Synergistic Red Fuse ...

Vlad:

You bring up a very good question. The Synergistic Research Red and Black fuses do have a different sound. The Black brings more music to the ear but (to me at least) is able to also have a better sense of flow to the music. The original Synergistic Research SR-20 and The Black are my two favorite fuses in the Synergistic Research line up. I do think the Black gets so many things right that it is worth the highest cost of the three SR fuses.

If you are able to audition the fuse with a 30 day trial I would do so. I hope you will report your findings.

David Pritchard

Hi r_f_sayles,
I use the Ocellia Silver Reference IC and SC.  They're a fine match with the Coincident components and speakers. 
Charles, 

Well, gents, this thread goes on and on, with a lot of chatter, and like the discussions with my girlfriend, they reach no conclusions.  I have a Don Sach's tube preamp, a modest Emotiva 5.1 amp driving a pair of Linkwitz LX mini speakers, with an Ayre DAC, upgraded Oppo 105 and a SOTA Sapphire TT for the poster who asked about my rig.  This thread has devolved into a theological debate.  I have tried a bunch of tweaks over the years.  Steve McCormick's steel spikes 30 years ago were and are fantastic for heavy speakers on carpet but the new appalations of them are goofy expensive and of dubious value (Stillpoints).  I tried SR's Magic Dots which made no difference to my ears. They are a silly notion, but were worth a try.  I tried a couple of Shakti Blocks, to the amusement of my audiophile buddies.  They were totally ineffectual, quite silly really.  I have tried expensive power cords with my former Modwright amp/preamp and found no sonic benefit.  Each and each piece went back for a full refund.
I tried two or three of Herbies tweaks -- tube dampeners and isolation devices, and back they went for refund. My $.05 silicon tube dampeners function just fine.

I guess from the number of folks on this thread who find the fuses, etc. improving their system, I think that is just great.  They don't cost much and if they, like speaker cable elevators, do something to improve the sound of their system, then what the hell, go for it.  I do advice you to turn in your "BS filter" to what is being said in an advocacy of these tweaks and understand that folks like GK, who chimes in on this post with baffling assertions coming from the realm of pseudo-electronics, have economic skin in the game to entice you to try the expensive stuff they peddle.  

To finish, rolling tubes is an extremely worthwhile tweak to consider and the sonic effect of different tubes can be profound.  BTW, I have $3.00/ft Neotech speaker cable in my system and I am completely happy with it, after comparing it to far pricier cable. Whitesix

Oregonpapa wrote,

"1. Green paint for CD's. Black paint for CD's.
2. Tice Clock.
3. Don't recall the name, but a black box with a power cord attached that when plugged into any outlet was supposed to lower the noise floor. It did absolutely nothing.
4. After market turntable mat that did nothing except slow the speed of the turntable motor.
5. CD mat ... no change.
6. After market jumper cables for the speakers that actually degraded the sound.

Couple things.  The green pen is a little trickier than folks realize.  The green should only be used on the outer edge and black should only be used on the inner edge.  Black should never be used on the outer edge or on the label.  Mess you up. The black box sounds like the quantum corp. Symphony Or Symphony Pro or the one that preceded them, all of which I had good luck with.  Knock on wood.  The Mpingo disc, very tricky to find the place where it actually makes a big difference but it's there.  When I first heard what the Mpingo disc can do I almost evacuated a brick.  I showed Pierre at Maplshade the Mpingo discs back in 1997 at the show and he insisted on using it on the floor right in front of the system. 

Geoff Kait
machina dynamica

Earlier in this thread there was discussion of audio  equipment designers and builders regarding the use of premium fuses in their products. Of course the verdict is mixed among them.  There's a review of the highly praised French made TotalDACd1-6   on the 6 Moons review site. The Manufacturer offers the SR Quantum 20 fuses as an  upgrade in his DAC.  He believes that it is a clear improvement of the stock fuse. I don't know if he's aware of the Black fuse or not.   So some builders believe in these fuses and some don't. This review also offers interesting discussion/comparison  of the R2R ladder vs Delta Sigma topologies. 
Charles,