New to the Blue Fuse and this thread. Other than reading through the previous 888 posts (thankfully less due to many redacted ones), is there another way to get a summarized overview of highlights and pertinent information? Thank you.
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
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
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- 2978 posts total
simguy ... Thank you for the kind words. Glad you're enjoying the Blue fuses. Who knew! Anytime I can get a major upgrade in SQ without upgrading the electronics, I'm in for it. Also, the TC is a wise move. Even better than the Blue fuses IMO. I still cannot believe the improvements afforded by these two items. Oh, and Herbie's tube dampeners shouldn't be overlooked either. There seems to be no limit to what the good tweaks can do for a highly resolving system. SR's HFT's are no slouches either. Man, that was a major improvement in terms of a room treatment. Still don't know how they work, only that they do. :-) Frank |
david_ten ... Your best bet would be to order the Blue fuses and take advantage of SR's 30 day return policy. If you don't like the results you'd only be out the return postage. BUT ... I'll bet you won't be returning them. :-) https://highend-electronics.com/products/synergistic-research-blue-quantum-fuses Frank |
Just changed from SR Blacks to Blues at the AC inputs in my ARC 210 (250) mono blocks, and the improvements in inner detail, transparency/decay, overall clarity and presence are profoundly better than the very good Blacks. This is on first listen---the same as I have heard with the other Blue additions in speakers and CDP, and I must compare these to a component upgrade. I can only suspect that components are woefully underserved regarding quiet current through stock fuses and that noisy current is an artifact of those fuses that degrades the modulated signal. I am, again, very happy with the SR Blues, even right away. |
I want to chime in that SR HFTs and Atmospheres require fine tuning to work in some rooms. My room thoroughly dislikes the Atmosphere anywhere between my speakers/in front of the listening area. It congeals the center stage into a slim line, removes the air and depth of a recording. I moved it to the back of the room and it works fine there while restoring the great sound I had previously but a little closed in still.. Next, I then wanted more height/openess in the sound so I experimented placing the HFT on the central front wall up higher, an inch at a time. I ended up 8 inches higher, at the top of my speaker basically. That also thinned out the bass/lower mids. I then lowered the four speaker side panel HFTs exactly one ince which is recommended to increase warmth and bass. Voila! That was one I was looking for, a perfect balance. I tested out everything from electronic rock (Yello) to classical chamber music, solo instruments, mono recordings, to 50’s jazz to opera to bid band with vocalists. Everything sounded tonally rich, open, widespread as the recording would permit. I like to just set things up and not futz with them (most of my equipment is 12 years old or older). In this case, SR requires you to adjust room treatments. Total Contact together with SR Black Box is a great match. My wife heard the combo and said it brings the music to life, similar to the $1.5 million Von Schweikert/VAC/Kronos system featured at every show that she would like to have (I can’t afford it and it’s too big even for my garage size room). P.S. I don’t take sides in the which is better, CDs or LPs debate. They both can sound great or mediocre, depending on the recording and mastering. I do have audiophile quality equipment for both, but it is certainly easier to listen to and store a CD, with boxed sets selling dirt cheap on Amazon. I have 78s and LPs which have zero chance of ever being reissued in any format so I’m not giving up those ever. |
- 2978 posts total