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Best fuses for under $50?

I need six of them for a power amp therefore I need something more economical...  say $50 or less. Any suggestions?


robertsong
fourwnds's avatar
fourwnds
277 posts
 
@gbmcleod 

i bought one of the those furutech outlets from you. After over a year in my system I don't disagree with you. But, after having installed the gold hifi tuning fuses the something is off little niggle I couldn't put my finger on is now replaced by a wonderful balance. I lost an SR20 fuse right about the time PartsConnexion had 50% off the HiFi fuses. So with this bit of serendipity or just dumb luck whatever you want to call it the sound that was leaning lean for me is replaced with a more natural fullness along with no loss in detail. Oh and the bass is sounding more like a bass as well. So excited to have purchased something that really is not subtle or is of questionable value to performance ratio. Now I'm sure I'll be thinking about those NCF outlets but for now things are definitely Bueno. 
nonoise's avatar
nonoise
11,040 posts
 
Finally, a sane discussion on the differences with fuses. I've been so tempted, as of late, to get some SR Black fuses to replace my HiFi Tuning Sliver Stars but lately, from what I've read here and on other threads, the Blacks may be too much of a good thing and lean things out. 

It took me about two years to just try reversing the HiFi fuses in my Marantz SACD player (I was very hesitant) and the improvement shocked me. It just sounds so right as of now. 

Can anyone chime in who has been in my particular neck of the woods on any noticeable improvement by going up to a Red or Black fuse over a HiFi Tuning Silver Star? It would be most appreciated.

All the best,
Nonoise
auxinput
2,920 posts
 

@gbmcleod - in my initial posting, I also said to be careful with Furutech fuses. They are very revealing and VERY TRANSPARENT. This means that it will reveal problems or inadequacies in areas of your system that other fuses may compensate for or mask thereof. An example would be a preamp with a somewhat undersized power supply. The Furutech fuse being fast and transparent can cause the preamp to sound lean in the bass/midbass area because the power supply does not truly have enough capacitance to keep constant voltage on the large waveforms (and even the midrange waveforms that can become shouty/forward). A fuse that will slow down the charge/discharge and make this preamp sound warmer and fill in the bass/midrange area.

As I have said, the Furutech is very revealing of problems and it may not be the path that everyone want to start. You may end up working to fix every other problem/characteristic in your system. However, if you choose this path, the end result will be the very best (in my opinion).

@fourwnds - I have also had similar experiences with SR20 fuse. The SR20 is very fast and very clean. It is so clean that it almost becomes artificial to me (almost similar to a silver fuse) and I lose emotional contact with the music. I have also experienced where the bass is definitely lean with this fuse. Trying a Hi-Fi Tuning gold (discontinued)fuse was an improvement and the sound was a lot warmer. However, over time I determined that the Gold has somewhat of a metallic edge to the sound and it wasn’t the fastest fuse. The HI-Fi Tuning Supreme (silver) was nice, but it had that push in the upper mids (silver) that caused it to be less natural sounding to me and more artificial. This may be a good mating with tube equipment or very slow/laid back stuff.

I encourage all to re-read a history thread:

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/direction-of-aftermarket-fuses-only-for-believers

A lot has been discussed here on fuses, and it’s not a 4,000 post thread like the "RED thread".

auxinput
2,920 posts
 
@nonoise - I experimented with the RED fuse several years ago when initial comparing fuses.  The RED is probably the most forgiving fuse in the entire bunch that I have tried.  It will generally sound good in any piece of equipment that you put it in.  However, it is definitely not high-resolution.  My feelings was that it made my preamp sound very mid-fi in sound quality. The Isoclean fuse was actually a little faster, better resolution, and a bit warmer at the same time.  I think the RED would be like an Isoclean with a bit of resolution trimmed off the top.  I never tried the BLACK fuse because it just seemed too expensive for me and I did not wade through the 4000 post RED thread.  Same with Audio Magic fuses, as they are just too expensive for the number of fuses I have to incorporate into my entire system.
nonoise's avatar
nonoise
11,040 posts
 
@auxinput-thanks for the helpful feedback. Higher resolution and focus are paramount to me as I feel the rest of my system is up to par. I can always use a little more high end extension and air, decay, and ambience without the stridency or hash and have more resolution depth-wise, in the soundstage. Most is recording dependent but the additional benefits tell me that what can be extracted remains to be seen (heard). 😀

The HiFi Silver Stars (once reversed) showed me what's possible as the afore mentioned qualities appreciably improved in that direction. Like you, I don't want to spend so much for the Blacks and maybe the SR20 fuses would be what I'm looking for. I'll reread your linked thread as well.

All the best,
Nonoise
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