2. amps-preamps
  3. 1448317474

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
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Frank  (Oregonpapa ),
I find myself in agreement with you often on this thread. The Black fuses definitely need more burn -in hours than the SR RED fuses for whatever reason. A few nights ago at roughly 60 hours of  use the music just bloomed  and opened up. I was listening to a very familiar Carmen McRae live recording and it all just fell into place, it was somewhat dramatic. Up to that point I was missing the musical ease and organic natureof the Red fuses. It was at this juncture where the Black fuses surpassed the terrific Red fuse. The sound based on listening last night is apparently still improving (90 hours)  A very familiar recording,  Chet Baker "The Italian Sessions " has never sounded better, just engrossing and beautiful. The Black fuses require patience. 
Charles, 
gwalt
162 posts
 

If I were to guess, I think put at least 150 hours on all of these fuses to allow settling.

The Beeswax seems to me to be gaining in organic quality as time goes on. As with Macdude, I have not experienced any glare in the preamp. left on continually. It just has weight, extension and harmonic texture...I love it. 

This could give The Cable CO. some thought of try before you buy with incremental credit to the purchase. Shipping would be a breeze but you would have the break=in complete with a no-risk trial. Other sellers might follow. All components remain electronically different along with personal perception..

davidpritchard's avatar
davidpritchard
866 posts
 
charles1dad:

The Black fuses certainly do need more break in hours than the original SR20 and the RED fuses. As you pointed out the change in sound does not show a linear path of improvement, but there is a sudden improvement and only after "x" number of hours. Then there is a continued improvement.

I believe the increased break in time is the UEF material that is placed in that small circle located at the mid body of the fuse. Synergistic Research is now sending a little diagram of the fuse pointing out to take care not to rub this dot when putting in the fuse. So now I install them so I can see the "dot: so I do not rub it off installing of removing the fuse.

Today I changed out the rail fuse that protects the laser of my SACD player and even here the sound changed. 

Upgrading fuses and a/c wall sockets has been much more rewarding than tube rolling!

David Pritchard





zavato's avatar
zavato
1,405 posts
 
 
wolf_garcia said

"Reading a review of a new Pass amp last night I noticed it has NO fuses…I suppose you can add one later..."

correct- I place a fuse on top of my Pass amp in a very careful north/south orientation 
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Hi David, 
Your comment about fuses and AC wall outlets compared to tube rolling rings much truth in certain circumstances. I've had the good fortune to audition 11 different brands of 300b tubes in my SET amplifier  (these include generous loans from fellow audiogon members ).  Each is unique, some subtle and others are quite obvious. The SR fuses (Black and Red ) elicited a greater sonic impact on my system than quite a few(but not all of them ) of the 300b tubes. These terrific fuses are far less expensive than those tubes.  The very best 300bs have a bit more impact but definitely at a cost. 
Charles, 
More to discover