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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
folkfreak's avatar
folkfreak
1,349 posts
 
@georgehifi 

given my BSc & MEng Electronic Engineering
From Southampton University perhaps you could be so kind as to explain Why is this impossible? Changing the fuse is like any other change in the power setup like a cord or conditioner
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
Testing and getting a different result because of the fuse, nothing else!

Changing the fuse is like any other change in the power setup like a cord or conditioner
And this is not correct, as a mains cord because of it ’s construction has very different set of parameters to it’s length, it has resistance, capacitance and inductance.
A mains fuse as none of these, save for "maybe" a very minute (milli-ohm) amount of resistance, which means nothing. And could be regarded as differing ambient temperature when measured as Ralph or Al pointed out very early in this thread, when the milli-ohm resistance measurements were quoted as being "the reason for the massive sound quality improvements".

Cheers George
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
georgehifi wrote,

“Changing the fuse is like any other change in the power setup like a cord or conditioner
And this is not correct, as a mains cord because of it ’s construction has very different set of parameters to it’s length, it has resistance, capacitance and inductance.
A mains fuse as none of these, save for "maybe" a very minute (milli-ohm) amount of resistance, which means nothing. And could be regarded as differing ambient temperature when measured as Ralph or Al pointed out very early in this thread, when the milli-ohm resistance measurements were quoted as being "the reason for the massive sound quality improvements".”

>>>>Sorry, George, you and Al and Ralph are incorrect. Not even close! Nobody, especially HiFi Tuning, ever claimed the resistance measurements provided in the Data Sheets are responsible for the relatively large changes in sound observed by listeners. In fact, they say the OPPOSITE. Hel-loo! If any of you had ever bothered to read the HiFi Tuning data sheets, you would have seen that HiFi Tuning states UP FRONT that the very small measured differences in resistance do not (rpt not) account for changes in sound quality from fuse to fuse and from direction to direction they heard. So, obviously there must be other (unknown) factors are involved here besides resistance. And as I’ve oft stated, the HiFi Tuning Data Sheets resistance measurements PROVE that fuses are NOT symmetrical as naysayers would have us believe. And more to the point - the small resistance differences do not prove that large differences cannot be heard.

To whit, from the HiFi Tuning Data Sheets,

”The measurements done so far showed some measurable differences between fuse,
but didn ́t explain completely the sonic differences between fuses. One way to look at these phenomenon’s is, that music, containing many pulses can be limited by the electronics being in the reproduction chain. Fuses with better contact material (e.g. no corrosion) and overall better make will limit these pulses less. Another way to look at the problem is: like any wire or resistor fuses produce some thermal broadband noise. That noise depends mostly of the material used. The thermal increase of noise was measured at a current of 0,1 Amp. DC and the increase is given in dB.”

almarg's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
almarg
9,670 posts
 
To set the record straight, I have not said that the resistance differences between fuses that are reported in HFT’s paper are necessarily insignificant. In fact I recently said in my lengthy post in this thread dated 4-4-2018 that:
I suspect that small differences in voltage drops resulting from small differences in resistance are probably marginally significant in at least **some** applications. For example, perhaps those differences result in audibly significant changes in the filament voltages supplied to some tubes, in designs in which those voltages are not internally regulated.
I have also expressed the belief in that post and others that **fluctuations** in resistance, in applications where the amount of current being conducted by the fuse fluctuates significantly, might have audible consequences.

Regarding **directionality,** however, in various prior fuse-related threads, such as in the SR Red fuse thread on 10-7-2016, I have stated the firm belief that:
Regarding the measurements described in the HFT paper ... which purport to support the notion of fuse directionality:

IMO those numbers are so miniscule as to be:

(a)Laughable.

(b)Very possibly attributable to changes in the voltage of the battery in the measurement meter, from measurement to measurement (each measurement imposing a slight drain on the battery), and from minute to minute. Or if the meter was AC powered, to the very slight differences in AC line voltage that may occur from minute to minute, as various loads are turned on and off at nearby locations.

(c)Very possibly attributable to differences in contact pressure and contact area between the meter’s probe tips and the contacts on the fuse. The paper presents separate measurements of fuse resistance as measured in a fuseholder (for just one direction), indicating that the direction-related measurements were performed by touching the meter leads directly to the contacts on the fuse.

(d)Perhaps even contributed to by differences in the resistance of the measurer’s body, that would have been paralleled with the resistance of the fuse if he or she had fingers on the probe tips and/or the fuse contacts while the measurements were being taken.

(e)If Geoff’s comments about all wires being significantly directional are to be believed, then these differences would be totally swamped by both the resistances and the alleged direction-related resistance differences of the vastly longer associated wiring. In the case of mains fuses, that would include the power transformer and the power wiring in the component, as well as the power cord and the AC wiring in and outside of the house.
I have also expressed support for the explanation Ralph has provided for fuse directionality, which while recognizing the legitimacy of the experiences that have been reported does not mean that fuses have any intrinsic directional properties.

Finally, regarding HFT’s measurements of thermal noise which Geoff referred to above, I said as follows in the "Fuses That Matter" thread on 5-14-2012:
The numbers presented for thermal noise measurements are so infinitesimal as to be laughable, being a fraction of a millionth of a volt in nearly all cases, including the standard glass fuse (on a 120 volt waveform no less, or perhaps it is even 240 volts!). A modest length of wire will pick up more noise than that from AM and FM radio signals that are passing through the air. And of course that noise level will be swamped by the noise produced by the parts and circuitry in the components, and the noise that will be present on the incoming AC (even if a power conditioner or regenerator is used). And that is all not to mention that the millionth of a volt of noise will be greatly reduced by filtering and noise rejection that will occur in the power supply and other circuitry of the component.

As I said earlier, I don’t exclude the possibility that a fuse change can make a difference, but once again the explanations that are offered in support of the existence of those differences do not withstand quantitative scrutiny.

Regards,
-- Al

mapman's avatar
mapman
22,080 posts
 
Not that it will change anyone’s mind but for the record I am with Al’s analysis of fuses 100%. Given that and the fact that I tried a highly touted Synergistic fuse and found no clear significant difference, I will stick with more popular, high quality less expensive and better spec’ed fuses when needed. If someone thinks a $100+ fuse that some say will  make a big difference, but that has little published technical basis to support that, is a good investment in their system, then more power to ya. The red fuse OP sent me to try is still around as a spare if needed.
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