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
With the September, but 2 get 1 free promotion I have 6 on the way!  I have not ever been one to hear a difference with cables.  I have not ever upgraded power cables and have modest speaker cables and interconnects.  I have Audioquest diamondback interconnects with some older Audioquest speaker wire that was bulk for around $7/foot.

The sales guy at Cable Company was sooo passionate about these Blue fuses and assured me this will not be one of those A-B comparisons where you have to really struggle to convince yourself you hear a difference.  He said it WILL BE jaw-dropping.  I'm upgrading my phono preamp, main preamp and the two monoblock amps.  

They recommended a staged implementation and were out of stock on one for my main amps anyhow.  I will start upstream with the phono preamp and see how it goes.  

He recommended I not try to constantly go back and forth with the fuses as you may with a speaker or amp.  I think all comments I have read for SR fuses speak to a break-in period.  He said to leave them in for a couple weeks and then go back to my stock fuses and thats when I will be amazed.

Years ago when I was getting started in high-end gear, we still had a few brick & mortar shops in town.  The guy I visited most would let me take used gear home on a Saturday and trial over the weekend to bring back Monday.  One time I tried a pair of $1500 interconnects to connect my CD player.  I have a friend that is a car audio audiophile and we never could appreciate a change in the sound.  When I returned them Monday, Ken asked if I really wanted to understand.....that he would teach me.  It would take a couple hours in his sound room with different cables and gear, but then I would understand.  BUT!!! Once I knew, I would be hooked and could never turn back.  I chose to stay ignorant at that time LOL.  

I'm very excited about this upgrade and also feel much comfort that they offer a 30-day satisfaction guarantee! 
Hard to tell what is having the biggest effect as I have so many new tweaks in place right now but all I can say is everything is adding up to lower noise floor considerably.
With my ear up against tweeter on my analog phono stage I can barely hear a faint hiss. Before tweaks it was not terrible but definitely a lot more audible than it is now.

And it should only get better.
At the last minute I got in on the September special of a Blue outlet with a free Blue Fuse. The Blue outlet will free up one of my Black outlets for re-deployment. The Blue fuse will bump the Black in my REL S/5 to replace in turn, a Hi-Fi Tuning fuse in my REL R-328. Swapping the outlet will be a major PITA involving moving equipment and some furniture. The things we do for a more involving musical experience in our homes....
Here is my initial impression on the Blue fuse in my phono-preamplifier. I let it burn in for 19 hours before listening. After two familiar lps, I hear greater clarity and transparency with no brightness or forwardness. I believe I have it installed in the correct direction. I’m gonna wait until 200 hours are over before making my final impressions and before I install the Blue outlet that feeds my Hydra that drives my front-end electronics so as to get a better understanding of what that outlet can do.
slaw:
I like your slow and deliberate approach. I think your description of the changes a Blue fuse gives is quite correct. Enjoy a weekend of better sounding music.

David Pritchard