Synergistic Red Fuse ...

Bill,
You are absolutely right,  the many variables involved make it impossible to declare an universal  winner. No single fuse will be the preference for every listener and all system configurations.  The best that can  occur is developing a list of of top tier fuses based on consensus of many listeners. For example the Beeswax and SR Black surely have different sonic presentations. Depending on the circumstances one will be a better fit than the other. Gwalt  has both of these fuses, and I'm interested in his impressions in the context of his own system. 
Charles, 

Hi gwalt, what is your assessment of impressions between the audio magic beeswax fuses vs synergistic research sr-black fuses? 

I had a chance to flip by the Blacks in my DAC/Pre yesterday afternoon and had a night-time session after they’d settled in for a few hours. They’re now at about 170 hours total.

Wow. It was like the system had bolted awake after a nap. In this new orientation I’ll echo what some others have observed: _really low_ noise floor and black background. I was stunned to be able to follow cymbal decays for seconds longer than I ever thought possible.  Soundstage is pushed wider and brought 3-4 feet closer to provide a more front-row presentation, as if things are suddenly more close-mic’ed and revealing a little less of the room acoustic of the studio. Transient speed is fast, fast, fast. Bass has great heft and also great texture. The system is far more lively but not in a fatiguing way.

All this from the direction a fuse is turned. Who woulda figured? ;-)

Will come back with observations after another couple of sessions.

Hey folks

i was wondering how hard it would be to do the burn in of a fuse outside of the expensive equipment?  Many of us use tubes which have limited life and it seems a shame to waste some tube life on fuse burn in. In addition, burning in fuses outside the gear would allow for a better test of what the fuses can do because your first impression will be the best the fuse can do.

Would an external fuse holder with a battery ac oss the leads to get an amp or two across suffice?

adam

I have the Reds in my Amp, phono and DAC. I am cooking the Blacks now.

Someone has asked earlier in this thread but I don't see any answer: is the SR label on the fuses indicating direction? i.e. they are not randomly pasted.

For those who can observe the effect of the direction, do you notice any relation with the direction of the label? Do the label follow the direction of the current flow?

Just wonder if we can use the label (if it is indicating a direction) to determine the direction of inserting the fuses instead of just trying....

Thanks.