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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
rlwainwright
1,904 posts
 
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-
rlwainwright
1,904 posts
 
Lacee wrote: "So irregardless of what you think audio is all about,it means somethingelse to others."

Surely, Lacee, you know that "irregardless" is not a word? How can anyone place any value on your proclamations when you obviously don't even know basic English?

And another point - how much effort, time, and money have you spent improving your speaker/room interaction? Like most others involved in this crazy hobby, I'm willing to bet that you haven't done all you could to better that aspect of your system.

Improving that will yield sound quality that is order of magnitudes greater than what you are supposedly achieving with your fuse and power cord changes. Until you have properly setup the speakers and the room, all of your other efforts are for naught...

-RW-
rodman99999
6,206 posts
 
Mr R: Spoken(typed) as a true Litho-cephal. Perhaps it escapes you; virtually everything, as related to electricity, is referred to as, "theory." That would be because nothing has been actually observed on the quantum level, as yet. NOTHING, regarding Electrical Theory, is yet set in stone(except, perhaps, your head).
drubin
3,285 posts
 
Surely, Lacee, you know that "irregardless" is not a word? How can anyone place any value on your proclamations when you obviously don't even know basic English?
What an incredibly dickish thing to say.
gvasale's avatar
gvasale
99 posts
 
Lacee: Thanks for the continuing discussion. The 7T back panel has no room for such a power cable change as "like a computer." I could drill out the opening where the stock power cord enters, but enlarge it to what size? One with a 20 amp capacity? or 30?...therefore the question. The power amplifiers are somewhat compact & also have no room based on layout. They have a compact inner structure with horizonatal & vertical aspects to their assembly. I could put new electrolytics in there, but the cost of them is huge.
Something like $300.00 each from what a quick web search indicated, and I'm not in a position of spend $2400.00 on the eight capacitors. If you would like, I sure there are photos of the 7T & 16 on the internet...you might get a better idea of my point of view.

WRT, could any improvements be made? I suppose so, but to me my first watt or first few watts are very pleasing to me.

As I mentioned before, at what are normal(for me) listening levels, power consumption is very low, total power consumption in the order of 150 watts or less and a voltage across 8 ohms is usually less than 2 volts.

Additionally, there is no possibility that I could ever experiment say, switching between SETs (would need 4)because the current setup is also biamplified. One would need an extensive, expensive switching setup for a task like that. One could never otherwise accurately AB test. While I hear people rave about SET apms I have not experienced one yet.

I suspect the experience might not make it to my bucket list.

But for me the question still if the monumental cost which you say you have expended would be beneficial to me.

That is way out of my price range. Thanks for your input.

BTW, years ago I did hear what was probably the "best" speaker of its day which were KLH 9s. Right where I worked, 2 pairs not 1 pair. They were pretty impressive. Then there were the Dayton Wright gas filled electrostatics which were also impressive. Neither would be suitable for SET use as I understand. These were in a shop (retail) setting, not in a well plotted out room.

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