This was the first thing that came up when I googled it:I saw that too. That's an organization, not a field of endeavor like mechanical or electrical engineering
I'm also an AIAA engineer.Given your posts here, highly unlikely.
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.
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.
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Atmasphere wrote, "This was the first thing that came up when I googled it: I saw that too. That's an organization, not a field of endeavor like mechanical or electrical engineering" Gosh, really? Geoffkait: "I'm also an AIAA engineer." to which Atmasphere retorted, "Given your posts here, highly unlikely." Good one! I also know how to use Google. Cheerios |
Jazzonthehudson 4-29-2016No, I haven't. My background is in analog and digital circuit design involving conventional voltages. BTW, as I mentioned a while back in one of the other fuse threads, Wikipedia writeups dealing with quantum tunnelling make no mention of ultra-high voltages: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_tunnelling https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_and_quantum_conductivity Best regards, -- Al (IEEE Life Member) |
Al, have I fallen for a SR marketing trick? Their website states repetitively "... By applying a two million volt signal to a cable at a specific pulse modulation, and ultra high frequency for an exact duration of time, we transform the entire cable at a molecular level through a process we call Quantum Tunneling...." FYI I was part of the AP/MTT chapter and worked for a large telecom equipment manufacturer so no high voltage experience. I did had fun with Microwave oven trafo powered arcing in labs though... |
Ok, I've had a lot of experience with different fuses here. I will agree that the direction of the print on Synergistic fuses does indicate the direction (at least it sounds better to me). The same goes for Furutech fuses. Of course, Hi-Fi Tuning and Isoclean already have a directional arrow printed on the fuse. I have found that when the fuse is placed in the opposite of the preferred direction, the midrange has a weak / hollow sound to it and the overall sound does not have as much impact. The Audio Magic fuses are just the stock "Little Fuse" brand. They are decent industry stock fuses, but nothing special (like $4 a fuse). Audio Magic drills and fills the fuse with an anti-vibration solution, which acts to reduce electrical resonances. Resonance definitely plays a part in sound quality, but I have never tried an Audio Magic. Also the Little Fuse wire element is nothing special (just tinned copper at best). These were just too expensive for me to audition. In my opinion, the choice of fuse really has to do with what direction you want to take your NAD. From what I have read, NAD equipment can be very warm sounding. This can come across as somewhat muddy or slow (similar to tube). If you want to make the NAD more clear sounding and quicker/tighter, then I would look at the Synergistic SR20 or the Furutech. The Furutech is the "fastest" sounding fuse I have tried. It will really increase the punch, authority, clarity, and cleanliness of the sound. The SR20 is the second most fastest fuse. SR RED is probably the most non-intrusive fuse I have found. It will make every piece of equipment sound "ok", but it doesn't make it "sing" (I think you actually lose some resolution with SR RED). My experience with Hi-Fi Tuning Gold put a metallic etch on the sound. I have not tried other Hi-Fi Tuning fuses or SR BLACK. My favorite fuse is the Isoclean, which is also the cheapest. It is great for solving problems with very bright "solid state" type equipment. It adds a fullness and level of warmth to the sound and takes away a lot of the brightness problems. The Isoclean works wonders in my equipment, but I use very strong and bright "solid state" style equipment (such as Krell, Bryston, Emotiva). I have found the Furutech and SR20 fuses do not actually work out as well in this type of equipment because they make the equipment too "solid state". Depends on where you want to go. You can get Isoclean on ebay for $30 direct from China, and I'm sure it will improve things, but the Isoclean may not be fast enough for your tastes and equipment. |
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