Hi-Fi Fuses - SNAKE OIL? - or something in it?

"Like the Intelligent Chip and Rainbow Foil or Cable Wraps from Highwire and Shun Mook, or even the Mpingo Disc from Shun Mook, even such pedestrian things like Tube Traps and acoustic resonators, not only do WA Chips bring things to the table that cannot be gotten some other way - one assumes you mean buying better components - LOL, don't you wish? - but they are essential for getting that "live, holographic sound, if you know what I mean."

SOmehow, I have that live holographic sound without any of those. Go figure!

GEoff, you appear to be suggesting that using these products should be ones first priority for achieving the sound you describe. You are doing people a great disservice and damaging your own credibility even further, as usual.

OF course, you are a vendor of esoteric tweaks yourself, so your motives would seem to be apparent.

Lacee,
I don't understand the ridicule you experienced on another forum.If others have different results (and some will) that doesn't change your own experience. Why is that hard for others to accept? The 160.00 I spent for the three SR fuses was a fine value given the outcome in my system(there's a 30 day return policy). If someone finds a 10.00 fuse that's as effective, by all means please let the rest of us know.I imagine no fuse would likely sound even better but I'm not taking the risk to find out . Safety first.
Regards,

Has anyone ever seen the factories where the hi priced fuses are made?

I think this is all about putting decals, shiny plating and fancy packaging on plain old industrial fuses, but if production facilities exist somewhere and can be toured then that makes things more interesting.

Mapman wrote,

"SOmehow, I have that live holographic sound without any of those. Go figure!"

Sounds like a Bose ad. No offense.

Mapman wrote,

"GEoff, you appear to be suggesting that using these products should be ones first priority for achieving the sound you describe. You are doing people a great disservice and damaging your own credibility even further, as usual."

I'll go out on a limb here and guess you assiduously avoid stepping on cracks of the sidewalk and walking under ladders. Am I right?

:-)

Some folks on other forums are way behind the curve.
In fact most do not own anything remotely close to a decent hifi.
Most on that forum were glorified dumpster divers,and it was/is still a place where anything found under 100bucks is glorified and anything over that is vilified.

So, to purchase a fuse for more than $1.50,and then say it sounded better just ticked off a lot of the folks with limited exposure to decent gear.

Really it was like going back in time, when folks balked at spending good money on fancy speaker wires, when zip cord is all you need.
Sounds quaint doesn't it?
Saddly, for many of those folks, zip cord still rules the roost.

But enough of that nonsense.

It's a mind set.
Some folks refuse to believe any thing they hear about, refuse to believe what others have said and are just "too smart" and know better than to try any of this voodoo stuff or as they called it up there-fairy dust.

I was the great fairy dust man.

I trumpeted the virtues of de-magging cd's, dvd's and lp's.

I could hear the benefits, and all who I've demonstrated it too also have heard improvements.

I was told point blank that it just can't work.

I invited the sceptical to come and listen,but no takers.

I offered to give away some Iso Clean fuses or take up a collection amongst members and ship them out.

No deal.

No one wanted anything to do with this "snake oil".

I liked what Shunyata power cords and conditioners did.
I was called a shill for shunyata, a fan boy.

I was told I had more money than brains to spend close to 10, 000 dollars on power cords for my system.My intellignece was questionable.
They said I surely must listen to the same 10 lp's over and over,because I most likely had spent all my money on gear and not music.
That coming from chaps who didn't have $1000.00 invested in a system.

So I was called an elitist snob,and when I would defend myself,I ruffled a few too many feathers,bruised a few gentle egos and was told if I didn't follow the rules(one sided) that I would be asked to leave.I was more than ready to go.
I asked that my last parting shots be printed,but censorship prevailed.

I am not bitter,I've been vindicated by a few who have in the last couple of years, discovered some of the things I talked about.
Some of that fairy dust that I sprinkled took root,so all was not in vain.

I always contended that everyone has a right to an opinion and should be able to defend it,yet most debates were shut down when the good ol boys were gettin a woopin and made to look like they just weren't up to the task.

Thankfully this is still the land of the free.
Censorship and political correctness have not tipped the scales that far to the right.
"I may not agree with what you say but I will defend it to the end"-wise words from a wise man,sadly not the vision of all men.

The whole business of denial and scepticism about anything in audio that has been said to make improvements runs rampant in all forums.

There's always the camps,those who can hear, those who can't or don't want to and those who will never bother to try any of this stuff because they just know it can't work, so why bother spending any money and wasting time?

Time and money should be spent listening to music, not the gear is their mantra.
Shun anything made by the evil empire of the High End.

Yes, how many times is that thrust at us?

But, it's MY money, My time, and My system, so I'll do what I want.
At least for as long as I still have the right to do so.

If this is all snake oil stuff to those who haven't tried any of it then I have a suggestion.

Spend 20 bucks on a fuse and give one a try.

It will either be an improvement or it won't.
You shouldn't feel ripped off, it's only 20 bucks, think of the poor sucker who spent 2000 bucks for a power cord
and consider yourself lucky and be forever convinced that everything in this hobby that costs more than a buck is snake oil.

I wouldn't have an isuue with that at all.
It's your experience, which is in a completely different environment than mine.

Where I draw the line is when someone who has no experience with the snake oil tells me it's just fairy dust.
When someone asks for scientific proof that something works but is reluctant to do the experiement and draw conclusions for themselves I have to ask"where's the science in that?"

My sound wouldn't be as pleasing to my ears and garner the favour of my friends if all the snake oil and fairy dust were absent.

But I can't provide any science to back that up.