2. amps-preamps
  3. 1448317474

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
sheridd2
28 posts
 
Logged my first impressions of SR Black fuses in the Atmosphere power cord thread by accident, - I had two, one in power amp and the other in my pre-amp and suitably impressed.
Got a load more a couple of days ago after having to wait for a few weeks while they were out of stock.
The new lot has gone into my cd player, Oppo Blu-ray player, a/v processor and sub woofer.
Additionally an internal one went into my PS Audio P10.
The waiting begins until I add the requisite 70 hours for burn in.
Already very happy with the audio side as the original Fleetwood Mac Greatest Hits cd sounded superb, very 'live' recordings with no 'veils' sounding very much like the band was in my room.
Wife wanted to watch a movie last night so we watched Burlesque, (don't laugh), which she really enjoyed. Lots of musical numbers in the movie, two especially impressed, dialogue at nice room level, not loud but these two numbers really came through with unlimited dynamics.
Still early days for the fuses but don't regret buying them in any way.    
nyame
198 posts
 
Before this thread comes to an end I would like to personally thank Oregonpapa for starting probably the most informative, stimulating,  and
 successful  posts I have yet seen on these forums. He has provided an economical upgrade path for thousands of audiophiles. But this thread has done something even more important: It has opened up the minds of many.
Thank you very much



charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
nyame,
Well said! It's very gratifying to realize how many music lovers have discovered a wonderful affordable tweak as a result of this thread. The sharing of listening experiences,  information and goodwill is inspiring. The strong positive vibe this thread has maintained is also noteworthy. Many people have increased their enjoyment of music reproduction in their homes. What more could you want? 
Charles  
oregonpapa's avatar
oregonpapa OP
4,867 posts
 

nyame ...

Thanks for the kind words. Much appreciated. But ... all of the credit goes to the designers at Synergistic Research. All I did was put skepticism aside and took a chance based upon their 30 day return policy. I was so taken by the overall improvements in the system with just one Red fuse in my preamp that I felt compelled to share the outcome with the members here. 

These SR fuses have benefited so many now, for so little money in relation to what one would have to spend for similar results via other means, that its a bit mind boggling at this point. It's encouraging me to try other SR tweaks.

Based upon SR's Youtube videos, there are a lot more exciting things to come. As I try them, I'll be reporting the results here. Charles, David, and others have experienced some of the other offerings from SR with very positive results ... so I suspect they would like to share their experiences as well.

On ending this thread: Not yet ... I still have to replace a Red fuse in the amp for a Black fuse. I'm going to wait another week for that though. The system is sounding so good that I want to put off the 70 hours of break-in for the new fuse for a little bit.

My friend Robert came over last night and we listened to a whole variety of music. One thing we listened to was a jazz compilation of previously released material titled "Jazz Like You've Never Heard It Before." One cut features Mel Torme' singing "Too Close for Comfort."  It was "reach out and touch Mel Torme' ... so realistic. Another cut featured Sonny Rollins playing "Body and Soul." That tenor sax was right there in the room. So tonally correct.

Robert called me again this afternoon to compliment the system and its natural, realistic sound. His comments: "You've got the tonality of the piano just right."  "I've never heard a muted trumpet sound as real as that cut you played of Joe Gordon. It was right on." "Wow, Sonny Rollins was real!" 

These are truly great compliments coming from Robert. He has talented ears. If something isn't right he can nail it right away. He's been around the hobby for years. Robert works with one of the great mastering engineers helping to master some of the most well thought of vinyl reissues we enjoy so much today. Also, Robert has been instrumental in the choice of what records are to be reissued by a well respected audiophile reissue record company. And ... Robert is very critical of recordings that are not done right ... and systems that pretend to be high-end but that just don't cut the mustard. Bottom line ... if Robert says its right ... its right.

Stay tuned ... more fuse updates to come. 


knghifi
1,668 posts
 
nyame36 posts04-02-2016 7:02pmBefore this thread comes to an end I would like to personally thank Oregonpapa for starting probably the most informative, stimulating, and 
 successful posts I have yet seen on these forums. He has provided an economical upgrade path for thousands of audiophiles. But this thread has done something even more important: It has opened up the minds of many.
Thank you very much

The thread can't end until I share results of my 7 SR BLACKS.   Preamp upgrade is done and VAC scheduled to ship next week.  They ran out of signal transformers so was delayed.  After ~100 hours of breaking in, replacing 7 fuses all at once so will be interesting.   

I have success with SR HFTs and later replaced with Audio Magic Bells.   The new UEF Panels look interesting and probably next tweak.  Like I said before, it pays to be stupid and just trust my senses if a tweak works instead of handcuffed by a slide ruler.




More to discover