2. amps-preamps
  3. 1448317474

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
dbarger
215 posts
 
"A friendly reminder to all that replace fuses in their equipment to remember to turn off the equipment before replacing the fuse. I do not know why but changing the fuse recently with a different fuse resulted in the new fuse blowing. I would guess it was a current in rush situation but on a solid state piece of equipment. So turn off equipment - replace fuse - turn on equipment. "

Better advice is to unplug equipment before changing the fuse.  Many pieces have a constant draw of power to keep some circuitry "warmed up".
davidpritchard's avatar
davidpritchard
866 posts
 
dbarger:

Thank you for the reminder that to insure that a component has no active circuits,  it must be unplugged and not just turned off. Hey that's just what they always tell me to do at the computer "help" site after putting me on hold for 30 minutes!

Well the replacement Black fuse is in place and now has 75 hours on it. What a nice improvement over the back up Isoclean fuse. I am listening to Harp music to unwind after a stressful day. The shimmering harmonics of the plucked strings resonating with the body of the harp is most relaxing.

The plucked leading edge of each note is sharp and forceful, and then the relaxing full bodied complex decay of the note takes place. All this is occurring  with a jet black background and with a soundstage depth of a medium sized concert hall. Really quite remarkable.

An upgraded audio fuse has made this long stressful very hot day turn into a most satisfying and reinvigorating music listening night.

David Pritchard


andynotadam's avatar
andynotadam
166 posts
 
Way off topic (though the goodness of the SR Black fuses and outlets shine on through everything in the chain), but this afternoon I got Tidal working through my Bryston BDP-2 music player and it sounds extraordinarily good using multimode duplex fiber to isolate the Ethernet ground noise from the network. Next up is figuring out how to incorporate the Roon meta-data service into the picture.

Keeps my retired-ass 61 year old mind working, so I've got that going for me...
davidpritchard's avatar
davidpritchard
866 posts
 

andynotadam:

Actually  I think your post is on topic because the improvement to a system that uses the Synergistic Black fuses and Black wall outlets allows streaming sources to really sound wonderful. The enhanced spacial information, the blacker background, and overall more relaxed sound makes streaming a much more satisfying experience than before I installed the Black fuses and Black outlets.

Congratulations on getting Tidal working and best wishes on getting it tweaked to reach it's maximum utility. 

David Pritchard 

andynotadam's avatar
andynotadam
166 posts
 
David:

"The enhanced spacial information, the blacker background, and overall more relaxed sound makes streaming a much more satisfying experience than before I installed the Black fuses and Black outlets. "

A great concise summary of the SR Black products contribute to the sound. Except for the typo. ;-)
More to discover