Pity they don't make the value I need (4 x 0.25A).
Brimar fuses
Here is what I hope to be my last foray into fuses. Never
wanting to pay too much but get my money’s worth has always been my goal. So
far I’ve tried HiFi Tuning Silver Star fuses and found them to have an
exaggerated leading edge. It was great for impact and getting your attention
but the body and lower end paid a price for it.
Next up were the PADIS fuses. Like @auxinput pointed out, the break in would be grueling due to the rhodium in the end caps. Up and down went my appreciation for them as they could sound so good and then take a turn towards darkness. After a long break in period , they settled on the dark side of things, musically, and I found myself not listening to my stereo any more.
After seeing a mention of Brimar fuses over at Mono & Stereo, I went to the link and read up on them. Gold plated silver fuses cryo’d for 72 hrs and Quantum treated for another 48 hrs by Telos. At $35 apiece I took the plunge. Free shipping for orders over $100 helped.
Let me say upfront that these are incredibly neutral sounding fuses. Highs go on forever but never make me cringe. Bass is textured and articulate no matter how low things go. Not a one note bass note in earshot as all the low notes are textured and granular. Everything in the soundstage is really open and clear, allowing the furthest reaches of the back of the stage to have just as much clarity and detail as the front most part of the stage. Just the volume is lower by comparison (is that how recording engineers do it?). Artist placement is a cinch to locate and they never waver unless they themselves move. Quite easy to tell.
Each fuse packet came with a note advising 125hrs for break in. Since I leave my gear on 24/7, it took six days to achieve. The only “improvement” so far is everything is a bit richer overall as the clarity and detail were there right from the start. Maybe a tightening of images but that could be due to the enriching as body and tone are up a notch, giving them more apparent presence.
The last thing that impressed me was the added effect of the Brimar fuse in my integrated. With the first two brands, there was a small but appreciated gain in the “oomph” factor compared to the greater improvement in my SACD player. With the Brimar fuse, the strength of the music just scaled. It was like going 70mph in a small 4 cylinder car to one with a V8. Gloved iron fist and all. Dynamics are great and even the lightest touch of an instrument is readily and easily heard. Tablas, finger rolls on drums and bongos are alive in the room. The best thing is that when a solo performer is recorded the right way, like Elanor Frey and her cello on Dialoghi, she’s right in front of my ottoman and not in the plane of my speakers. I've yet to hear anything that's not been improved, sound stage wise.
I can’t see how Telos charges $85 for their fuses and Brimar gets the same treatment for $35 but it’s really not a complaint. You can buy them from Brimar direct. They made my monitors sound so much better that I seriously thought about cancelling my order for new speakers but I was a good boy this year and Santa wrote back that he would......
All the best,
Nonoise
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@twoleftears sorry they don't make them in the value you need. These really don't appear to have any sonic signature other than a strong tendency for clarity. @marqmike I decided to try out some JBL 4319 monitors. One look at them tells you they are all function over form: wider baffles than the norm with front facing ports and that big 12" woofer, mag/al mid driver and semi horn loaded tweeter, and those trim pots at the top. I'm tired of looks being a determinate over the sound. I won't get them until after the new year but I have the stands just sitting there, patiently awaiting their arrival. All the best, Nonoise |
I hear you. To get the same qualities out of a fuse you need to spend a lot more. I won't say that the Brimar fuses are the equal of SR fuses but how they treat them is similar in some ways and they do sound wonderful right out of the box with zero break in, much like the latest offering from SR. I think theses were designed for the Asian market as a way to get what we, in the rest of the world get, and were priced accordingly. It's just a hunch but it makes sense to me now that I think of it. No one else sells Brimar fuses save for Brimar. Hopefully demand will get them to add some fast blow fuses. All the best, Nonoise |
Thanks for the report. When I read all of the (fuse threads), no one really specifies if they are changing just the AC inlet fuse in their evaluations or others such as circuit board fuses. I’d appreciate anyone making this distinction going forward. Did you have an issue with directionality or try reversing the fuse? Mono & Stereo..could you elaborate? Is this an online dealer? |
@slaw , as it happens, I lucked out on directionality (50-50 chance) and it sounded great, first time, as I went through my usual CDs to check things out. The fuses did their magic with both applications you mentioned. As for Mono and Stereo High-End Audio Magazine, it’s a review and preview site for audio gear and trends. All the best, Nonoise |
I changed them in my integrated (one, inside and next to AC inlet) and SACD player (four, on circuit board). They are marked as any fuse should be and I found that positioning them with the Brimar label running the same way as the lettering on the circuit board worked fine. It may not be the same in your case so if it sounds off at first, try it the other way. All the best, Nonoise |