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
Mapman, you should write a book, How to go from Fuse Pseudo Skeptic to Fuse Basher in 10 Easy Steps. 

Cheerios
jafree,

You got your answer.

Geoff,

Its Ok to have a sense of humor. No reason to get your undergarments in an uproar, as you often like to say.

   








Mopman wrote,

"Geoff,

Its Ok to have a sense of humor. No reason to get your undergarments in an uproar, as you often like to say."

If it’s OK, how come you don’t have one? And It’s not my undergarments that are in an uproar. Geez, you'd think someone gave you an atomic wedgie.  ;-)











Mapman, thanks so much for the exceedingly nice words!

I’ll add that I always enjoy, and not infrequently learn from, your invariably balanced, knowledgeable, and level-headed posts.

Also, I don’t disagree with George’s characterization of me as a fence-sitter when it comes to some controversial tweaks. Especially in cases such as this one where the seemingly implausible magnitude of the claimed benefit is supported by testimony from several members I consider to be particularly credible.

That said, my bias, to the extent that I have one, always tends to be in the direction of focusing my investments of time and money where I believe those investments are likeliest to be most beneficial. With that judgment being made based on both my own knowledge and experiences that are reported by others, which I try to calibrate based on who is doing the reporting, and on the apparent thoroughness of their experimental methodology. My perception is that you have a similar outlook.

Thanks very much again. Best regards,
-- Al

Some evidence, Exhibit A

from long time Synergistic Research dealer’s website,

"Synergistic Research has a new, ’top of the line’ addition to their highly regarded fuse lineup: the BLACK Fuse.

For best performance, fuses should be installed one way, listened to, and then reversed the other way to determine best sonic orientation."

to recap, the RED fuse is supposedly non-directional (according to SR?) by virtue of the special RED fuse only treatment that realigns the crystal structure or some such thing. We can come back to that claim later. The BLACK fuse on the other hand IS directional, but not marked for direction, apparently not even using the S and R approach, so the user must try it BOTH WAYS to see which way sounds best. Make sense?

Exhibit B - the same dealer states for the RED fuse:

"For best performance, fuses should be installed one way, listened to, and then reversed the other way to determine best sonic orientation."

So, is that the dealer’s suggestion or SR? You be the judge.



Geoff Kait
Machina Dramatica
Advanced Audio Concerts