Fuses fuses fuses

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

What the guy at SR meant when he said "try it both ways" is that the SR fuses ARE directional (as are all fuses) but you cannot tell which way is the right way to insert them just by looking at them. You can't go by the lettering and you can't go by arrows, if there are arrows. Thus, try them both ways and pick the one that sounds best. Ergo, fuses are directional.

I agree 110% with charles1dad. No need for me to repeat it.

Are any of these aftermarket fuses UL listed?

Isoclean fuses, which are only made in slow blow versions, are indicated as having UL and other such approvals. Not sure if there are any other UL listed audiophile-oriented fuses.

Regards,
-- Al