Wig, I also find your results exact opposite with the CV181.
Compare to the Sophia, Sophia is harder, edgier in a negative way, less musical and airy. Imaging and soundstaging similar.
As far as fuses, I'm using all HiFi Tuning. Keeping everything constant, volume, tracks ... I A/B stock vs HiFi-Tuning in my preamp and found HiFi Tuning much much superior. I repeated the test 7 to 8 times just to confirm my results. Also the direction of the fuse makes a huge difference. In the wrong direction, sound is limiting and very lean. FWIW, In the latest TAS, Shunyata can now measure differences in fuses.