fuses - the $39 ones or the 85 cent ones

In one speaker?

Yeap,
same signal was send to both that made the evaluation that much easier. A/B-ing left speaker to right speaker show no difference......to my ear. But, it was a while ago and it could prove its qualities on more resolving system though.
I am not in the rush to try that again.

I am not doubting it works but just reporting my 2c.

Mariusz

The audiotweek

Interesting finding - but of course we're talking fuses here, and your talking no protection at all.

Confounding this entire topic is the use of contact enhancers like Walker SST and Quiksilver on the end of fuses, both standard and premium variety.

This would also raise the question is a standard fuse with contact enhancer better than a premium fuse without?

I can try this test at some point since I have a jar of Quicksilver.

The problem is that according to the literature it takes some time to break in, due to the oil based carrier.

Having played with QUicksilver, I have not heard a difference once applying and listening again. But of course they back up their product with actual conductance tests, so I feel the science is sound.

A friend who made me some AC cables saw the QUicksilver I brought over to coat the ends of the AC wire before inserting into the AC plug, and he told me that gold paste is a commonly used item in high tech industries to enhance conductivity.

WIth that in mind, I don't care if I actually hear an immediate difference.

The theory is sound and makes intuitive sense.

If a tweek or series of tweeks in inexpensive enough (relative to the high cost many of us have invested) then I don't mind if say out of the 10 tweeks I do, 3 of them may be excellent, 4 of them may yield moderate to small results, and 3 don't work at all. I'm still ahead of stock form, and the cumulative effects add up to nice gains.

I will say this. Using the Cleanwave function of my PS Audio powerplant has always yielded results on the subtle side, so I often don't use it. I tried it the other night after many months, and with the recent tweeks I have done, (positioning, room treatment, and tube rolling) the effect became quite noticeable.

My point being the sonically useless tweek of today, may tomorrow yield results as more attention is paid to bottlenecks further up and downstream.

I have another point to make about listening in general.

Often when I hear a truly excellent system, I am not immediately able to
discern all it's positive qualities.

It's only after hearing it for quite a while, and with different recordings that all of a sudden I hear a vocal (for example) that is much cleaner or more natural, or easier to hear reverb or mic coloration) than I am used to.

Many times in the past I have found systems to be better performers than my hearing is acclimated to. I liken it to a novice wine conneseaur's tastebuds/brain not being refined enough to tell the difference between a fine bottle and an average one. Does it mean that the difference doesn't exist? No, only that the observer couldn't discern a difference.

And that is how my ear has become refined to the State that is is now.
Dougdeacon probably hears subtleties of VTA and timing that would elude me (at least until he pointed them out (or the lack of) in various examples to let me experience it for myself)

So just because a tweek doesn't appear to help, doesn't mean that it isn't having a positive affect.

My audio philosophy in a nut shell. Components sound different. Room treatments are the most significant tweak. Beauty is in the ear of the beholder. We don't all have the same level of audio awareness. Audio DBT does not prove audible differences are there or not. They only prove the differences could or could not be detected under the test conditions.
Ok, so here's my problem with tweaks. If I set a can of Coca Cola on the table next to my listening chair it DOES affect the sound waves in the room. In some way it has to. Agree? Can I hear the difference? No I can't. Can you hear the difference? Maybe. Your sonic awareness may be that good. Can you prove it? I don't really care unless there is a wager involved. Guess which bet I'd take.
Ok so here's where I draw the line. There are people who not only claim they can hear a difference with that can of coke, they also claim they whether it was a can of coke or Pepsi! Not only do they hear a difference, they have a definite preference!!

So Timrhu, do I discern from your post that your a Coke fiend?