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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
nonoise's avatar
nonoise
11,089 posts
 
@auxinput-Thanks again for the feedback. I just came back from rereading your link and the one I linked to back to an audiophile in Singapore who tested all the fuses around before the SR Blacks came out and what he had to say as well. I then checked out his system page and he has more invested in his gear than some people have in their homes. And surprise, surprise, what he has in his system are the SR20 fuses for his Calyx Femto DAC and Telos QBT-18 fuses for his Conrad Johnson GAT and ART mono blocks. 

Costs are not a concern of his and he chose the SR20s. That, and what you just told me will have me checking them out as well as the Furutech brand, which I think are made by the same folk who make PADIS fuses, which I can get from Germany via eBay.  

By the way, I don't mind the wait that it takes for rhodium to burn in as I've replaced the spades for bananas on my Zu Event SCs and they are rhodium over copper and the jump in sound quality is most appreciated.

Time to do some sleuthing. 

All the best,
Nonoise
nonoise's avatar
nonoise
11,089 posts
 
After checking out the prices on the SR20 fuses I went and did more research only to come back and find that the inventory just about vanished. Seems like I'll be leaning towards the PADIS or Furutech. 
Man, they went fast. I guess a lot of people read these threads. 😫

All the best,
Nonoise
auxinput
2,920 posts
 

PADIS. Wow, that’s so interesting that I had to go pull one of my own Furutech fuses. Surely enough, it does have the Padis "PFA" logo printed on the fuse in addition to the "Furutech" label. Interesting. Research indicates that Padis is a European distributor for Furutech. The Padis marketed fuses are cheaper. However, it’s unknown whether they are the same as the "Furutech" branded fuses.

https://www.amazon.de/Padis-FUSE-Feinsicherung-Stromst%C3%A4rke-Ansprechverhalten/dp/B005LF1ZL2

A translation of the above PADIS listed on Amazon indicates a pure silver conductor (which is the same as the Furutech T13A fuse targeted for European usage). It is not the same as the standard Furutech TF series fuses.

A couple of things that I could not find on a generic PADIS fuse:

- special low induction copper alloy conductor (probably Phosphorous Bronze or Beryllium Copper).

- ceramic body with special damping filler

It’s unkown to me if the generic PADIS fuses have these two characteristics or if they are just non-filled fuses with silver conductors (which will cause it to sound much different than the Furutech branded fuses).  The generic PADIS fuses are definitely cheaper than the "Furutech" branded fuses.

nonoise's avatar
nonoise
11,089 posts
 
I'm hoping that what PADIS makes for themselves is better than what they make for others. I'm still kicking myself for taking my time about the SR20 fuses. Partsconnexion had all the ones I needed but the prices didn't reflect the discount. Going to eBay, they had the prices but not all the ones I needed. By the time I got back to Partsconnexion, all the ones I needed were gone save for one in 1.6A.

Getting sidetracked, I found out that PADIS can be had from Germany, England and Canada, with Canada being the cheapest, but PADIS doesn't make a small fuse in 1.6A. Maybe a SR20 in 1.6A and everything else (1A and 8A) with PADIS. My only other hope is that VH Audio will come down on their prices soon. They still have the older pricing.

What makes it even worse is I found a blog over at PS Audio where all the commenters preferred the SR20 over the HiFi Tuning fuses. Oh well, early bird and all.

By the way, here's the list of fuses where that guy from Singapore tested them out on his equipment. It's not the last word on fuses but his honest take on them.

All the best,
Nonoise
auxinput
2,920 posts
 

If you can’t get a 1.6A, just bump up to a 2A. I use 2A in Class A based preamps because it give it a lot more authority when the music "hits". That’s the most I would bump up, though.

It’s interesting that he describes SR20 as smooth and warm. I definitely wouldn’t call it "warm", but I can agree that it’s smooth. In fact it’s so smooth and clean that I don’t feel you’re getting enough texture/grittiness/bite. lol. This may be exactly what you’re looking for, though.

I don't know that VH Audio will come down on their price (they still have the old Hi-Fi Tuning Gold at full retail!).  I think that Parts Connexion decided to discontinue sale of the SR20 and are just blowing them out of inventory.

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