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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
uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz
13,381 posts
 
Discopants.

From my memory of the tdai, the internal fuse was not of a quick replacement variety and you would need to get creative to swap it out with a SR Blue.
parabellum
21 posts
 
davidpritchard:

Thanks, sure I will. I find my audiophile grade fuses to add too much clarity to a point where I find it ear fatiguing over an extended period. It brings a lot of other good things on the other hand as the system seems quicker with tighter bass. As some others have reported, I noticed too that I need to dial less the volume knob to get the same sound output from my speakers. My fuses are a brand called Audio Link from Planabox, and they are similar to HiFi Tuning per what I was told. So if people report giant leap in performance between the HiFi Tuning and the SR Blue, then I am even more curious to try it out.

discopants:

Very good and objective write up. I have noticed too often the tech crowd / engineers are the ones who are the most skeptical. They always have the same rhetoric "cables conducts the same electricity so they will all sound the same". When one curious audiophile comes in with claims that cables, fuses, tweaks, etc. improves the sound, they are among the firsts to naysay. I agree with them that the basic principle to carry electricity / signal apply to all electronics but there is just much more than just that and that I cannot understand myself. Only my ears tells me I am no fool. I recently had my CA-1000 modified to remove that '74 original lamp cord and had a proper socket installed so that I can use whatever cable I want, and as soon as I plugged a better power cable, things only got better. I can understand that if you feed an amplifier with better juice, it will have more air to breath. But how and why it affects the sound? I have no idea. Same thing for my Bryston BDA-3. I started with the supplied stock cord and hit play to have a listen. My reaction? Meh.. That's it?? After a few hours, I decided to plug a Shunyata Black Mamba HC/CX and my god what a difference. I cannot explain rationally why it works, but it does. And in the end this is what we all want I think. So for the blue fuse, I just hope they won't be too bright or add too much clarity or kill the bass.

davidpritchard's avatar
davidpritchard
866 posts
 
parabellum:
It is wonderful you are willing to experiment to obtain superior sound. I have tried some of the HiFi Tuning fuses in the past, and I do think the Synergistic Research Blue fuses are much better. I  think you will hear more music with less fatigue. They will sound good after 24 hours, very good at three days and will be fully settled in on day 10. That then gives you 20 days of listening to decide if they stay in your system.
Have fun.
David Pritchard
nonoise's avatar
nonoise
10,826 posts
 
@parbellum, 
The first fuse I ever tried was the HiFi Tuning Silver Stars. Experimenting with a different fuse made it plain to me that the Silver Stars had lots of leading edge, detail, and attack, but at the expense of body, tone and fullness.

If your Audio Link fuses are like that, then that would explain what you're hearing. Every fuse sounds different, even those of different tiers from the same make. 

It's funny, and reassuring, that you found yourself having to turn the volume down a bit as I had to as well. When I reported that minor finding, boy did I get a lot of blowback, but now it's pretty much a common thing.

I haven't tried the SR fuses yet either, but if you do what I did and try other brands, the total will add up to the cost of a Blue Fuse, or thereabouts. 

All I can say is to experiment with fuses like you would with cables until you arrive at what sounds best to your ears in your system.
Happy hunting. 🔍

All the best,
Nonoise

geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Does it really need to be said? All fuses are directional. If any fuse is fatiguing or sounds sour or over-etched as it were then the odds are good it’s in the wrong direction. 🔙 Audio Link Fuses would be no exception.
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