Let's also not forget that a fuse is not "just a wire" anymore than a speaker cable (unless it's supported in an oversized sleeve with no terminations) or interconnect is "just a wire". If we can get over that grossly oversimplified premise, then we can step back and take a look at what it really is: a component.
We need to understand that it's a kind of filter, and how it interacts with what's upstream and downstream.
A common, run of the mill fuse has endcaps, solder and wire made of some of the cheapest metals around and not of the quality one would find in a good cables. No one in their right mind would make any cables with those cheap and impure metals. Nor would they make traces on a PCB board with the same materials.
Everyone agrees that no fuse sounds the best, so just what is it that degrades the sound? Bueller? Bueller?
The question that should be addressed is just how much of a change a fuse introduces, not that it's so small as to be insignificant. That undercuts the very argument of those who rely solely on measurements alone.
Evidence abounds with how a small change in something can result in a larger change when everything is summed. That's obviously the case here. Observed empirically, there is a change and the only recourse for naysayers is to demand double blind parlor tricks?
On another thread, a link showed how Paul McGowen was subjected to a completely blind test in where a friend changed something in his amp without his knowledge of what it was and it was for the better. I believe his friend did it a couple of times and Paul consistently heard the improvement. He couldn't explain it, but heard it, and accepted it. So say I.
And as for the costs, my Brimar fuses are outstanding, compared to HiFi Tuning and PADIS fuses and are only $35 apiece. That's chump change and well worth the investment.
All the best,
Nonoise
