturers for side effects of drugs.