Synergistic Red Fuse ...

Thanks Charles.  I will certainly report back on my listening impressions.  I'm also now down to needing just one last 1a slow-blow RED (thanks Tom) to finish out my DAC's complement.  Please let me know if anyone has one they want to jettison.

- Chris

Just wanted to offer another endorsement of the blacks. I’ve had bad experiences with after market fuses in the past but I just installed a set of Blacks in my DCS Paganini stack (4 boxes) and in my ARC Ref 2SE Phono and 40th Anniversary Pre. Still early days on hours but my experience is a very consistent step up in line with all of the other power noise floor optimization moves I’ve been making (changing the MPCs on my SR power cords, most recently upgrading to a Transporter Ultra SE).

With every incremental step in cleaning I have noticed a similar change. At first it seems like a drop in perceived volume but as you listen in you realize the instruments are more whole and more distinct from one another as opposed to being "spotlit" previously. As an analogy imagine seeing a play in which the speaker is brightly lit by a spotlight, then when a new speaker comes in the spotlight shifts. You focus on the spotlit piece but have less of a sense of the whole. As you get the noise floor under control this spotlighting effect declines and you can hear the whole recording, and then "reach in" to pick out any instrument or voice you want. I find that after each change I find it beneficial to open up the volume control a bit more to levels that previously sounded loud and harsh. In fact it could be what we often perceive as loudness in audio reproduction is actually the cumulative noise in the system, as the noise is reduced we can open up the volume control and appreciate more of the dynamic range in the recording.

^^^
"At first it seems like a drop in perceived volume ..."

I've noticed that as well, folkfreak. You've put the experience into words very well.  It seems that right off the bat, with the first fuse change, the presentation is more relaxed, more musical and as you said, "a more sense of the whole." .

Nice system, by the way. :-)

Take care ...

I'd like try the SR RED fuse, but have a question. I've never used after-market audiophile fuses before; how do you know if they are made with the same tolerances as a stock or a Buss fuse for a given amp value?
 For example, previous posts of the SR fuses blowing in some amps; a 5 amp slo-blo would not work, but the Buss fuse was fine.

But an amp's a high-current draw component. Have you proponents of these fuses found them to be reliable in CD players and preamps? I'd like to start with a SR RED in my ARC CDP. I'm hestitant to use one in my preamp since it is under warranty, wouldn't using these fuses leading to a circuit failure void the warranty?

I’ve never used after-market audiophile fuses before; how do you know if they are made with the same tolerances as a stock or a Buss fuse for a given amp value?

The major manufacturers of non-audiophile fuses, such as Littlefuse and Eaton/Cooper Bussmann, provide detailed datasheets at their websites. Which among many other things specify a "nominal melting" parameter, which defines the combination of current and time that would "typically" cause the fuse to blow. That parameter is usually specified in terms of (amperes squared) x (seconds). The reason current is "squared" is that power, and hence heat, are proportional to current squared.

I for one have never seen any such detailed specifications for aftermarket audiophile-oriented fuses. So I guess it comes down to relying on a combination of reported experiences and faith.

Re your question about warranties, per the terms of most component warranties that I’ve seen a company would certainly be within its rights to deny coverage for damage that might not have occurred if the original fuse had been in place. And some warranties, as you may have seen, simply state something like "all coverage is void if the unit in tampered with or modified in any way."

So I guess it comes down to balancing risks that aren’t precisely quantifiable vs. reward, as is the case with many things in life.

Best regards,
-- Al