I'm guessing the shrink tubing is it. And even that is necked down just at one end.
What is the science behind audiophile fuses?
There were many threads on the topic of "audiophile fuses" on this forum, and I sure don't want to open old wounds and trench warfare. The fuse on my preamp blew suddenly two days ago, which prompted me to search for a replacement. That's when I came across the term "audiophile fuse" and the fact that they demand far-out prices. Deeper curiosity brought me to several other fora, where users posted glowing praises about their Zero fuses and other exotica. Now I am a scientist, but not a physicist or electrical engineer: so please enlighten me! How can a fuse have an audible influence on the signal, when the signal does not even pass through it? How can a fuse be "directional" when it deals with alternate current? I mean, if I recall my university physics, a fuse is basically a safety valve and nothing more. Am I completely missing an important point here? My scientific field is drug discovery, and because of this background I am thoroughly familiar with the power and reality of the placebo effect. I that's what I am seeing here, or is it real physics? I need objective facts and not opinions, please. I really appreciate your help!
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I’m starting to think that the function of these fuses isn’t about conductance. It’s about mechanical dampening. I know someone else brought that up before. It has a silver filament and that’s it for electrical properties apparently. The ceramic tube and then the rubber tube inside that isolate and dampen the filament. From that standpoint you are getting what you pay for. These are likely hand made and painstakingly assembled. Now, the real question is do they work? In the end you are paying for a product to provide a function. In the case of my DAC the hifi fuse helps. In the case of my amps, that is still to be determined. What I do know now is that the current factory fuse in my amp is not an electrical bottleneck or a restriction for power or sound. The copper slugs proved that- from a hearing standpoint. So will a damped and isolated fuse sound different in my amps? To be determined... |
Thanks @tonywinga for your report. Really interesting. |
We just had a strong thunderstorm and heavy rain blow through here. Boy was I glad I put the fuses back in my amps. I still unplugged everything. We had a couple of close strikes. Btw- my mono bloc amps are on a dedicated circuit. The front end is on its own dedicated circuit. So when I put those copper slugs in, all I could think about was which will melt first, the copper slugs or the 10ga electrical line. But everything was fine. |
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