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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
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Innocent question: How do you know a fuse blows unnecessarily? A fuse blows, any fuse, because the energy, the current, for whatever reason, exceeded the fuse’s capability. It did it’s job. I suspect it would take a lot of effort to get to the bottom of the so called fuse blowing. If memory serves all fuses, stock and aftermarket fuses, have been documented over the years on various fora as having what appears to be “premature failure.” So I tend to doubt it is an SR issue per se. Especially in light of the fact all these horror stories of fuses blowing are quite anecdotal. Going up in rating does carry some risk, you know, since damage to electrical components can occur. 
imgoodwithtools
236 posts
 
I don't blow fuses. I blow up preamplifiers. Lol

I should have known better, but I was pondering what some of the best solid state amplifiers from 20 years ago sound like compared to some of today's best. I started a new thread. Immediately half of the responses are If they measure competently, the amps should sound the same. Ugh. Can't these people hear? Do they listen??
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,178 posts
 
FWIW I took my red fuse out of my pre-amp mainly so as not to have to be concerned about uncertainties in the specs that matter and determine if a fuse does its job correctly  (ie blow when it should).  

If I heard any difference at all in the sound between the stock fuse in the Audio Research pre-amp  (very well built to start with, not "cheap") and the red fuse,  it was so subtle as to not practically matter compared to making sure my device is safeguarded and operating properly.  I swapped fuses many times up front in the interest of determining any differences in how they "sound".



geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Hey, that’s how it goes sometimes. 😛
ps
747 posts
 
@almarg
"Regarding PS’s questions, I suspect from the wording of his posts as well as the rating of the fuse that he is referring to a DC rail fuse, rather than a mains fuse. Which means that inrush current at turn-on probably won’t be much of a concern, if any. However it sounds like he is considering going from a 1 amp stock fuse to a 1.25 amp HiFi Tuning fuse, and I have no idea whether the rationale I cited above for going up a rating or two in the case of SR fuses would be applicable to HFT fuses. On the other hand, though, intuitively it doesn’t sound like much of a difference to me, so IMO it is a reasonable course of action."

Thank you sir for your comments. And thanks to everyone else as well. The seller of the SR fuses did suggest going up a value from 1A after I reported the failure of one.

My mono amps are sturdy vintage MFA which have been recently highly-upgraded by one of the original designers. Each amp employs a quartet of either 6550’s or KT-88’s.

They have a 10A fast-blow mains fuse and the 1A fast blow I mentioned. I follow a careful procedure when powering up my system. First, turn on MFA preamp with mute switches in mute position. I wait a couple of minutes. I then flip the power toggle switch on each amp from off to on. I wait a few more minutes, and then flip the other toggle switch from standby to operate, waiting until power tubes have warmed up for a few minutes, and then flip the preamp mute switches to
-O DB.

I tested all the tubes in the amp in which the 1A SR20 fuse blew to make sure none had shorted out. Testing included the small tubes as well. All tubes tested fine.

As mentioned I do prefer the sound with the audiophile fuses, and will give the matter more thought. If I can safely go up in value from the 1A fuses I will consider it. I have requested an opinion from the amp designer. I’m merely a music lover and not electrically, technically knowledgeable. :)
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