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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
alexberger
902 posts
 
I have more time to listened my system this weekend.
My amp with Blue fuse sounded good balances.
Compared to Red fuse, I recognized better high frequency details, better layering and separation, bigger and deeper bass.
The difference is very notable but not a huge as I was expected.
agisthos
504 posts
 
A nice jump over the RED fuse. But when testing direction I realized I may have been using my old RED fuse backwards for years.

When the BLUE was installed backwards it was similar in tonality to my RED (but better), but it was still better when reversed. Which means my listening test to install that RED fuse years ago was sloppy...
nb_dude
21 posts
 
Hello ,

I recently tried my first after market fuse (SR Blue fuse) in my ARC VSI 75 integrated amp and loved the improvement it made. I mean it was great. My amp is rated at for a 5A fuse and when i first tried a 5A blue, the fuse blew. So, SR sent me a 6.3 A and after about 250 hours of use, it blew as well this past weekend. I re-inserted the stock fuse and all seems to be ok with the amp. Now, has anyone experienced this ? Could it be the SR Blue fuses are just not right for my amp ? Any insight would be greatly appreciated. I should note that although the fuse seemed tight enough in the insertion cap, it was not as firm as the stock fuse was when I inserted it into the cap. Also, my tubes are relatively new and were purchased directly from ARC. thank you,

Paul
Post removed 
uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz
13,381 posts
 
I think most that have used aftermarket fuses ( at least SR fuses) have found that they need to use uprated fuses for whatever reason which I do still find rather odd, after all melting point for a 5a load should be the same design whatever the actual wire is made from, or something is not right.
This is one aspect of these fuses I do not like or agree with.
However on the flip side just as NB_Dude stated you can hear a difference so....
I am "currently (sic)" using a SR Blue rated at 6.3a in my Ayre AX7E, stock fuse was 5a. I purchased the 6.3a after reading similar stories here but would it have blown a 5a? Who knows, I do have about 500 hours on the 6.3a fuse and in my case it is an extremely tight fit in the fuseholder in the back of the amp, much more so than the standard glass 5a I removed.

As an aside before I put the SR Blue fuse in I actually spoke with Ayre customer service by telephone regarding a different matter and mentioned the fact I was thinking of going with an aftermarket fuse and what their thoughts were. The guy I was speaking with was completely for swapping out fuses as he believed they made a big SQ difference. Made me want to ask why they did not fit them from the factory but that my be a commercial sales decision not something customer service may want to deal with... lol.
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