2. misc-audio
  3. 169932-104649

Fuses

I’ve read of views on whether amp fuses impart any sound quality or coloring. I had a recent experience that has made me re-think my views (fuses do not affect sound) and wondered if others had a similar experience. 
I have a Line Magnetic integrated amp. After heavy regular use for over 5 years, one day it just wouldn’t power up. After checking the power supply, I assumed it must be a blown fuse. I recalled that Line Magnetic sent with the amp two replacement fuses of the same type/quality that was pre-installed. I dug out one of them from storage, replaced the fuse and the amp powered up normally. 

What surprised and delighted me was the change in sound with the replacement fuse. Fuller bass, more detail and more warmth. I have rolled the tubes several times in the amp, and am attuned to the subtle changes that can make. Popping in a fresh fuse seems to have had a similar affect. And these appear to be cheap fuses, available for a few dollars at most. I don’t think I understand any of this. 
bmcbrad
oldhvymec
5,101 posts
 
VTL and the old Marantz both use (frequency collection (bypass)) caps, I’ve seen more than one older Mac with FC caps too. .01 usually. Doesn’t change anything but ADDs a twinkle if you add one or two in parallel.

A really good PIO with a FC cap that’s a copper foil (no oil) or teflons.

I like V-Cap.

Teflons and silver foil both are like razors, I don’t care who makes them..
Takes forever to break them in. But they are really worth it.. Copper foil, or with oil. I’m not so sure. I’ve been running them for a while.. We’ll see. Teflon/alu foil, copper or Silver foil caps.. $$$$. They are non magnetic too.

I match the voltage too on the FC cap. That can cause issues in a passive crossover, I’ve done that and it does cause a timing issue.

200vac with a 600vac cap won’t work correctly.. 600 and a 630 is a lot better.. 200 and 200 :-)
yuviarora's avatar
yuviarora
537 posts
 
Thanks for the info. Much Appreciated.
I just got (4) .01uf Duelund Tinned copper foils. I’ll bypass both the mid and the tweeter caps on my speakers.
Sadly no Duelund Silver foils were available anywhere, they might have been the better match with my Mundorf Silver in oils.
All the capacitors in my mids crossover are 600v, tweeters are 1200v and Duelund bypasses are 600v.
Fingers crossed. 
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 

Can’t see the forest for the trees???
If you don’t believe me.
Believe this, someone from Audiocircle who tried by-passing a quality cap in the single path (also known as a coupling cap) to see what he got, and there’s many more articles to read about it on the net if you bother to search, and a well known one it by Doug Self in his book.

Currently I have 1 uF Clarity MR caps, bypassed with .01 Jupiter Copper Foils (into 100000 ohm impedance), I added the Jupiter bypass as an experiment to see if the more expensive caps make a difference, and they do.
So now I have to decide what way to go forward, I have a strong belief that bypassing coupling caps is a bad idea, as the two capacitors will have a time difference, and so signal passing through one cap will be phase differentiated from signal passing through the other cap, right?

Therefore: perhaps it is better to have a single high quality cap at 1 uF and no bypass at all? Is 1 uF really big enough (into 100000 ohms) or do I really need a bigger cap to be sure deep bass remains in phase?
(1uf into 100kohms (100,000ohms) is fine as it’s -3db at 1.5hz)

Like I said some just don’t want to believe, they just want to believe their own dreams and don’t want them shattered or take anything in that questions it.

Cheers George
yuviarora's avatar
yuviarora
537 posts
 
Unlike you George, I am okay with trying new things out.
If you are right about bypassing capacitors, Trust me I will be the first one to come back here and tell you that.
As I have already said, the .1uf caps did not sound good as bypasses, they muddled up the sound on my speakers, I was not expecting that to be the case.
I am not interested in being right for the sake of being right, I am only interested in things that are true. So if what you are saying is true, I will readily offer my apologies for not believing you.
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 


Fine, I'm hoping what I’ve said helps others trying to do the same. As I've said it many times on Audiogon. 

Cheers George
More to discover