Synergistic Red Fuse ...

joncourage ...

No harm, no foul. :-)

Let's just agree to attempt to get the most out of our audio systems by helping each other, along with the other members here, to get closer to that which we love ... music reproduced in our home that is as close to the live performance as we can ... depending upon the depths of our pockets of course, and our willingness to remain open minded to various tweaks, lotions, Voodoo and other weird stuff.

Looking forward to your assessments of the topic at hand ... the SR fuses. 

Take care ...  

One thing I wonder is how many people actually take the time to a/b the sound with 2 fuses repeatedly. That is what I tasked myself to do. Gotta admit I feel pretty silly now having spent time doing it and not hearing much of consequence. If I had bought the fuse instead of just testing a loaner for free, I would probably pop it in and just leave it there no matter what since I made the investment and the thing seems to sound fine. Once I did that, as time passed, it would become even harder to clearly associate any changes I hear to just the fuse. Heck I change nothing for months sometimes and things never sound exactly the same to me. Is it me? the system? The fuse? The humidity and barometric pressure? Who knows. As long as it sounds good in general day in and day out, and it makes me want to listen more, I am happy and will not sweat those details.

Al, I have a question, if I may---you recently suggested a fuse experiment whereby a garden-variety fuse could be temporarily replaced with the same fuse, but with a much higher amperage value so as to reduce resistance as the variable in sound quality.  Can you explain just what is used in fuses to create the different amperage ratings that then influence failure at the indicated rating?  From pictures, I have always thought that the filament sizes/widths are increased to achieve the higher ratings in otherwise same-type fuses, and this would to my thinking also indicate a reduction in resistance or, as you stated, more of a straight wire approach.  I ask because I have pushed all of the amperage ratings in my boutique fuses, especially in my Maggie 3.6Rs, in an attempt to move toward a straight wire without having to tear the fuse bank out as some Maggie users do, i.e. the stock ratings for the Maggie tweeter and midrange are 2.5A and 5A, whereas I am using 8A and 16A fuses. This nullifies any protective function of the fuses, but I have not had any problems so far because I am careful with volumes and believe I have a stable power supply. Am I reducing resistance in the final signal path by inserting higher ratings/larger filaments? Thanks for your evaluation, and are you thinking of accepting the SR fuse challenge in one of your own components?     

One rather mundane thing I just thought off with the red fuse.   Every fuse I have ever used is glass.  When the fuse is suspected of blowing, you easily examine the filament inside through the glass  for a gap to confirm the fuse is gone and replace.   

Can't see inside the red fuse.   If no sound in device, you either have to take a meter to the fuse and measure resistance or just have a known  good backup available to swap in and try.  But you can't tell if the red fuse is good or not  by just examining it. 

I know that's not very exciting compared to sound of fuses but still worth noting.    Always a good idea to keep a spare good fuse or two around.  You might suffer with a normal fuse for a short time for that then order and replace that with a new red or black fuse eventually.