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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
parabellum
21 posts
 
Quick question here. I know that the blue are directional, but, are they the same direction in regard to the label on the fuse? I mean, do SR slaps the sticker on the fuse in any direction regardless of the audible direction?

Sounds silly but I will have to install 7 more on my amplifier. It will be one hell of a puzzle to install them all correctly if SR didn't pay attention how they label their fuses and only telling people to "reverse" them if they don't sound quite right.
thecarpathian
4,341 posts
 
Hi, parabellum. I don’t believe the labeling is consistent with directionality. If installing 7 more, I would think one at a time then have a listen is about the only way to do it without getting into astronomically high numeric combinations.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
+1 AFAIK the one aftermarket fuse company that keeps track of the wire direction during the whole manufacturing process and puts directional arrows 🔜 on the finished fuse to show how the fuse should be inserted in the circuit is Isoclean. Now, that’s not the same as saying only one fuse company believes in fuse directionality. At this point in time they probably all agree that direction makes a difference in the sound, though perhaps grudgingly. One reason arrows sometimes aren’t helpful is that in some cases it’s not obvious which direction of the fuse holder is the correct direction. For example, when the fuse is located where the power cord enters the component.

Since keeping track of wire direction requires extra attention most audiophile fuse companies suggest trying the fuse both ways. So, even the diode symbol 🔚 on HiFi Tuning fuses that looks a lot like an arrow isn’t supposed to indicate correct fuse direct. It’s only there so you can keep track of which way thecfuse was facing when you reverse direction.
parabellum
21 posts
 
@thecarpathian & @geoffkait 

Great advice and thanks. I will do as you suggested. Makes more sense to do it this way. Once done and settled, I will take pictures of the installed fuses and label them if I ever have to remove/change them.
ted_denney's avatar
ted_denney
286 posts
 
At Synergistic Research we absolutely keep track of signal directionality in our fuses, it goes in the direction of the letter flow on the fuse. Left to right. But we can’t however predict how this directionality will interact with any given circuit, we simply do not have the resources to evaluate directionality for all components on the market today. No company does. But as for directionality in the fuse, it funs in the direction of the lettering on the fuse  and is 100% consistent from Fuse to Fuse. 

Yours in music, Ted Denney
Lead Designer Synergistic Research Inc.
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