2. amps-preamps
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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
oregonpapa's avatar
oregonpapa OP
4,867 posts
 
dbarger ...

The ARC REF-6 pre amp is on the bucket list ... as is the new ARC phono stage. The REF-3 and the PH-8 that's in the system now are great performers ... so good that I haven't felt the need to upgrade even to the REF-5-se.  But with the few reports I've seen on the REF-6 and the new phono amp, the upgrade bug is starting to circulate around the old brain again. I'm sure we'll see some demos of both pieces at the Newport Show. 

Speaking of Newport ... is anyone posting here besides Bob and David going?  Robert and I will be there Saturday and Sunday ... arriving Saturday, late morning.  

Almarg ...

Your posts are always very informative. You're a real asset to the site.  Thank you for posting here in this thread.  :-)

OP
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Al wrote,

"None of this will matter under normal operating conditions, btw. The only time the fuse will "see" the line voltage, and hence the only time the voltage rating will matter, is when a fault in the unit necessitates that the fuse blows. If the voltage rating is inadequate, relative to the line voltage, the fuse may not "open" properly, and may continue to conduct current. Or, conceivably, it may explode."

If a fuse were to explode, if in fact that’s possible, who knows? Maybe you’re right, let’s hope to heck it’s not one of those Audio Magic beeswax fuses as it would be very messy and hard to clean up all the beeswax. But seriously you'd think that with all the companies selling aftermarket fuses to a large number of audiophiles, one assumes, that somewhere along the line houses would be burning down or amplifiers exploding due to uninformed impulse buying.

geoff kait

slaw's avatar
slaw
22,044 posts
 
Can any of you explain why an item such as a fuse, which breaks the signal path, has such an impact on sound?

I'm not poopooin' it, just asking?

My amp, McCormack DNA-225, upgrade to a, (SMC Ultra 15), had the Hi-Fi Tuning fuses oriented for sound by a machine they have, in-house, for sonics.
nonoise's avatar
nonoise
10,928 posts
 
Imagine there were no fuse and the signal path was pure and consistent throughout. Now insert an inferior metal conductor into said path. It’s the ’weakest link in the chain’ argument on a smaller scale. That’s how I see it.

All the best,
Nonoise
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
 
slaw
1,130 posts
05-22-2016 2:11pm
"Can any of you explain why an item such as a fuse, which breaks the signal path, has such an impact on sound?"

For AC circuits the fuse is exposed to magnetic fields, RFI/EMI and vibration without benefit of shielding. The fuse doesn't break the signal path, it's part of the signal path. 

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