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

Lacee: Not all designs lend themselves to that kind of modification. From power cords to internal wiring.

I still think its a stretch that a fuse, now as simple as it is could be such an object of desire, so to speak. At some time, I'll just let that go.

If the gear priced in the statosphere (today's reality) has been built with a cost is no object way, it still seems kind of odd that someone might still find shortcomings (non "audiophile" fuses). No one has mentioned if any products such as that actually have gold cryo treated fuses, fuse holders etc. Aren't many or most of these "mods" driven by the aftermarket?

Certainly, my particular stuff would suffer greatly from such changes. But that's neither here nor there...If, for example the power cord on my 7T can handle 1100 watts, that is 9 amps, & the tested load as I use it, averages 1.5 amps or less, how much more overcapacity might one need for something to show up? It is also fused @ 1/8 amp. & comsumes 9 watts. And, let's not for purpose of those questions, consider audio performance as subjectively as some do here.

Gvsale,is your gear so perfect that it cannot be improved?
You fear your "stuff would suffer greatly from such changes".
You are 100% certain of that?

You are throwing a lot of stuff out there such as "how much more overcapacity might one need for something to show up".

That may make sense to you, but you are missing the point about upgrades.
It's not about how much bigger,it's about how much better.

I used an upgraded fuse in a DecWare Zen 2 watt amp that cost 1/6 the price of the amp.
I plugged a Shunyata Annaconda power cord into the amp,the power cord was almost 4 times the cost of the amp.

Neither upgrade morphed the amp into a Krell with a 1000watts,but, Mr.Deckert and others will tell you that it's how good the first watt sounds that matters most, not how many.
So gear that can handle 1100watts /9 amps using a 1/8 amp fuse means moot to me.
I'm just concerned about how good I can make those all important first few watts sound.

So irregardless of what you think audio is all about,it means somethingelse to others.

In my experience, the amp just performed better with the fuse and power cord upgrade.
Those two watts were cleaner, more robust and would lead you to believe they gave you a few more watts than the two I started out with.

Of course that wasn't what was happening.
What was happening was that those important first few watts were given a bit less distortion, and because the electricity was cleaned up, or made to flow a bit more freely, the sound also was able to bloom.
More of what makes an SET low watt amp sound so pure and good,just became more apparant than before.
Subjective,yes, but repeatable results none the less.
Switching things back to normal, or stock, was a step back in information detail, clarity,and there was a loss of body.
Put the power cord and fuse back in and the little DecWare sprang back to life, able to reveal just how good this little wonder is.

But the same results are there when I use upgraded power cords and fuses in my cd player,and speakers, and phono stage.

That spare Annaconda is now used to power up my $60.00 TerDak power supply!
And yes way overkill, but it makes my Lightspeed Attenuator sound so much better than the wallwart.
Remember, it was a spare, I certainly don't think anyone needs a power cord of this price to make the TeraDak sing, but it hasn't hurt it's performance or made the gear "suffer" because of it.

So a pretty decent amp for the money can sound even better with upgraded fuse and power cord.The amp doesn't have to be 1100watts, it can be a two watt amp.

The power cord was a spare from when I ran mono blocks, I wouldn't suggest that anyone with a DecWare amp needs an expensive power cord or fuse to make it sound good.
But it is also good enough to let you hear the improvements such stuff can make.

If there was no difference in sound I could have concluded two things.
The first would be that which you might conclude, that the amp was so good it didn't need any help.

The second conclusion would be one that I would make, the amp was of such poor design and so distorted that nothing could make it sound any better.

I have personally never owned any piece of audio gear that was so good or so bad that it's sound couldn't be improved with an upgraded part or two.
That goes for vintage and new tube gear, solid state, and any speakers that were fuse protected.
It was easy to hear how anything with a power cord or a fuse was hindered by the quality of the fuse and power cord.

I hate to keep rehashing the fuse issue, but it was Peter Aczel from the Audio Critic of the late 70's early 80's who brought this to my attention way back when.

Nothing has changed,except that we now have some alternatives to using stock, sound degrading fuses, if we choose to.

Until this happened I was bypassing them,enjoying better sound, but was skating on thin ice.

Thankfully that's no longer necessary.

Snake oil, plain and simple. And, unless your power cord cannot handle the amperage required, spending uber bux on a PC is a fool's game.

Think about it, why is it that NO hi-end mfgr. I'm aware of includes these magic beans (fuses and PCs) with their gear? If these things *really* improved the sound, they would be installed at the factory. This is a prime example of audiophilia nervosa trumping common sense and basic electrical physics...

-RW-

Pack nailed it, the "improvements" you hear come from expectation bias. After all, if you spend $5,000 for a power cord and $100 for a fuse, you damn sure *will* hear an improvement. Wake up fellas, your expectations are trumping common sense and basic physics...

-RW-

Lacee wrote: "And from this you might even conclude that anything, even a simple fuse,that is in the signal path can also have an effect on your sound."

Lacee, the fuse is NOT in the signal path. It simply allows the juice to flow to the equipments' power supplies - no more and no less. Expensive hi-fi fuses are a prime example of audiophile snake oil.

You guys crack me up...

-RW-