why do hi-end fuses keep blowing, while std don't?


I've had my McIntosh MC275 for several years running flawlesly. Up until last Nov I was using stock KT88 and rolled small tubes and had a Hi-Fi Tunning fuse without issues.

In Nov-13 I upgraded the KT-88 to Psvane black bottles measuring 60mA plate current. A few power-ons after I rolled the tubes, I turned on the amp to let it warm up, but returned to a blown fuse. I thought a tube might be bad so used a std fuse, but never had a problem again.

Two months ago I bought a new high-end fuse, replaced it, and soon thereafter the same happened: blown fuse. I replaced it with a std fuse again, which is still running.

So I want to upgrade the fuse, but chances are if I use the 2A fuse it will happen again. Yet I don't want to use a higher value fuse. I'm thinking the Psvanes might be drawing significantly more current than the stock KT88 and the Hi-Fi Tunning fuse might have a tighter spec, driving said fuses to fail while the std ones survive. Would you agree?

Suggestions as to how to resolve this?

thanks much!
lewinskih01
Those two sentences seem to indicate total ignorance, from the manufacturer of any amp. Not surprising, from those with the hubris of McIntrash. Of course; that's just my own personal opinion, based on personal experience with both.
McIntosh's advice to check tubes if fuses are blowing in general is hard to argue with.

No vendor will support a product that the user has altered. Right or wrong, if the vendor has doubt about use of any part introduced by a third party, including a fuse, for whatever reason, including lack of information, they are NOT going to recommend it and then be obligated to support that recommendation.

Also, the comment about whether the fuse can sound better or not might be a bit strong, but I'd have to take the position that the purpose of a fuse device is NOT to make something sound better, even if in fact it does. THere are many other ways for a product to accomplish that. If there is any question about the product being able to serve its primary function, which in this case is to PROTECT the gear, not make it sound better, then a no confidence confidence vote for that part in a case like this which seems to support that concern is not surprising.

That response increases my confidence in McIntosh support, it does not decrease it.

SO there is a choice to be made. Making sure the tubes are in good working order would seem to be a logical next step. One or more sub par tubes may well result in lesser performance and/or other issues, regardless of fuse used. Having tubes all in good working order is paramount to a tube device working as it should. Flavor of correct fuse used matters so much less, to the extent it even matters at all, that it is a no brainer which to address first.