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
Not to detract off topic, but ect where shown on the fuses as an intended improvement.

Has anyone tried witj the reds or blacks and what sort of improvement they have.

I find the hft pretty useful but thats for use in 

I may need to take the wa chips off to see if it makes an improvement. 

Wonder the ects have graphene of similar effect when used on the sr20 or red fuse.
Geoff:

Glad to read the headphones and cable have been Cryo treated. James at Stephan Arts Audio makes a nice Sennheiser 600 - 650 headphone cable.

If you at sometime change to the Sennheiser 800 or Audeze headphones, Synergistic Research (SR) now makes a headphone cable utilizing the technology found in their fuse- such as Quantum Tunneling and the use of Graphene. I really like what this SR cable does for the headphone experience. And they come with a 30 day trial.

justtubes2:

My systems do have all Synergistic Research Black fuses and they also have the Synergistic Research Electronic Circuit Transducers (ECT's) in place. 
I do like one ECT at the end of the main power fuse location. At the other fuse locations in the SACD player (a total of six fuses), I did not find adding an ECT improved the sound. Placing the ECT's in a component  (like my SACD player) is by trial and error. The Synergistic Research "how to install instructions " give good suggestions on possible places to try. But not every location will give a benefit. You can certainly overdue it. What I hear with the ECT effect is not the same as Graphene but is helpful.

I think the combined effect on a system that has been optimized with the Black fuses and then fine tuned with the ECT's does sound extremely satisfying.

Oregon papa:

I attended a performance of the  Julliard String Quartet last night. By design it was held in a small performance room that held 125 people. Not by design  160 showed up for the event. People were allowed to sit on the floor along the side walls and even on the floor behind the players! The barrier between the performer and the players was shattered.

It very much reminded me of the effect of the Black fuses.

It was a very special listening experience!

David Pritchard


David ... ^^^

Nice! I wish I could have been there with you.  I  have a similar experience from time to time.

A local church has a quarterly event featuring our town's symphony orchestra playing concertos with our very best youth musicians. These kids range in age from 12 to 17. They are amazing. My friend and fellow audiophile/record collector, Robert and I, attend these events together. We always sit in the front row right between the piano and string section. Oh, those massed strings!!  And the weight of the piano!!

In several postings in this thread I've alluded to how "relaxed" the system has become due to the SR Black fuses ... much like live music. Well ... its this live orchestra experience that I'm talking about. While everything is more detailed, it is so in a very palatable, organic way. There is no longer a "cringe factor," so to speak.  

On the youth musicians ... Can you imagine a 12-year-old kid who cannot reach the petals on the piano playing Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" so well that your friend leans over to you as says: "I'm going to throw every recording I have of this work away. I've just heard the ultimate version!" Twelve years old ... and a total knock out performance.  

Life is good, David.   :-)
Well, I now have about 208 hours of continuous current on the SR Black fuses that went into my Aesthetix preamp and phonostage and I could not be happier with the poltry investment of these fine upgrade fuses.  At this point I'm just playing music, and enjoying it immensely. The depth and contrast these babies reveal is simply shocking. They seem to make my sound much more relaxed and effortless, and yet at the same time more textural and dynamic, if that could possibly be. I have also thrown in a Coincident extreme cable upgrade in between my monitor units and the amps with added success. Combined, they have really made vocals improve their convincingly "humanness" flesh out in a performance. I just so impressed and satisfied by the results.  Having tried the stock fuses back in the gear to contrast just how much the SR Blacks have made a difference and it was embarrassing, and no contest.

How these things make the difference they do is a mystery to me. But I have to say that it does seem likely that a .75 to 1.25 inch hair thickness wire in the mains could well become a choke point to any highly resolving system.  Well, more fuses on the way... What can I say?!

So i take my hat off to Synergistic Research for their obvious engineering accomplishments in this fuzzy area of our hobby. And thank you oregonpappa for bringing this remarkable, cheap tweak to all of our attention. A thank you also goes out to Charles and David and the rest of the posters who's long time experience and reliable opinions (and ears!) helped lead the way for the rest of us. Thank you gentlemen. This is a heck of a lot of fun and with great sonic rewards. 

Happy Listening!