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

There's a lot of chatter about the benefits of those high prices gold plated fuses with silver conductor etc. etc. all over the web and the consensus ranges from FANTASTIC!!! to much more subtle observations.

It makes sense to me, epseically in light of spending lots of $$$ on good power cables, that having a skinny piece of aluminum conductor in a glass tube (i.e. a cheap fuse), in the power loop would be detrimental to the performance of the components.

I decided to revamp my DIY power supply I'd built for the Cambridge Audio 640p phono stage and DACmagic in order to test this out - and since it's a DIY project there is no UL Certification to void.

First, I bypassed the fuse link completely to confirm there would be an improvement and give me the best benchmark to compare against - YEP - BIG DIFFERENCE - much more this, that and the other :-)

So then I started looking for hi-fi fuses - WOW!!! - talk about pricey.

Two fuses for the power supply was going to cost $120+ AND I thought I'd probably have to buy a better quality fuse block to make the most of those fuses.

Then a moment of enlightenment - most power supplies and conditioners are protected by pushbutton breakers and not fuses.

I found breakers of the required current rating and installed them into the power supply. I imediately noticed that there was no deteriation in fidelity when compared to the same unit with the fuse link bypassed - GREAT!.

On reflection, the fuses I had in place were rated at 3 amps - so they use a pretty thin fuse wire in them. If I had used a fuse of a higher rating, i.e. it uses a thicker conductor, then I believe that there would be less of a difference between the fused and bypassed implementations

SO - do the expensive fuses work?

Well the empirical evidence out there would suggest they do
- I do know the cheap fuses are not good!

I know bypassing them does improve the sound - a lot in my case
- BUT THAT'S NOT SAFE FOR ONGOING USE

I know breakers work as good as bypassing the fuse
- BUT MESSING WITH A POWER SUPPLY VOIDS UL CERTIFICATION - NOT GOOD!
- FYI a couple of licensed technicians I know WILL NOT change the design of a power supply at all.

I believe the amount of benefit is related to the fuse rating
- but don't go replacing 3 amp fuses with a 20 amp fuse - that's not safe either.

Whilst looking for fuses I discovered AMR Gold fuses priced at $20/fuse.

Now that's definately more affordable than most others at 3-4 times their price.

One supplier I know of in the US is Avatar Aacoustics

If you have had experience with quality fuses please share - especially if they are "modestly priced" i.e. $20-$30 per fuse. And please provide a source :-)

Also, can anypne confirm that Slow blow fuses are better than regular?

And Remember - IF YOU AIN'T LICENCED - GET A TECHNICIAN!

Many Thanks
williewonka
lacee
811 posts
 
Pack, have you done the test with a HiFi Supreme or other esoteric fuse,or are you just relying on the accepted wisdom of those who also haven't tried it?

I don't have any test gear,but it's very easy for my ears to hear differences in tone and texture when I use DIY or esoteric fuses.

In fact my built in test gear can even pick out what brand of fuse I am fooling around with.
No foolin.

Can your test gear do that?

I would be a believer in such gizmos if they were tied into a computer which has been fed a variety of parameters and specific tonalities etc, so that when any sonic traits specific to solid core i.e. or related to AMR sonics, would then be able to distinguish those sonic traits, and sort out what is what.Not just a square wave.

Are all square waves created equally?
Are all such devices calibrated the same?
Is there a univeral standard for such devices and are these devices able to avoid the vagaries and fluctauations of the grid these devices are run on?

Sorry if my ignorance is showing, but I wonder about such stuff,especially when people place all their faith in devices and don't trust their ears.

Until such a device is made available, I'll rely on what I have always relied on.

The same devices that I use to listen to my music as it's being processed by all the crap that it's hidden behind.

My goal has always been to eliminate whatever it is that the music is hiding behind.

It started from the time I tried to put together a system that recreated the feeling of playing live on stage,as I have continued to do now nearly fifty years later.

I've heard some systems that are much closer to it than where mine is, but I am also much closer than I once was.

Esoteric fuses have opened the curtains that were once closed.

They are but one avenue to go down,and for me the price to pay to drive down that road was more than reasonable.

mapman's avatar
mapman
22,408 posts
 
Geof,

Unfortunately, whatever the facts may be about fancy fuses, it doesn't make the crap you sell any more credible. But keep on trying, you never know.
mitch2
4,079 posts
 
Maybe the "snake oil" isn't that designer fuses don't change (or even improve) the sound, but maybe it has to do with what some are charging for those fuses compared to the relative level of sonic improvement you get compared to using regular fuses.

How close to the sound of a designer fuse can you get by putting a little silver contact paste (Quick Silver Gold) on the ends of a Buss fuse and wrapping it a couple of times with teflon tape for damping? How close does the Acme cryogenically treated Silver Fuse at $12 - $16 come to the pricier models from other companies selling for $50 to $100+?
pack
14 posts
 
Geof, Did you know that the thickness of your skull has an impact on how you perceive sound ? I don't mean this as a joke,its true. You should have more faith in electrical science , it has brought what might be considered miracles into our lives. But you know being human and a little bit different from each other , when it comes to the things that effect our senses such as musical reproduction , we should allow the choice of a device that sounds the best to us. Look at all the pre-amps,amps,digital gear,etc. we have to choose from . These devices are "Tuned" by there perspective designer based on his idea of what music should sound like. Case in point, the biasing of an amplifier. But getting back to science for a second..............physics does dictate certain truths......these truths have everything to do with the functional ability of a given devise to do what it is supposed to do. That is to say a well produced square wave thru a circuit once achieved is the best electrical possibility. Perhaps if we took a good decongestant an hour before our listening session, there would seem to be more clarity in the high end area ?
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Mitch2 wrote,

"Maybe the "snake oil" isn't that designer fuses don't change (or even improve) the sound, but maybe it has to do with what some are charging for those fuses compared to the relative level of sonic improvement you get compared to using regular fuses."

Most Aftermarket fuses are in the price range $24 to $60 with some around $100 or more. Kind of like electron tubes, one ought to weigh the cost vs performance, but how can you make a decision without listening first? That's the problem!

Mitch2 also wrote,

"How close to the sound of a designer fuse can you get by putting a little silver contact paste (Quick Silver Gold) on the ends of a Buss fuse and wrapping it a couple of times with teflon tape for damping?"

Good questions. But one must also ask, "how much better sound can you get by using Quicksilver Gold on the ends of a designer fuse?" And let's not overlook directionality, you can get some improvement in a stock fuse by just determining the correct direction. So, correct direction + damping the fuse + better conductivity with QSG. Seems like a good idea to me.

Mithc2 also wrote,

"How close does the Acme cryogenically treated Silver Fuse at $12 - $16 come to the pricier models from other companies selling for $50 to $100+?"

Difficult to say. There are a number of reasons why comparisons are difficult including time required for break in and the number of candidates for the evaluation. Are you volunteering? There is also the fuse holder to contend with, a silver plated cryo version appears to be a good place to start.
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