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What's going on with Synergistic Research fuses?

I live in California and a couple of weeks ago we had strange lightning storms that started the many fires burning in the State.  It also fried the fuse in my Pass XA30.5.  I got the amp second hand and it came with a SR Blue fuse.  I called Pass and they recommended a very cheap fuse which I ordered and installed.  Because I was curious, I took the SR sticker off the old burnt out fuse and found that it was a very cheap SIBA brand fuse underneath.  It is clear that SR is either not making the ceramic casing for this fuse or using the SIBA fuse and then doing stuff to it.  At the very worst, it's just slapping a sticker on it and charging a ton more

The thing is, I'm pretty sure I could hear a difference for the worse when I installed the cheap glass fuse post lightning storm.  Could it be that SR is modifying an existing fuse to make it sound better?  Maybe some more technically minded folks here on the forum could help me understand

thanks!
adam8179
spenav
430 posts
 
@adam8179
Synergistic offers a 100% money back warranty for 30 days. So have at it and enjoy the ride. You are doing the right thing. 
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
You really should talk to @atmasphere I know what he said
He will never tell you that these >$160 dollar fuses "sound better".  All he said there "can" be a slight voltage drop across the fuse bnecause of the fuse holder if the fuse is not seated properly. I say the mains itself fluctuates more than this voltage drop anyway.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,841 posts
 
Quantum Tunneling
Anytime I see the word 'quantum' used in conjunction with audio I turn and run the other way as fast as I can.
I say the mains itself fluctuates more than this voltage drop anyway.
This is true, and is part of the reason that a system can sound better at certain times of the day. But its not just voltage- its also distortion of the AC sine wave on the line as transformers and rectifiers can react poorly to certain harmonics on the line, in particular the 5th (300Hz in the US).

mikado463
40 posts
 
Synergistic Research........enough said, keep drinking the marketing BS / Kool-Aid they serve up !!
hartf36's avatar
hartf36
206 posts
 
It sounds like you went from a ceramic fuse to a glass one. I’m not one for the exotic audiophile fuses, but I did swap out the glass fuses in my B&K EX-442 Sonata for everyday, "standard" ceramic fuses just to see for myself if I could detect a difference.  I did the same with my Hafler DH-220.

In fact I DID hear noticeable differences (in both amps, for the better, in each).  Earth shaking?  No.  But it sounded as if the ceramic cleaned up the sound just a shade.  I also replaced the stock glass fuses in my MMGs to no ill effect, until I replaced those ceramic fuses with sterling silver tubing.  YMMV.
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