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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?
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almarg
9,670 posts
 
Are you saying the 500V rating is safe even though it is twice what the vendor specifies because such an event /surge can never happen?
Hi Mapman,

Yes, I’m saying that the 500V rating is safe. As you will realize, a fuse does not protect against voltage surges, per se. It protects against excessive current flow. And as I explained in my post earlier today, the voltage rating defines how much voltage the fuse is rated to be able to withstand when it blows. And the only time a fuse will "see" the actual line voltage, or any other significant voltage, is if and when it blows.

If the line voltage exceeds the fuse’s voltage rating, the fuse may not be able to maintain an "open" state when it blows, and current may therefore be able to flow through it. Or, conceivably, it may explode.

So as I indicated in the earlier post, the higher that rating is the better, provided that everything else is equal.  Because a higher voltage rating means more margin relative to a given line voltage, which would be in the direction of being beneficial if it makes any difference at all.

Best regards,
-- Al

mapman's avatar
mapman
22,102 posts
 
Al, right amps and volts are two different things. Fuses protect against current/amps. Thanks for that clarification.

Countdown resumed....
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oregonpapa OP
4,867 posts
 
Al ...

I'm REALLY glad you're here.  :-)

OP
oregonpapa's avatar
oregonpapa OP
4,867 posts
 
mapman ...

You can bet that there are those of us who are waiting with baited breath for your assessment of the fuse. I had it in my REF-3 with really good results over the HiFi Tuning fuse that preceded it. Keep in mind that the SR Black fuse blows (no pun intended) what I sent you away.  :-)
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,102 posts
 
I won’t even ask if anyone knows why the black sounds better than the red or how to decide reliably between the two. :^)  Are the blacks also rated to 500V?

Yes, good thing Al is out there. I suspected that the higher voltage rating was OK but needed to do some research to confirm. I read a few misinformed blog threads on other sites that gave me pause. Never encountered a fuse rated 500V before for anything having to do with audio. So chalk one up for Synergistic research there regardless of the outcome.

See specs and facts DO matter and usually only help.
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