Fuses fuses fuses

Al, thanks- I had seen the thread you linked to but only glanced at it.

Are any of these aftermarket fuses UL listed and do any manufacturers install these in their gear straight from the factory? 

A few years ago I considered buying something from Wyred 4 Sound and audiophile fuses were an upgrade. I've also read reviews and announcements of products that have them already featured but can't recall the brands. They are in the minority but that seems to be growing, albeit, slowly.

All the best,
Nonoise

My experience with the SR Black fuses is similar to those of nonoise with his fuses. I listened to the fuses placed in one direction and then reversed this direction. Without fail there’s an undeniable change in the sound, not necessarily good vs bad, but "different ". One direction was very clear and "locked in ", the other had an "out of phase " character.

This contrast was heard with my DAC, Line Stage and amplifier. A good friend of mine had the same results in his system with completely different components. He and I heard this with SR and his Audio Horizon fuses. The bottom line was consistent differences in sonic character based on fuse direction.

I am unable to provide a satisfying technical explanation ànd won’t make àn attempt to do so. Al, Ralph and others make strong and compelling arguments why fuses "shouldn’t" behave in a directional manner. I respect their opinions very much. At the end of the day I simply listen and report what I have heard with or without a satisfactory technical explanation to accompany it.

Why do I hear a difference? I don’t know.
Do I hear a difference based on fuse direction placement? Unequivocally yes. As with all things involving audio YMMV 😊.
Charles

From my experiences using the Synergistic Red and Black.  The black was more detail then the Red, but on some equipment i prefer the red better than the Black.   The black can be overly aggressive and bright on some of my unit.  As far as directional wise,  Peter Hanson at SR states that you should try it in both directions, there is not a wrong or right way.  I came and visit his place down in Irvine just 10minutes from where i live.   You just got to try it out and see what works for you. 

almarg
Geoff’s statement above is correct. See the first of my posts dated 10-28-2016 in the long running "Synergistic Red Fuse" thread, in which I quote posts that have been made here by Ralph and several other designers of well regarded audio electronics on the subject of fuse directionality. I quoted Ralph’s comment (which had originally appeared in another fuse-related thread) as follows:

Ralph Karsten of Atma-Sphere:

"… Fuses are inherently incapable of having directionality in any way whatsoever.

… I joined this thread recently with some results on testing. Those results are that the directionality appears out of coincidence and that actually greater improvement can be had by rotating the fuse in the holder for best contact…. Reversal is improving the contact area because fuse and holder are not dimensionally perfect and the fuse might sit better in the holder in one direction. By rotating the fuse in the holder without reversing it gets the same effect only more profoundly."

>>>>Whoa! What? If fuses are incapable of having directionality in any way whatsoever why do almost all users of aftermarket fuses in the past 15 years report better sound when the fuse is in the correct direction? talk about ignoring evidence. Do you guys really think there’s some sort of audiophile conspiracy? Do you actually believe that it’s group hypnosis? The placebo effect? Expectation bias?

Ralph’s hypothesis of the fuse holder accounting for the improvement when fuses are flipped doesn’t hold water since if were true that fuses are not directional and the fuse holder was the key, then flipping the fuse and rotating it would lead to worse sound in many cases, not better sound. That is IF the fuse holder contact area differences were even AUDIBLE which I actually don’t think they are. Talk about grasping for straws. You might as well use the time honored naysayer argument that it's the oxide on the surface of the fuse holder being removed whilst flipping the fuse that accounts for the change in sound. 

 "Rotating affects the sound more profoundly than reversing it? Huh? I thought you guys didn't think there was any effect from reversing the fuse. How could something be more profound? Give me a break. Besides, the whole fuse directionality issue is rather moot in light of the fact were already know ALL WIRE is directional. We’ve known it for At least 25 years. So of course fuses - ALL FUSES - are directional. Hel-loo! This is all just a case where some folks didn’t get the memo and refuse to believe there ever was a memo. Who knows why.

In view of the overwhelming evidence in favor of fuse directionality AND wire directionality in general - not the least of which is the comprehensive data contained on the HiFi Tuning website. perhaps it’s best to put the fuse holder hypothesis to bed. Don’t let the bedbugs bite.

cheers,

geoff kait
machina dramatica
advanced audio concepts