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
Charles 1 dad:
I do hope you find a way to get to the Newport Beach Show. It is well worth the money and effort. Oregonpapa is absolutely correct. The Synergistic Research room was spectacular. The team of Synergistic Research and Scott Walker really know how to make a giant room sound other worldly good.

Many good sounds this year- High End Electronics with Voxativ speakers, Acoustic Zen, High Water Sound with Cassaro Horns, Tonian speakers, Blue Light Audio showing the BIG Evolution speakers. I spent most of my time in the Synergistic, High Water Sound, and the Blue Light Audio Rooms just listening to great music



tbg:
Yep- the Synergistic Research fuse sounds better in one direction ( After installing the Black fuse now in 21 locations for three systems).

David Pritchard
I recently added two more Black fuses into my system. Now every component of mine that can has an SR fuse. They are all Black fuses, except my Modwright power supply, which has a Red fuse.The UPS guy delivered a package to me today while I had music playing. When he arrived he said, "Wow, I thought that was live!" That was the best compliment for my system that I have ever received.
I just received my SR Black Fuse to be placed in my EE Minimax Plus DAC. I realised that the previous owner of the dac had changed the fuse to a Bussman Ceramic Fuse and wasn't running with the stock fuse as I had initially thought. Anyway, immediate impressions are positive. Music sounds more refined and detailed. A smoother presentation compared to the bussman and the music just sounds more coherent. Now for the burn-in i've been hearing/reading so much about. Do I have to have music playing during the burn-in or will it continue burn in so long as the dac is turned on?
I'm just checking back in on my experiment with adding a Black fuse to my REL R-328. I'm maybe 40-50 hours in, slowed a bit by the Warriors and the Sharks being in the championships and a few days spent under the weather. In one of my previous posts, I suggested that the sound tends to "morph" with fuse break-in and, at some point, you get to the "That's fantastic! Please stay like that!" phase. That's where I've been for the last couple of nights.

Notable albums have included John Hammond Jr.'s "Wicked Grin," an album of Tom Waits covers, Richard Thompson's "You? Me? Us?" (nude version), Rosanne Cash's "10 Song Demo," and Beck's "Morning Phase."

"Wicked Grin" seems to have been recorded, at least in part, in a real space. On Get Behind the Mule, some of the percussion is supplied by a leather shoe shuffling and tapping on the floor which nicely illuminates the left side of the sound stage. I've never heard that so clearly and is of a piece with the overall improvement in all aspects of the sound stage. On Jockey Full of Bourbon, the shakers and the button accordion in particular are positively 3-D. An obscure album to be sure, but a must for any Waits fan. Put up to it by their wives, Waits himself participates in the fun and the rest of the band is great.

The Roseanne Cash and Richard Thompson albums are very much unadorned, and not particularly "wet" in recording terms. I was mostly struck by increased yet completely unforced detail (i.e., lower noise floor) and a purity of tone that really made me sit up and pay attention in a relaxed way. Also, and Danny Thompson's double-bass playing on You? Me? Us?, always a fave, is simply stunning with the Black in the sub.

I am a big fan of "Morning Phase" but it is a full-bodied recording to say the least and, of course, the acoustic is studio-created. I have never heard the bottom end to be so well defined, while exhibiting remarkable authority, weight and slam. The latter characteristics, combined with an uncanny improvement is soundstage organization, clarity and dimensionality sum up my reaction the the improvement wrought by adding the Black fuse to my REL. In fact, I found myself shaking my head several times in disbelief.

I capped last night's listening session with a favorite cut from Mahavishnu Orchestra's "Inner Mounting Flame"-- You Know You Know. 70's analog tape hiss was present in all its glory, but the tune is sublime and it sounded fantastic...