The New Synergistic Research Purple Fuses

Here’s the thing about fuses, I don’t like them in general. They’re designed to break, on purpose, to protect us and our property from catastrophic events. Like RCA connectors, they are not an ideal solution. Fuses, in their standard form, are detrimental to good sound. I’m sure there are better solutions out there.

However, again like RCA connectors, they are a standard that is almost universal in home audio equipment. If we want that protection from catastrophic events (which I sure do), we are pretty much stuck with them. Given that, I am grateful there are entrepreneurs out there who are willing to put their money and reputation on the line to develop and provide less detrimental (or even beneficial) fuses for home audio.

Why are you singling out RCA connectors as detrimental to the quality of the signal ?

I was pointing to RCA connectors as another example of a ubiquitous, but not ideal, solution. There are better connectors out there, but why would a manufacturer adopt them when nobody else has? Not necessarily saying they are detrimental to the sound (although they probably are, to various degrees, depending on quality etc.)

Anybody else remember Mark Levinson’s CAMAC connectors?

Really , there are a number of distinguished electronics designers who would opine that they prefer RCA to Balanced for example … for fidelity reasons .

Added a third Purple to my system, this time in my PS Audio DirectStream DAC replacing an Orange. My system is sounding better than ever, however I also violated the one change at a time rule and added 3M RFI absorber material in strategic places at the same time.

I'm guessing that much of the improvement is from the fuse, but that's just a guess. Since you have to open the DAC to get to the fuse (and it's a PITA), I opted to do both mods at the same time.

Happy camper, though only 24+ hours in...