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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
p59teitel
312 posts
 
My 2 SR Blacks arrived today, one each for the separate pre and CDP power supplies. Initial impressions aren’t as dire as oregonpapa’s first impressions were. Definitely a blacker background and I can hear quite a bit more detail and better spacing of players.  I just heard a cough I never noticed before in Traffic's "Rock and Roll Stew" and individual instruments are easier to follow.  Sound is more forward and there is some glare/congestion in the upper mids, but not quite as weird as I’ve experienced with fresh tubes or in particular the CDP when it was brand-new and had a very aggressive sound. I should find it quite listenable during break-in.

What is pleasantly surprising so far is the bass, which has better texture, tonality and density - in most break-in cases for me, the bass is just about the last thing to straighten out.
oregonpapa's avatar
oregonpapa OP
4,867 posts
 
^^^ Well, I did hear the things you're hearing when I first replaced the reds with the blacks p59teitel. But ... I found the presentation somehow just not right. I finally boiled it down to lack of emotional impact. The system sounded HiFi instead of "performers in the room."  It was like that for about 70 hours before it was truly great. I predict that you are in for a real treat. 
wig's avatar
wig
1,267 posts
 
Good to hear your positive experiences with the new SR-B fuses. I have 4 coming in next week to replace the AH fuses I have in my amp, CD player and tube power supply.

From what I've read, it's going to be a real treat in terms of transparency, sound-staging and realism which I have in spades already... Will not do too much listening until 70+ hours of continuous burn-in.
oregonpapa's avatar
oregonpapa OP
4,867 posts
 
^^^The red SR fuses, after the break-in period, were a real revelation over the stock fuses. The black SR fuses were just as much of a revelation over the red fuses as the reds were over the stock fuses. Gotta have patients though. 
t_ramey
632 posts
 
Received two more black fuses today to put in a pair of Odyssey Kismet mono blocks at the iec inlet and I'm already getting excited for what's to come. I may do one more black fuse for my Herron preamp before I have a long talk with myself on whether to replace the fuses on the monoblock amp circuit boards. There's four in each amp so you can do the math...I did bite the bullet before and went all red fuses and it was really impressive what they did to the performance. 

But im already getting a taste or insight to what oregonpapa has been experiencing so I'm just going to enjoy it as is for a while....if I can resist temptation.
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