Here is what I hope to be my last foray into fuses. Never
wanting to pay too much but get my money’s worth has always been my goal. So
far I’ve tried HiFi Tuning Silver Star fuses and found them to have an
exaggerated leading edge. It was great for impact and getting your attention
but the body and lower end paid a price for it.
Next up were the PADIS fuses. Like @auxinput pointed out,
the break in would be grueling due to the rhodium in the end caps. Up and down
went my appreciation for them as they could sound so good and then take a turn
towards darkness. After a long break in period , they settled on the dark side
of things, musically, and I found myself not listening to my stereo any more.
After seeing a mention of Brimar fuses over at Mono &
Stereo, I went to the link and read up on them. Gold
plated silver fuses cryo’d for 72 hrs and Quantum treated for another 48 hrs by
Telos. At $35 apiece I took the plunge. Free shipping for orders over $100 helped.
Let me say upfront that these are incredibly neutral
sounding fuses. Highs go on forever but never make me cringe. Bass is textured
and articulate no matter how low things go. Not a one note bass note in earshot
as all the low notes are textured and granular. Everything in the soundstage is
really open and clear, allowing
the furthest reaches of the back of the stage to have just as much clarity and
detail as the front most part of the stage. Just the volume is lower by
comparison (is that how recording engineers do it?). Artist placement is a cinch to locate and they never waver
unless they themselves move. Quite easy to tell.
Each fuse packet came with a note advising 125hrs for break
in. Since I leave my gear on 24/7, it took six days to achieve. The only
“improvement” so far is everything is a bit richer overall as the clarity and
detail were there right from the start. Maybe a tightening of images but that
could be due to the enriching as body and tone are up a notch, giving them more apparent presence.
The last thing that impressed me was the added effect of the
Brimar fuse in my integrated. With the first two brands, there was a small but appreciated gain in the “oomph” factor compared to the greater improvement in
my SACD player. With the Brimar fuse, the strength of the music just scaled. It
was like going 70mph in a small 4 cylinder car to one with a V8. Gloved iron
fist and all. Dynamics are great and even the lightest touch of an instrument
is readily and easily heard. Tablas, finger rolls on drums and bongos are alive
in the room. The best thing is that when a solo performer is recorded the right
way, like Elanor Frey and her cello on Dialoghi, she’s right in front of my
ottoman and not in the plane of my speakers. I've yet to hear anything that's not been improved, sound stage wise.
I can’t see how Telos charges $85 for their fuses and Brimar
gets the same treatment for $35 but it’s really not a complaint. You can buy them from Brimar direct. They made my monitors sound so much better that I seriously thought
about cancelling my order for new speakers but I was a good boy this year and
Santa wrote back that he would......
All the best,
Nonoise
