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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?
oregonpapa
oregonpapa's avatar
oregonpapa OP
4,867 posts
 
^^^

Nice post, Andy ...

You just never know what will affect the sound either negatively or positively. Salt blocks ... who-da thunk it?  :-)

I'm really looking forward to your assessment of the two SR outlets as they break in. They're on my bucket list.

I tried putting granite slabs under my speakers, spiking the slabs to the floor (raised foundation), and then spiking the speakers to the granite slabs.  I was looking for a way to improve the bass.  Well, it improved the mids and the highs, but the bass became almost nonexistent. So then I got the idea of ordering two Mapleshade maple platforms and tried them in the same way.

http://mapleshadestore.com/feedback_mapleshadeplatforms.php

Walla!  Great bass and an overall improvement throughout the full range. The granite slabs are now on top of the speakers and they fit the exact dimensions of the speaker tops. The added weight of the granite slabs add to the mass of the speakers and give a further improvement, especially in the area of overall clarity. 
 
At the moment, I'm breaking in two of the Von Gaylord 7000 IC's and a pair of their biwired speaker cables.

http://vongaylordaudio.com/beta/cabling/

So far, I'm getting fantastic results with only about 50 hours on them. The Von Gaylord cables require about 200 hours to sound their best. I'll start a new thread about them in the cable forum when they're broken in.   At 50 hours they are stomping all over the wires they replaced, and those were no slouches at all ... not by a long shot. 

Hang in there ... and happy listening. 

sherod
1,690 posts
 
I have wondered where SR bought their SR Black duplex. I did some googling and found a duplex that looks very similar. Hmmmm...


   http://www.lowes.com/pd/Pass-Seymour-Legrand-20-Amp-125-Volt-Black-Indoor-Duplex-Wall-Tamper-Resista...
davidpritchard's avatar
davidpritchard
866 posts
 

sherod:

The Synergistic Research Black duplex may well have started out as a Pass-Seymour outlet. Then SR takes that outlet and does several thing to make it sound better.

The SR Tesla Plex  apparently starts out as a Levitron hospital grade outlet and then is modified to sound better.

Porter outlets takes a Hubell outlet and then cryo treats it to get a better sound. 

PS Audio sells their outlets that look like the main bodies are the same as Furutech"s. It sounds different than a Furutech.

All of these outlets sound quite different than the outlets sold at Lowes.

I am very impressed with the sonic qualities that the Synergistic Research Black outlet imparts to a system. I think the sonic gains I have obtained with the Black outlet are worth the price.

I do think the changing the wall outlet produces a greater sonic change than most tube rolling does. Each type outlet will have it's own sonic signature. It is tedious and time consuming but for my audiophile education, it has been worth the effort to audition  many outlets.

Excellent listening to all this week.

David Pritchard

jetter
3,117 posts
 
Yes, the SR is much different, according to their website they do this:

Conditioned with a proprietary treatment that alters the conductor at the crystal structure and then treated with 2,000,000 volts of electricity which alters the conductor at the molecular level, the Synergistic Research Black Duplex is truly state-of-the-art. Materials include UEF Coatings and Graphene with 8-million times the conductive density of copper. Synergistic Research’s new UEF Black Quantum Duplex will revolutionize the way you plug in and tune out!
sherod
1,690 posts
 
One of the things that makes me a little nervous, other than the exhorbitant price of the SR Black duplex, is the nickel plating on the ears and backstrap. I have never liked the sound of nickel-plated anything in the audio chain. Maybe their tesla zap, graphene, and UEF coating changes that signature. I recently did a two week test where I took out two Hubbell 8300HBL( non-cryo'd Porter Port outlets) and replaced them with two Afterburner outlets. After two weeks, I felt that something wasn't right. The highs seemed constricted and the overall feel had this strain to it. I put back in the Hubbells and the sound once again had extended highs and an ease to the flow of the music that occurs in a live environment. I am on the fence for now with the SR Black outlet. In the meantime, I am glad that most of the current users of the SR Black outlets are happy with them. 
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