Synergistic Red Fuse ...

  

This fuse thread has singlehandedly raised the level of expectations as to what can be achieved on these audiogon forums.  Who would have thought that the humble fuse could attract and hold the attention of so many for so many moons.  I certainly didn’t. However, in spite of the large variety and volume of posts, there is an area which in my opinion has not been adequately addressed.  

It is the concept of seeing the various components in the chain as a system. The practice of replacing a fuse in the source component only currently appear to be very popular. Some argue that best results are obtained by upgrading the power amp. Even members who have many years of experience in our hobby are guilty of this insular view.

I remember when I purchased my first car. As the tyres started  to wear  (due to high mileage) I would change the worst one and wait until one of the othersfailed before replacing it. After about 5 years I realized it was much better to replace tyres in pairs. I would put the 2 new ones on the front and leave the remaining 2 partially worn tires on the rear axle. It took me another 5 years to finally realize that the way to go was to change all 4 tyres with 30,000 miles on them. This way provided better performance, was safer and was more economical. It is what I regard as the system approach.

When I decided on a fuse upgrade (before this fuse thread began), I upgraded my CD player, Preamp and power amp all at the same time. 2 in the CD player, 1 one in the preamp and 4 in the power amp. I turned on the system (no warm up) and was surprised at the level of improvement. There was a massive increase in fidelity, similar to a major component upgrade. This is what happens when one treats the entire system.

Upgrading a fuse is effective because it improves the power supply of the component. It is important to realized that the electrons in the power supply are the very same electrons flowing through your speaker cable to your loudspeakers. We do not know why fuses have this effect on a power supply,  but we know it does. We also know that power flows through the entire system and optimum results will be achieved only when every fuse in the chain has been replaced and the power is cleaned up. To replace the fuse in one component is like having 4 defective tyres and replacing only the one that is punctured.

I have read reports by individuals who tried a red or black fuse in a single component and report that they did not hear any improvement, or even any change. If you hear no difference your system lacks resolution. It is as simple as that. I am fairly certain they would hear a significant difference had they changed all the fuses in their system. On hearing this change they will be forced to accept the fact that the fuses are an upgrade. Once they get to this first hurdle (the realization that fuses can improve fidelity), they can proceed to find the reasons for the lack of resolution.  

^^^ When Michael Fremer did his factory tour of the Audio Research plant, part of the tour was a visit into ARC's listening room and an interview with ARC's chief listener Warren Gehl.  

Part one:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a58bDqQQ-xY

Part two:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvL9FNuPwkE

During Fremer's interview with Warren, Fremer pointed out the cable lifters under the speaker cables. Fremer kind of scoffed and asked Warren if they really worked.  Warren's answer was ... "everything works." That's my take ... "everything" is a component including the room itself. 

So, unless everything is address from the room itself, to the equipment rack, to footers, to fuses, to tube dampeners, to the furniture in the room, to our listening position, to the tow-in of the speakers .... it all makes a difference. So if there are those who haven't had success with ONE tweak, and also haven't taken the time to address all of the issues listed above, its no wonder they can't hear the improvement that one fuse can make. 

This reminds me of last year's Newport show and the demonstration in the Synergistic Research room. Ted Denny played the system with most of the SR tweaks installed. It was as if we were listening to a wall-to-wall Imax theater of sound. It was truly great.  Then Ted removed the SR tweaks and played the same music over again. Everything just collapsed. Still good, but not near the room filling sound. Then he brought the tweaks back into the room and everything blossomed again.

The guy sitting next to me turned to me and asked if I could hear any difference. When I said yes, it was night and day, he just kind of gave me a little sneering laugh and said ... "well I didn't hear any change at all."  He left me wondering what he was doing at a hifi show. So, it seems that no matter the improvement, there are those who just cannot hear it, or won't admit it. Its one of the great mysteries of the audio hobby, I guess.

Frank 

Hi Frank,

I hope you won’t mind if I make one or two minor adjustments to your statement above:

"So, unless everything is addressed from the room itself, to the equipment rack, to footers, to fuses, to tube dampeners, to the furniture in the room, to our listening position, to AC quality, to cabling, to the tow-in of the speakers .... it all makes a difference. So if there are those who haven’t had success, and also haven’t taken the time to address all of the issues listed above, its no wonder they can’t hear the improvement that "INSERT ALMOST ANY AUDIO DEVICE HERE" can ultimately make.

Best to you Frank and Merry Christmas,
Dave

Nyame,
I agree that the more upgrading of fuses in one’s audio system the greater the impact on sound quality. Given the the innate caution or skepticism people have towards fuses(or tweaks in general) most aren’t willing to commit to this degree. I understand that reservation and it’s human nature. People are more comfortable with "try one first and see/hear what happens ". This was my initial approach to using premium quality fuses a few years ago.

If for example someone needs 5 or 6 fuses the cost can rise significantly, the majority of people will reject the "all fuses at once" method. I would have been very hesitant to begin this way in all candor. With 20/20 hindsight the result of entire system of fuse upgrading is now quite apparent. For some folks it’s a challenge to try even a single fuse, so I understand the common question of "where do you place the first fuse".

Factor in the fact that some listeners report no improvement with upgraded fuses and/or lack of "satisfactory " technical explanations and I can appreciate again the dipping toes into the water mindset,   It's easy for me to enthusiastically recommend better fuses due to my terrific outcome of having them in my system's components. 
Charles 

Frank,
Your story about your time at the SR demo in Newport and that guy's sneering reaction reminds me of an old "friend" I used to hang around with back in the day. 

I have more than a sneaking suspicion that that sneering guy heard the difference but thought it wasn't enough to justify the cost, just like my friend. He had this cognitive dissonance about hifi and it's costs and the better my systems got, the more angry and distant he became. Some people are just weird that way. Or the guy you spoke to had tin ears.

All the best,
Nonoise