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!
Thanks @tksteingraber - the SDFB looks well made with heavy wire where necessary (except to the LED). It appears to be a breaker with a small control board, likely for the automatic reset. If I were to use one, I might hard wire a pig tail power cord to get rid of one IEC, but I make PCs so one more short cord is really no problem. |
@carlsbad2 , @mitch2 , You guys are light years ahead of me with this stuff and I have a question for you: If you have a dedicated line to your amp, and your amp has say 6.3 amp fast blow fuses in it, would putting a low current 6 amp breaker in your panel do the same thing?
|
@thecarpathian I don't think so. but I'll give it more thought. The breakers in your panel are a combination of thermal and magnetic. The thermal component doesn't cause much problem because it is rated much higher so it doesn't act as a current limiter at low currents. Lowering it to the level of your fuse would make it cause the same negative effects of limiting bass and dynamics. 6.3A is a pretty big fuse. You must have a big amp. If you have a big amp, with big copper coils and lots of stored energy, you may not benefit much from fuse changes or elimination. Jerry |
@lalitk I don't think anyone is now working on a version that fits into the fuse holder. I was the most interested in that and I've moved on. Like I pointed out, every IEC fuse holder is different so very hard to make one that works on every amp. |
