Aftermarket Fuses

@jafreeman really, wtf?
Wolf isn’t calling you or anyone else names (well ok, maybe Geoff sometimes), so why resort to that? He is consistent in his opinions and provides another side to the discussion.

There are many of us here with pretty good systems that simply do not buy into the whole fuse (or cable) thing. Over the past 20+ years here, people have gone on about the phenomenal system improvements they achieve every time they change fuses or cables. After 20 years of phenomenal improvements, those people must have the musicians sitting in their laps by now.

I have had much better success upgrading components than spending a bunch of time, energy and money on cables or fuses. In fact, my amps, preamp, server, and DAC have all received upgrades by their respective manufacturers as new technology became available. Those component upgrades provided vastly greater system improvements to my ears than any cable or fuse change I have made. My main goal with cables is to not screw up the sound, which I find to be somewhat proportional to the amount of man-made materials in the cable dielectrics and coverings.

@oregonpapa
Nobody ever became a multi-billionaire by selling fuses. Audio Magic took standard glass fuses, drilled tiny holes in them and pumped them full of beeswax. I doubt there are any multi-billionaires over there.

These cable/fuse threads are mostly slow train wrecks where the amusement factor far outweighs the technical value. How many times can someone stand to be told what they should be hearing? It would be nice if the folks sharing these opinions (some with over 10K posts, hint, hint) would take the time to post their systems, which would provide context to their comments. Kudos to you Frank and Joe for doing a nice job of posting your systems.

@oregonpapa 

If anyone can't hear the difference, then I'd be questioning one of two things ... either the system, or the ears. Maybe both.

Right out of the playbook.  You might want to consider not questioning what others do or don't hear.

@oregonpapa
@uberwaltz
The knife cuts both ways, which is why this issue will never be sorted out. You are both correct, folks who believe the science will not support any change in sonics, or any perceivable change in sonics, related to fuses, wire directionality, or certain other tweaks, do indeed tend to write-off perceptions to the contrary as expectation bias or confirmation bias; while folks who believe the sonic changes (or improvements) are readily evident, tend to write-off those who don’t hear the improvements as having poor hearing, poor systems, or both.

It seems best that everyone simply march to their own drum on this stuff. I have no problem reading about what others hear in their systems, or even which side of the fence they fall on related to the value of aftermarket fuses, etc., but I do not see any value in people telling others what they should be hearing or not hearing. Not everyone here seems to be tolerant of opposing opinions so the result is a perpetual argument and a colossal waste of time, although occasionally amusing.

@audiolabyrinth 

What state of the art cable's have you tried? do you own any  state of the art cable's?

Not sure, I have owned multiple cables retailing for over $1K each and some over $2K. There are always more expensive cables - who is the judge that defines "state of the art" or do you simply mean "most expensive?" 

do you own any of the boutique fuses mentioned on this thread?

I have HiFi Tuning regular, supreme and silverstar, SR Red, and Furutech fuses here.

Have you owned boutique receptacle's such as furutech NCF rhodium duplexes?

Currently using Acme silver-plated, Porter  Ports, and Furutech GTX.

Have you ever owned State of the art power cord's?

Multiple cords by Furutech and Neotech and I also currently own an Isoclean Auto Focus cord. 

Etc.....  here is a statement,  what if I told you I never heard a component that was a more substantial sound improvement than my cable's?,  you see, I own State of the art etc.. such as mentioned on this post, it is really silly at best or bluntly put, ignorant to nay say anything unless you own it, or have owned it over substantial period of time.

That is why I try to speak to only items I have owned and what I heard from them in my system.

What is your point???

And for cradle type fuse holders, you can take a small orthodontic rubber band and wrap around the top of the holder at each end to apply a little pressure to the contacts.  You can also wrap a piece of Teflon tape around the glass body to dampen ringing.