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Something For The Fuse Guys ...

There are fuses, and then, there are fuses. 

I'm evaluating some prototype fuses that I received in the mail three days ago. 

Over the past few years, I've used fuses from five different manufacturers. The last three were the Red, Black and Blue fuses from Synergistic Research. Each one incrementally improved the sound of my system. My favorite so far was the SR Blue. 

The prototype fuses being evaluated presently raises the SQ beyond all of the others mentioned above. The major improvement to my ears is better tonal accuracy. Instruments and voices are more life-like. The noise is reduced allowing for a more solid 3-D presentation with the musicians more solidly presented on the sound stage. Overall, more information is fleshed out of CDs and LPs. 

The manufacturer, the price and the name of the prototype fuses will come later. I don't have the information thus far. My understanding is, if all works out, the release date is to be mid-October. 

Stay tuned ... 

Frank
oregonpapa
oregonpapa's avatar
oregonpapa OP
4,867 posts
 
With these prototype fuses, I'm able to turn the volume knob down to a considerably lower setting and still get the same volume out of the system as before. Could some fuses be more efficient than others? Any science-minded folks want to chime in on that? 

And by the way, the system is sounding fantastic.

Frank
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Yeah, it’s not obvious how much resistance a one-inch long wire could possibly have compared to all the wire in the power cord plus the internal wiring of the component. 😛 Recall the data sheets from HiFi Tuning showed definite differences among various fuses for measured resistance. And the data sheets showed reduction in resistance for the same fuse following cryogenic treatment. 🥶 All fuses, including bog standard commercial fuses showed improved resistance values after cryogenic treatment. AND all fuses showed differences in resistance according to direction in the circuit 🔛

Of course, the elephant in the room is how external forces like vibration and RF affect the signal through the fuse which is itself an electromagnetic wave.

- Your humble narrator and theoretical physicist
oregonpapa's avatar
oregonpapa OP
4,867 posts
 
AhHa ... I thought so. Thank you, Mr. Humble, for that. 

So, there's the wire extrusion factor (which no one has commented on yet), and now we have cryogenic treatment.  How many more factors could affect the "sound" of different fuses? How about the use of different materials like graphene, beeswax ... etc? 

Frank
mitch2
4,293 posts
 
the humble... @geoffkait
😛 Recall the data sheets from HiFi Tuning showed definite differences among various fuses for measured resistance. And the data sheets showed reduction in resistance for the same fuse following cryogenic treatment. 🥶 All fuses, including bog standard commercial fuses showed improved resistance values after cryogenic treatment. AND all fuses showed differences in resistance according to direction in the circuit 🔛
All true however, in the interest of full disclosure, the magnitude of the total resistance is minuscule relative to the resistance of the associated wire in power cords, power supplies, etc. etc.....sort of like saying that adding a rounded grain of sand to the other sand below your beach blanket will noticeably improve your day at the beach. BTW, we are offering half-off pricing on rounded grains of sand this week, only $75.

geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
The more important aspect of the very small differences in resistance is that the direction exhibiting the lower resistance is always (rpt always) the direction that sounds best. I would be the last person to claim that relatively large differences in sound exhibited by fuses are due entirely to the very small differences in resistance. In fact, this very point is stated in the HiFi Tuning data sheets. Hel-loo! To make matters even more irritating to the non-believers, as I’ve pointed on at least one occasion — the percentage of measured differences in resistance stated by HiFi Tuning are incorrect. As I recall 5% is the stated difference. In fact, percentages are much lower. Do the math. However the lower resistance is in the direction of best sound. 
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