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Direction of aftermarket fuses (only for believers!)

It is with reluctance that I start another thread on this topic with the ONLY GOAL for believers to share their experience about aftermarket fuses.
To others: you can call us snobs, emperors w/o clothes,... etc but I hope you refrain posting just your opinion here. If you did not hear any difference, great, maybe there isn’t.

The main driver for this new post is that I am starting a project to mod my NAD M25 7 ch amp for my home theater. It has 19 fuses (2 per channel, 4 on the power supply board, 1 main AC) and I will try a mix of AMR Gold, SR Black and Audio Magic Platinum (anyway that is the plan, I may try out some other brands/models). As it is reasonably difficult to change them, esp the ones on each channel module that requires complete disassembly, I would like to know what the direction is for these models mentioned and of course, others who HAVE HEARD there is a difference please share your experience on any fuse model you have tried.

Fuses are IME directional:
Isoclean is one of the first to indicate the direction (2008/2009) on their fuses. Users of HiFi Tuning (when the awareness rose quite a bit amongst audiophiles) have mostly heard the difference.

As an IEEE engineer, I was highly skeptical of cabling decades ago (I like the speaker design of John Dunlavy but he said on many occasions that cables nor footers matter at all, WRONG!). Luckily, my curiosity proved me wrong as well. I see the same skepticism that I and many others had about the need for aftermarket cables many, many years ago now on fuses and esp on the direction on fuses.

Another example is the direction of capacitors (I do not mean electrolytic types). Even some manufacturers now and certainly many in the past did not believe it can make a difference sonically. Maybe some do but it takes time in the assembly to sort and put them in the right direction/order (esp as some of the cap manufacturers still do not indicate "polarity") so that maybe is one argument why this is not universally implemented.








jazzonthehudson
jazzonthehudson's avatar
jazzonthehudson OP
277 posts
 
Again, so much internet space wasted ... the reason for starting a new thread is exactly what I try to avoid:
on the previous one onlookers and know-it-alls filled up 90% of the thread with their assumptions.
Reading through close to 300 posts yielded little valuable, practical info.

On most threads we get comments "sure, go ahead and try this and that, as long as your wallet is comfortable with it", YMMV, etc but no, on the previous thread too many needed to voice their doubts about the direction of a fuse. Ever tried to ask some of the questions here on a forums at, say, Best Buy, like "does cable matter?"
You promptly will feel exactly the way how I feel here, thanks "audiophiles"! Great help! 

For clarification, I solicit comments like"
"..with the Audio Magic BeeWax, the direction goes like the lettering on the fuse (like HiFi Tuning)..."




Post removed 
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
In the case of the Audio Magic Beeswax fuse (assuming he’s using the same stock fuse as he did for the Super Fuse (which I had) to drill out and squirt in the beeswax) the stock fuse manufacturer is either unaware of fuse directionality or chooses to ignore it. Don’t they all? Lol Audio Magic itself most likely doesn't have the time and inclination to test each fuse. Thus, no arrows on the Beeswax. Now if Audio Magic made his own fuses, things could be different since he would have control over the wire, and it's correct direction coming off spool.

Ergo, unless I miss my guess, you won’t be able to go by the writing on the fuse for clues on directionality. Even if someone reported his Audio Magic Beeswax fuse sounded best with number and letters written in the direction of the current flow I would be a little suspicious that that is always the case or just random. I hate to judge prematurely or be overly skeptical in this matter, especially considering the rather large number of fuses involved in your case (OMG) but it appears you will have to follow the sage advice which has been given on these fuse threads many times: try the fuse both ways and see which is better. Looks like you will have to determine directionality the old fashioned way.

cheers,

Geoff Kait
Machina Dynamica

almarg's avatar
almarg
9,670 posts
 
Although like several of the others I have nothing constructive to say in response to the specific question that was asked, I can't help but question the wisdom of spending what figures to be $1000 to $2000, or possibly even more, on fuse upgrades for a 7-channel amplifier that sold for $2500 to $3000 ten years ago.

Many of those who have extolled the virtues of the fuse upgrades that have been discussed in the other recent threads have expressed the opinion that the higher the resolution and the quality of the components that are involved, the greater the benefits fuse upgrades are likely to provide.

My suggestion is that you initially just replace the mains fuse, which of course you can easily try in both directions, and assess that result before embarking on anything more ambitious (and expensive) internal to the unit.

Regards,
-- Al

gdnrbob
4,508 posts
 
Great post almarg.
Though I did not think it would do much, changing the amps mains fuse to a HifiTuning fuse did result in a change in the sound of my stereo. (note: I bought the last of the previous version HifiTuning fuses at a discount-$80 bucks for a fuse is kinda silly, to me).
As far as directionality, I thought I noticed a difference, but I haven't had time to do a more 'controlled' test to confirm my suspicions. Contact me directly if you want more details.
Since I am always looking for the best bang for the buck (My system is Vandersteen/Zu, McCormack and Schiit), I would suggest looking at Acme Fuses. SMc thinks highly of this brand and they are more reasonably priced.
HTH Bob
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