Synergistic Red Fuse ...

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.

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…...

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 

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

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.

Hi Frank,

If you have an opportunity to speak with Warren on this question again, you might ask him why any such effect is not completely swamped by the randomly oriented grain directions of the vastly longer lengths of wire that are in series with the fuse, that are conducting exactly the same current. Especially in the case of AC mains fuses, where the AC wiring in the component and in the primary winding of its power transformer, and the wiring in the component’s power cord, are all conducting that same current. Not to mention the wiring inside and outside of the house, which are also conducting that current in addition to other currents.

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.

Agreed. See Atmasphere’s comments that I quoted on 8-3-2016, on page 49 of this thread, in which he indicated that he has found this effect to be both measurable and audible.

Regards,
-- Al