Apparently, I phrased that in a way it could be misunderstood, so let me attempt a "do-over."
My second line was "small comfort, but it IS A GUARANTEE." I meant - that for those who are upset about the cost - the cost itself is bound to chafe, but if they use it and aren’t happy, there is still the guarantee that they can return it without being hassled. Cost is not always the final word in worldly matters. For some, even if they love it, they’re going to remember what they paid for the "love."
In my case, I’ve had every generation of the fuses. Including the Blue, thank you very much. From my point of view, ONE Blue fuse will advance a system. I can say that, in hindsight, some of the older fuses (and I read your posts and quite a few others in the past hour, about the Reds sounding "thin"). You demurred. I agreed with you then, but recently found an Audio Horizon fuse I had bought years ago, and whatever was in the system (or maybe it was my setup at the time), it didn’t reveal ’new layers of reality’. So, I put a Red, and eventually, a Black. After a month or two of using the Black and being vaguely discontented, I re-installed a Red fuse, and, as I said in one of my older threads, years ago, in the PS Audio Power Plant P-300, a Red was UNQUESTIONABLY better than a Black, something I ALSO pointed out in my thread (I’m a VERY wordy guy) that another user who had the same P-300, had concluded as well. And he hadn't read my post, and I hadn't read his. But we both had the same unit, so...
But NOW, after using the Red for a couple of years I can say that the Audio Horizon IS fuller-sounding than the Red. This is a very recent development: I only found the Audio Horizon in the past month. So, it is better than the Red. In.The.P-300. I’ve also owned Adept Audience’s Teflon unit, and Bybee’s way back in the day (1999) . But I never changed fuses back then, because they weren’t a subject anyone had yet discovered.
Back to my post. I don't know why it would sound odd to you, given I wrote that it was a guarantee, but, oh well.... I hope this makes it less ambiguous to you. Others, I think, will get the point, which is, you’ll have to shell the money out FIRST, and then if/when you hear it, you’ll either be happy you bought it, or you’ll love the sound, but decide you just. can’t - in the end - stomach the cost. And then, you can STILL return it, knowing it sounds better (it does and it’s not thin - like the RED WAS in the lower midrange - which was NOT Audio Research’s strength in past units). And I’ve owned them, so this is from experience. But at least, people will have had the opportunity to try it without fearing - like so many other products - that they're stuck with something they don't absolutely love. And THAT is the Audio world's version of Dante's Inferno. Hell. Forever damned with something they don't want. (Until re-sale time, but you're never getting your full investment back. Not the case with SR's devices.)
The Blue seems quite vibrant, no matter whether it’s opera (The Ring Cycle sounds more powerful, as does ’Macbeth’ with Shirley Verrett on an all-digital recording by Deutshe Grammaphon from way back in the early days of digital). Or pop. Linda Ronstadt's 'What's New' album sounded New! Her voice, all breathy (not an elevated lower treble, either!) and verging on continuousness, a quality even really good - and expensive - electronics, rarely convey. (The Jadis units do this magically.). The Fifth Dimension’s Greatest Hits is playing and it has more verve and gusto, which, in my experience, means more "power" in the 100-400 region. I’ve only got one in use, placed in my "control" integrated amp, the NAD C325BEE. It’s always the first one I go to, because there’s only one set of interconnects being used, and the NAD shows improvements quite fast. I have to say, this is pretty fast, given it only has 15 hours or so on it. But I remember SR’s Black outlet. It sounded fantastic the first evening I played it. Two days later, it sucked. I kept thinking "500 hours," but it might as well have been 500 years. It never came back to that first evening’s performance. It was dull, the exact opposite of the 2nd generation Red outlet (the color, not the model. The first generation had a stainless steel strap and Denney said he changed it after reading reviews on here. So, the man is likely reading your post, my post, and everyone else’s. We’re a very vocal bunch.
If the Blue continues this streak, then I will agree that it’s his best, although I will then have to spring for a 5 amp fuse for the PS Audio to see if it improves there as well. (I just got 6.3s for the NAD, which uses 5 fuses. Expensive. Quite. For a $500 integrated). And I’m not putting in the others until I had a grip on what one is doing.
For ME - SO FAR - it’s pretty damn good. But I’ve been disappointed by the magic of the love affair in the beginning, only to be let down as things progress. So, at 15 hours, it’s a Grand Slam. 100 hours? 300 hours? We’ll see.
Was that good for you, Geoffkait? I hope so.
