Synergistic Red Fuse ...

almarg                      12/2916                8.10pm

" However, as I’ve previously said in this thread what seems unexplainable is that upgrading to a specific fuse would be found to be sonically beneficial with the high degree of consistency that has been reported, among components that are completely different in design, that perform completely different functions, that are used in very different systems, that are powered by AC having very different voltage and noise characteristics, and in DC as well as AC applications. That continues to be a mystery as far as I am concerned."

I am making this post in good faith, because your tone and reasoned approach deserves a corresponding response. I do not have all the   answers but I believe there is an approach that may be helpful on a macro level.

Forget the fuse for a moment. A fuse cannot do the things you attribute to it. BUT A POWER SUPPLY CAN. All electronic devices, regardless of what they do , or whether AC or DC  powered, require and do have one or more power supplies. The Power Supply is the single most important component of all electronic devices. IT IS THE HEART OF THE DEVICE. It does not matter what the function of the device is. It does not matter whether the device is a preamp, power amp, CD player, DAC, Tuner, or a device used in commercial or industrial instrumentation.  It does not matter whether the AC has different voltage and noise characteristics. The Power Supply in an electronic device is like the heart in all animals. It does not matter whether the animal is a lion a mouse or an elephant. It does not matter if the animal lives in the North Pole or in the SAHARA desert. Optimum performance of all animals is dependent on a healthy and properly functioning heart.

The vast majority of power supplies contain one or more fuses. We know from experience that the performance of a Power Supply used in an audio product can be influenced by a fuse. How do we know this? We use the most accurate devices available. The human ears working in concert with the brain and nervous system to decode cognitive and emotional content (music)

But how can a fuse have such a salubrious effect on the music we hear? I do not know. I do not know anyone who does. Neither do I know what goes on at the sub subatomic level. Nor did Einstein. Yet what happens at the subatomic level is the basis of our stereo systems.

^^^  Charles ... I like to do a little at a time in order to gauge the improvement (or degradation) with each step in the "tweaking" process. I've been in the process of replacing the stock ARC dampening rings with Herbie dampeners. This is not a subtle change for the better. Its another ear opening experience. Herbie has a CD mat that just covers the inner ring of the CD. Its called the "Super Black Hole." It has some really good reviews, so I'll be trying that soon. And hey, Herbie's has a generous return policy too. 

http://herbiesaudiolab.net/cdmat.htm

Geoff...

Hey, didn’t we solve the directional thingie a while back in this thread with Warren Gehl’s input about wire extrusion? 

"Solve" is such an absolute word in audiophile land where so much is uncharted and unexplainable. Do we need to revisit our previous discussion regarding not confusing testimony with fact?

I hate to judge before all the facts are in but it appears a bunch of dudes on this thread, without mentioning any names, were somehow left off the distribution list for the memo regarding Warren Gehl’s input about wire extrusion.

As an update to all the "dudes," are you referring to this memo...

"Warren Gehl of Audio Research, who listens to every product before it leaves the factory, not only hears differences among different fuses, but he has found that they sound different depending on the orientation within the socket, and he changes their direction as he sees fit." 

or this one....

“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.”

Does Warren ever explain how the "metallurgy situation" ends up manifesting itself as an "electrical one" so it can actually affect what someone hears from their system?

I don't doubt that the grain in a wire could be affected by the extrusion process, and you may even be able to see that effect under an electron microscope, but given that the typical resistance variation of the one inch of thin wire in the typical "audiophile" fuse (such as the HFT gold or the Isoclean fuses measured and reported by HiFi Tuning) was about 1 mOhms or in some cases much less, which is about 0.001 Ohms or less, it is still a mystery to me how that minuscule amount of difference could possibly account for a noticeable, much less "dramatic" or "repeatable," difference/improvement of the sound of one's system, especially given the much greater resistances attributable to all the other wiring, parts and power supplies in a system's components, resistances of cables connecting the components, and variations in residential power.  And yes, I have tried multiples of the fuses including HFT, Isoclean, Furutech and SR Red, and yes I have rotated them, and yes I still have my hearing, and no I am not listening on a walkman, but yet - nada.....

Roger Modjeski may have put it best,

"If a butterfly flew by.....we might see a bigger difference"

Happy New Year to all 

Yes indeed the fuse is the bottleneck in the power supply. Try this simple test for those brave enough to try :) 

Replace the fuse with an appropriately sized solid core, pure copper lug of 6-10 gauge and hear the improvement. Hopefully your house will not burn down for this short listening test😁 

These high end fuses are made to remove the fuse bottleneck. Yes I have done this with digital gear and liked the improvement. No fires. Never a problem. I am not suggesting anyone do this for longer than a short listening session. 

Good points by Mitch2, IMO. Who as he stated has tried SR Red and several other audiophile-oriented fuses, with unimpressive results, and whose audiophile credentials and experience are unimpeachable IMO.

Frank (OP), regarding the comments by Warren Gehl about directionality, which you had cited in this thread on 10-6-2016, I had made the following suggestion in the subsequent post:

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.

Also, I would again call attention to the comments about fuse directionality that have been presented here by four different designers of well regarded audio electronics, as quoted by me in the first of my posts dated 10-28-2016 near the middle of this page of the present thread. Which are to the effect that for a fuse to have inherent directional characteristics is impossible. And as a very experienced electronics designer myself, in my case in the defense electronics field, I agree. And furthermore, as quoted in that post, one of those designers (Atmasphere) has explained why a fuse may **appear** to have inherent directional characteristics, but that he has experimentally found that the same audible and measurable effect can be accomplished by simply rotating the fuse in its holder.

It is certainly true that technical understanding and analysis can neither explain nor predict a lot about what we hear or don’t hear from our systems. And in fact I have said on many occasions here that from a technical standpoint there are many things that by their very nature are inherently unpredictable. But technical understanding and analysis can explain and predict some things with certainty. Including the impossibility of fuses having inherent directional characteristics, IMO and that of the aforementioned designers. If people hear differences when the direction of a fuse is reversed, something other than inherent directionality is responsible.

Regards,
-- Al