Jerry’s accounting is sound thinking from an audiophile standpoint, but if you put a slug in your amp and the amp fails massively and somehow starts a fire, you might be out more than the cost of the amp. It is unlikely of course, but it is the reason those fuses are there.
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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Going back over this entire year and a half old thread, I cannot find where the OP’s original question has been answered. Since, I do not plan on going sluggo commando, or paying hundreds of dollars for colored fuses, it seems I either live with the normal ceramic fuses I currently have in my equipment, add some Swiss Digital Fuse Boxes, or figure out how to install magnetic breakers. Assuming the SDFB performs as well as described by @carlsbad2, it doesn’t seem too bad a deal, at least in the audiophile world. One for each monoblock would be $800 for two, which is about par for the course for audiophile tweaks. However, I can’t help but think they may be nothing more than self-resetting magnetic breakers, which is not surprising since many audiophile tweaks seem to be relatively normal stuff dressed up. This magnetic breaker appears similar to what SMc Audio put in my DAC-2. Maybe I will try making my own electrical box with a magnetic breaker and a captive short power cord pigtail. |
@mitch2 I have disassebled and inspected the SDFB. It is the equivalent of a magnetic breaker. It sounds like you understand the difference between a magnetic and a thermal breaker. a thermal breaker has a resistive heater that may be worse than a fuse for sound quality. So before the SWFB, I tried very hard to find a suitable magnetic breaker that I could adapt to replace the fuse and I couldn't find one. So SDFB, designed and built one and did a very nice job. Jerry |
"So SDFB, designed and built one and did a very nice job." In our world, $400 for "a very nice job" on something that is actually useful should probably be considered a bargain. Even if I find the right breaker, finding/buying a suitable box and putting it all together would take hours and even more money. In the end, it still would not have the self-resetting capability of the SDFB. I will probably break down and buy a couple of them for my monoblocks. I would like to consider removing the IEC from one end and hard-wiring a decent power cord pigtail, if that is possible. |
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