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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
fazee
70 posts
 

davidpritchard,

I've just scored a used FEQ today for a very good price of USD 580. As you have one of this in your system, could you kindly describe what it does and the improvements you get from this unit?

I would most likely be collecting it next week.

brownsfan
1,508 posts
 
Butler,  The ModWright work was absolutely worth it.  I bought the HAPZ1 and used it long enough to get it burned in well before I sent it off. I made some pretty detailed notes on some music that was well known to me, so I did have a good point of reference for the stock vs. Modded versions.  The current listing is $2995 for the mod.  Dan occasionally runs specials where he discounts modifications at times when business is slow.  Discounts are deep enough to be worth waiting for.  If you decide to do this, shoot me an email and I can give you my thoughts on upgrade options, tubes, power cords etc.
butler
78 posts
 
Well, Brownsfan, that is very interesting. The HAPZ1 already performs at a decent level, I’ve found it equal to a Berkeley DAC/Sim Moon transport combo in my system, which kind of shocked me. If it can be made to improve upon that performance level to a good degree, then that is definitely something that I will consider. Appreciate your input and kind offer to provide further insights if I choose to go that away. May take you up on the offer in the near future…...
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
A couple of friends had their Sony and Oppo units modified by ModWright and the outcome was substantial improvement of the sound quality across the entire sonic spectrum. If the Sony HAPZ1 is similarly improved then I would say it's money well spent just as Bill (Brownsfan) states. 
Charles 
oregonpapa's avatar
oregonpapa OP
4,867 posts
 
I spoke with Warren Gehl at ARC this morning and the conversation eventually got around to the directional property of fuses and why they sound their best in one direction and defused (no pun intended) in the opposite direction.  

Warren said that its a metallurgy situation and not an electrical one. According to Warren, when metal is extruded (drawn) to make wire it affects the direction of the grain in the metal. When the fuse is orientated in the direction of the grain, the sound will be the best. When the fuse is in the opposite direction, it will sound as though the system is out of phase.  That's certainly been the experience of most of us posting here. Its fairly dramatic in my system for sure.

I also asked him about the rotational position of the fuse, and he said that it has nothing to do with the wire. He said that each fuse has a position where the contact point of the end caps is best. Find that best position and the sound will be at its best. 

OP

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