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The new Synergistic Research BLUE fuses ....

New SR BLUE fuse thread ...

I’ve replaced all 5 of the SR BLACK fuses in my system with the new SR BLUE fuses. Cold, out of the box, the BLUE fuses stomped the fully broken-in SR BLACKS in a big way. As good as the SR BLACK fuses were/are, especially in comparison with the SR RED fuses, SR has found another break-through in fuses.

1. Musicality ... The system is totally seamless at this point. Its as if there is no system in the room, only a wall to wall, front to back and floor to ceiling music presentation with true to life tonality from the various instruments.

2. Extension ... I’ve seemed to gain about an octave in low bass response. This has the effect of putting more meat on the bones of the instruments. Highs are very extended, breathing new life into my magic percussion recordings. Vibes, chimes, bells, and triangles positioned in the rear of the orchestra all have improved. I’ve experienced no roll-off of the highs what so ever with the new BLUE fuses. Just a more relaxed natural presentation.

3. Dynamics ... This is a huge improvement over the BLACK fuses. Piano and vibes fans ... this is fantastic.

I have a Japanese audiophile CD of Flamenco music ... the foot stomps on the stage, the hand clapping and the castanets are present like never before. Want to hear natural sounding castanets? Get the BLUE fuses.

4. Mid range ... Ha! Put on your favorite Ben Webster album ... and a pair of adult diapers. Play Chris Connor singing "All About Ronnie," its to die for.

Quick .... someone here HAS to buy this double album. Its a bargain at this price. Audiophile sound, excellent performance by the one and only Chris Connor. Yes, its mono ... but so what? Its so good you won’t miss the stereo effects. If you’re the lucky person who scores this album, please post your results here.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ULTRASONIC-CLEAN-The-Finest-Of-CHRIS-CONNOR-Bethlehem-Jazz-1975-NM-UNPLAYED-...

Overall impressions:

Where the RED fuses took about 20 hours to sound their best, and the BLACK fuses took upwards of 200 hours of total break-in, the BLUE fuses sounded really good right out of the box ... and that’s without doing anything about proper directional positioning. Not that the BLUE fuses don’t need breaking in, they do. The improvement continues through week three. Its a gradual break-in thing where each listening session is better than the last.

Everything I described above continues to break new ground in my system as the fuses continue breaking in. Quite honestly, I find it difficult to tear myself away from the system in order to get things done. Its truly been transformed into a magical music machine. With the expenditure of $150.00 and a 30 day return policy there’s really nothing to lose. In my system, its like upgrading to a better pre amp, amp, CD player or phono stage. Highly recommended.

Kudos to Ted Denney and the entire staff at SR. Amazing stuff, guys. :-)

Frank

PS: If you try the SR BLUE fuses, please post your results here. Seems the naysayers, the Debbie Downers and Negative Nellie’s have hijacked the original RED fuse thread. A pox on their houses and their Pioneer receivers.

Frank



128x128oregonpapa
dlcockrum's avatar
dlcockrum
2,190 posts
 
Thanks Frank. I will get that set on order. :) If you are doing hi-rez downloads, Tony Overwater’s acoustic bass on this album is pretty awesome:

https://soundliaison.com/studio-showcase-series/139-impromtu-all

33% off right now if you use coupon code: Indian Summer on the checkout page.

I did not intend to cast dispersions on the Black Fuse as I always found it to be excellent (and still do). The improvement in bass quality is remarkable with the Blue fuse as you say and invites such criticisms in comparison.

I, like you, have spent countless hours optimizing speaker/listener placement, room acoustics, cabling, vibration elimination, component matching, RF/EMI reduction, and started with a very good room so it is easy to hear exactly the sound characteristics of each fuse. I do believe that combining SR fuses with SR's power cords results in a synergy that may not be as pronounced with other power cords. Your thoughts?

I replaced the Black fuse in my DAC’s external power supply with a second Blue fuse a couple of hours ago and there is further improvement in transparency, razor sharp dynamic response, and a distinct lowering of the noise floor. Brass has that illusive live energy rarely experienced with an audio system. Awesome.

Dave

a25105
133 posts
 
Frank,

So when are we going to see the "secret tweak"?

Allan
imgoodwithtools
236 posts
 
I've found tweaks to be, well, tweaky. Inconsistent. I probably would be looking for another preamp right now had the Synergistic fuse and the Sain power cord not been so effective. But I did try aftermarket fuses in Ayre amps, when I had them, with little change in sound. I tried a Sain power cord on the D'Agostino. Nope. A little too lean. I went back to the stock cord. So, my experience with tweaks is that what might work well in one component or system might not be beneficial in another. Has anyone found a tweak that is universally beneficial, fuse or otherwise?
dlcockrum's avatar
dlcockrum
2,190 posts
 
Agree with you tools re: the amp being the least benefited by boutique fuses. My theory is that the current is less constrained in an amp that uses, say, an 8 amp fuse than source and preamp which typically draw 1 to 3 amps max so the latter benefits more from whatever it is that these fuses do to the AC signal. Kinda like the magnitude of sound character differences often found between top phono sections vs top preamps due to the minute signal involved in the former.Only a theory and no I don’t have a clue how to measure it.

I also find it easy to believe that some find other brands of fuses to better suit their component, system, preferences. My experience is that while the SR products in general can approach sonic magic, they share a tonal lean-ness in the mids that can exacerbate the same tendency in a system. If the system has an over-wrought midrange warmth or tubbiness in the mid-to-lower midrange, the SR stuff is helpful to balance it out. I don’t see the SR Black or Blue fuses doing a lean/bright system any favors musically compared to say HiFi Tuning, Audio Horizons, Beeswax or other proven audio-grade fuses. I truly wish that there was more discussion on the contrast of sound character between brands instead of the intentionally unwinnable and emotional mass media-style arguments regarding their efficacy.

The next big craze should be mixing and matching...

Dave
oregonpapa's avatar
oregonpapa OP
4,867 posts
 
a2501 ....

The secret tweak is ready to go. An instructional DVD will be coming with it. The DVD is under development. Believe me, the wait will be worth it.

Dave ...

The SR level III power cords were a revelation for me. They replaced some very fine
PC’ s custom built by Dave Magnan. If you’re familiar with Dave’s work, you know they were good.

On the synergy thing ... I have a combination of SR’s PC’s and Von Gaylord’s "Return of the Legend" IC’s and Speaker cables.


http://vongaylordaudio.com/beta/cabling/


This combination, plus the new Blue fuses allow me to hear exactly what you’re describing on brass instruments. The brass on the big orchestral stuff sounds "burnished." And that’s what I hear while attending live concerts. But its not just the brass that sounds right. All instruments have a natural and relaxed character about them. Just as I hear live. I can crank the volume up and there’s no "cringe" factor. Low, low distortion I would guess.

Frank
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