fuses - the $39 ones or the 85 cent ones

Agreed with Rodman. My Counterpoint NP100 uses 5 fuses, 1 for AC and 4 for rails. The sonic improvement from these Hi-Fi Tuning fuses is substantial. I can't remember anything close to $200 that has yielded this much improvement.

Thanks for sharing your experience with fuses and the Maggies. It's quite useful. I'll try other fuse values if my setup allows it.

I certainly agree that the HiFi-Tuning fuses will increase the sound quality. In some instances, one has to spend way, way more than $40 to achieve the the improvements that the HiFi-Tuning fuses provide. My point is that, in my particular case, I can achieve greater sound quality increase for $1.2 per fuse.

Also, I personally don't feel comfortable using a fuse that's not UL listed. Not having UL listing is not that uncommon for some hi-fi gear, but I find a fuse to be too critical for me to overlook the accreditation.

Mr I- I can certainly appreciate your concern with regards to protecting your equipment, and the investment represented. It's been my experience that the Germans are quite anal about the quality that they engineer into their products, or I wouldn't have tried them myself. On the other hand- There is a Chinese "Hi-End" fuse out there(can't find the link now) that I wouldn't even consider using, regardless of what agency approved them(also as a result of much experience).

The fact that a product is made in a particular country that has a reputation for good quality does not signify that all the products from that country are better than products from another country. Look at the track record of Mercedes and Lexus. Just an example.

BTW, the HiFi-Tuning fuses I have look well built, so do the ones from China and Taiwan.

After 30 years of inferior materials and craftsmanship in EVERYTHING purchased from ANY Asian country(Japan being the sole exception), I have avoided purchasing ANYTHING from over there, outside of Ginseng and certain medicinal mushrooms(NO- They don't affect my hearing, or have any psycho-active effects). The percentage of defects found in Mercedes and Lexus can't even be compared with the defects found in the garbage imported to these shores(everything from lead tainted foods to counterfeit helicopter parts) from china and taiwan(I save caps for things I respect). If your tastes and inclinations are otherwise: Isn't it nice that we have the freedom to pick our own poisons in this country? What say we allow this thread to return to it's intention(the merits of the Ultra Systems fuses) and ask anyone out there if they have personally experienced, heard about or observed any kind of failure connected to the use of Hi-Fi Tuning fuses.