What direction should Hi Fi tune fuse be installed

I do not do the fuse thing now. I was easy at the time because with the 2010 it was very quick with the little drawer on back. Oe has to draw the line somewhere.

This whole idea of you hear a difference because you want to is a joke. Let me be clear I DO NO WANT TO HEAR A DIFFERENCE but it is there so it really comes down to where does one draw the line

Mapman, direction of the fuse is pretty low in priorities, especially if there are multiple fuses. I remember dealing with Sander Audio about fuses in their Magtech amp. In my telephone conversation, I had to ignore all of the why bother to know the values. I then learned that some were inaccessible. I tested only the outside fuses and did so merely by putting them in one way and listening and then the other.

The old concern about minimum leakage voltage in how the power cord is in has bitten the dust as a grounding plug makes it very difficult. Also lifting all the grounds save the preamp that greatly mattered with my old H-Cat preamp is no longer of concern.

So yes, some tweaks matter more and components and cables can effect the importance of the tweaks. The High Fidelity cables cause many to no long have any value or have added value. One that has become crutial is electronically isolating the speaker wires.

Finally, when you are retired there is more time to tweak.

Almarg knows things. This is good.

The topic of "what live music sounds like" kills me. What we hear is influenced by personal perception that is individualized by ear wax, your hat, your background including mommy issues and environmental influences, food allergies, and cranium density (or emptiness). Also, I understand TBGs wit threshold as I have compassion for the humorless. I've been enthralled, irritated, freaked out by, compelled into trance like bliss, rendered itchy, and otherwise been exposed to a ridiculous range of live music including Thelonious Monk (I was maybe 11), my 4th grade autoharp gig, the Klezmatics, the Baltimore Consort, early Zep, Hendrix and Tull, weirdly entertaining open mic performers, decades of my own acoustic and electric endeavors including being haunted for many years by my guitar solo in an airline commercial, and all manner of jazz and classical stuff all over this flying wet meatball of a world...and my opinion is of no more importance than your drunk sister's...I am, by definition and professional standing, an expert, and I still would never try to define live sound for somebody else, other than trying to mix a show without irritating anybody...which I think only requires paying attention. To sum up, please pay attention. Sit up straight, spit out your gum, put the iPhone away, wake up your sister...

Wolf_garcia, I agree. This is why threads such as what is the best sounding amp, etc. are worthless.

I used to have a concert pianist friend who heard my stereo system. Once when we were at his home for dinner, I asked to hear his system. He agreed and took me to his office. In it there was an old Webcor portable record player. I was surprised and he noticed, saying that the music was in his head but that he was interested in how different conductors dealt with certain passages. I wonder how common this is.

Wolf, thank you kindly. I always appreciate the rather unique combination of literary creativity, humor, and relevant knowledge and experience you bring to these forums :-)

04-30-14: Tbg
Almarg, yes music reproduction changes alternating current into dc and then must turn it into ac again. But many hear significant differences in all manner of parts dealing with this process. So there must be something more than your old dismissive comment.

TBG, thank you for noticing that my comment was submitted years ago, but note also that it was not entirely dismissive.

04-30-14: Tbg
… having one undergraduate major in EE and the other in physics, makes me conscious of the limitations of EE laws and insight into what is going on.

Having two EE degrees and 30+ years of experience designing and managing design of advanced electronic circuits (not for audio), I too would claim to have a better than average understanding of the limitations of EE principles. As you may have seen in past threads, in fact, I have often had occasion to indicate that certain effects in audio are inherently and predictably unpredictable :-) For example, the audible effects that may occur in audio circuitry as a result of inaudible ultrasonic and RF noise frequencies it may be exposed to.

I have also made the point in a number of past threads, however, that it is extremely easy in audio to attribute a perceived sonic effect to the wrong variable. And I frequently find myself wondering when I see claims of perceived effects that are technically inexplicable (inexplicable either “per se” or when considered quantitatively), whether methodological discipline has been applied that is sufficient to assure that the perceived effect has been attributed to the right thing.

For example, with respect to fuse orientation Mapman correctly raised the possibility of variations in contact integrity. There is also the matter of assuring that the equipment is in an equal state of warmup during the various parts of the comparison, and that AC line voltages and noise conditions remain constant. It seems to me that ruling out these kinds of possibilities requires, as a minimum, going back and forth between the two orientations several times, and if differences are perceived assessing each direction across a variety of recordings to assure that the preferred direction is consistent. And upon doing this for one component in the system, whether or not differences are perceived it would seem logical to repeat the process for each of the other components, and for internal fuses as well as external ones. All of which reinforces my skepticism about the thoroughness and methodological discipline underlying many of the reported assessments of tweaks that are even as seemingly simple as this one, much less those that are more complex and expensive.

Personally, I’d rather invest the time that I would consider necessary to do a proper assessment of fuse orientation listening to music. But to each his own.

04-30-14: Tbg
I certainly cannot understand why you [Frogman] would care that some people find fuse direction matters. They are not costing you any money or time.

This is a common retort to challenges that are sometimes made to claims of effects that are seemingly inexplicable and implausible. I of course can’t and don’t speak for Frogman, but as I see it some people (including me) care because the basic reason most of us are here is the hope that sharing of knowledge and experience will be mutually beneficial in making our audio-related investments of time and money as productive as possible. As Mapman put it, prioritizing focus, based on the likelihood and degree of added value. Toward that end, it would seem logical to try to assure that reported effects, especially those that defy technical understanding, are not the result of inadequately disciplined methodology, attribution to the wrong variable, technical misconception, or factors that may not be applicable to many or most other systems.

Regards,
-- Al