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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
Post removed 
sgordon1
425 posts
 
Step one, confirm that "slow blow" would not be the better choice.
Step two, call SR in CA.  They have been great help to me
in the past, and will surely treat you fairly.
Lastly, in which sequence did you power up the Ayre?
cymbop
315 posts
 
Man, that's my nightmare. If I dropped $250 on a dud fuse pair and the seller would not make things right, I would let the whole internet know.  

I would imagine that the margin on these things is so high that replacements could be sent to people who are using the correct spec for their gear.
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Frank, 
"Bluesy Burrell" is beautiful music that was recorded well back in the early 1960s. I originally had the album and subsequently bought the CD, I play it often.  Another excellent pairing of Kenny Burrell and Coleman Hawkins is "The Hawk Relaxes " on the Prestige label. Again exce
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,189 posts
 
If you confirmed the correct fuse type and value with the device maker and bought that fuse from a fuse dealer,   and the fuse blows,  I do not think you have any recourse with the fuse dealer if they choose to not replace it.

The reason is that these are fuses.  Fuses are SAFETY AND PROTECTION DEVICES.   You have to be prepared to replace one when it blows for any reason.   It goes with the turf in the case of fuses.

Yes, fuse dealer makes a hefty profit likely and could afford to replace a blown fuse here and there but no fuse dealer is obligated to replace a fuse if it blows.   Its what fuses do!!!!!

So if one is not happy I'd say find another fuse dealer whose properly spec'ed fuses do not blow when it seems they should not.

The cost of replacing expensive fuses when they blow is a topic worth some discussion I think.   Its a normal thing to expect that some fuses will blow over time for whatever reason and have to be replaced.    You might find a nice fancy fuse dealer willing to replace some to some extent but its not reasonable I would say to expect that.

If the cost of replacing blown expensive fuses becomes a problem for anyone, then I'd say you need to find an alternative.  There are many high quality commercial fuses out there for not very much certainly in comparison.  That's why 99.999999999% of the world does not use high priced fuses.

If the sound quality benefits justify the normal total cost of ownership of expensive fuses over time, then no problem.  Its the typical high end audiophile dilemma,   optimize sound quality for higher cost or not.

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