Fuses that matter.
I received a Synergistic Research SR20 fuse last week. I never expected it, but the darn thing does smoke the HiFi-Tuning Supreme fuse in my system. When I finally added the WA-Quantum fuse chip, it added the same effects as it did on my HiFi-Tuning Supreme. I know that people dispute all of this about fuses and the fuse chips, but are they expensive tweaks? I have a Furutech, a HiFi-Tuning and a Synergistic Research fuse at about $210.00 and three WA-Quantum fuse chips for $27.00. This much of an investment in tweaks is throw away money compared to my system and all of the revisions and upgrades that I've been through and probably a large percentage of systems on Audiogon. A $70.00 fuse and $9.00 chip is a tiny expense in the grand scheme of things. If it works like it did in my system, great! If it doesn't, it's $80.00. I wish that was all the extra money I've spent through the years. Chuck |
Tbg and everyone, Well, here's a wrench to throw into the fuse mix, the AMR Gold fuse. http://www.amr-audio.co.uk/html/goldfuse_individual.html http://www.amr-audio.co.uk/large_image/AMR%20Music%20Fuse%20Review%20hifi%20ES.pdf I was looking through the various 2012 RMAF reports and saw that Avatar Acoustics received outstanding comments from show reporters. Since I know Darren and Bonnie of Avatar, having bought a Karan amp from them, as well as some Acoustic Systems resonators, and I still use their Afterburner 8 outlets. I revisited their website to browse for anything new and saw the AMR Gold fuse. After reading the review, I thought that I'd try one. There's only $20.00 a piece and I still had one WA-Quantum fuse chip left unused. I received it and put it in. Everyone using audiophile fuses should think about giving this a try. I'll just say that it's in and the three other high-end fuses are in the closet. Chuck |
Milpai, I added the AMR Gold fuse on my system page. I want to make sure that it's understood that the AMR Gold fuse works the best for me in my system. All of the other fuses are extremely good too, and one of them may work better in someone else's system. The real shocker is the price of the AMR fuse. It's only about a fourth of the price of the other fuses. I think that makes it definitely worth a listen. If someone doesn't like it, what have they lost, four cups of Starbucks coffee? Chuck |
Lacee, I found that the chips didn't want to stay wrapped around the fuses. So I bought a chip for each fuse, put them on the fuses and then placed scotch tape over them to hold them down. At only $9.00 a piece, I thought going that route was easier than trying to apply and reapply the chips. As far a receiving a response from Avatar, I'll email Darren and Bonnie and let them know about all of this. Chuck |
Lacee and Zephyr24069, Yes, the AMR fuse is directional, just as the Synergistic Research and HiFi-Tuning Supreme fuses are. I just read your post and I'm at work, but I think that it and the other two brands go the other way. Tbg, in his fuse review said it perfectly. In one direction the fuse sounds perfectly transparent, but when it's reversed, it sounds more full. Both ways sound good, it's just your personal preference. With my Spectron amp and it's extreme transparency, the direction with the fuller sound works the best for me. Chuck |
Orelayer, Let them run in through this weekend. If you still don't like them in your BelCanto's on Monday, reverse their direction. If you still don't like them, take them out. You're only out $40.00-$50.00 and you can sell them here on Audiogon. I'm glad that you like them in your other components. Chuck |
Lacee, I only have fuses in my Spectron (SS) amp, one main and four rail fuses. My Wadia S7i has a separate power supply and has no fuse. When my amp was originally modified, I had HiFi-Tuning Supreme fuses installed. There were no SR or AMR fuses back then and the HiFi Supreme fuse was the top dog. When the SR and then the AMR fuses came out, I tried them and found that in my system, the AMR is clearly the one that gives me the sound that I prefer. Through the years I have used the IsoClean, PS Audio, HiFi Gold, HiFi Silver, Furutech, HiFiSupreme, SR and AMR fuses. I also have a WA fuse chip on the AMR fuse, as I do on all of the other fuses sitting in the closet. After Norm's post about placing the SR rail fuses in his amp, I bought four SR rail fuses along with fuse chips for them and replaced my HiFi Supreme rail fuses. The sound was indeed better as Norm describes. However, the sound was also more powerful and not as laid back as with the HiFi Supreme fuses. Then Tawa posted that the SR fuses weren't as dynamic in his system, so I bought four fuse chips for my HiFi Supreme rail fuses and put them back in this morning. The sound is more dynamic, but not as transparent or detailed as the SR rail fuses. Last week the head Electrical Engineer at work asked me to bring in all of my fuses so that he could see them. His thoughts are interesting and thought provoking. He said that it appears that the Furutech and HiFi-Tuning fuses were fuses, filters and as filters, logically polarized. He also said that it appears that the SR and AMR fuses were indeed just fuses with no filtering. He said that the filtering would explain why the HiFi fuses were more laid back, while the SR and AMR fuses without filtering would be more pure: more powerful and transparent. This difference in the fuses may be more apparent in my system because of an unmentioned piece in this post, the room size. I'm in a 10' x 12.5' room. The effects of the various fuses may be more or less obvious or prominent according to one's room size. Chuck |
The EE said that the marking on the HiFi-Tuning fuses indicate that the fuses are filtering in addition to being a fuse. I don't know why he thought that the Furutech also had filtering, and the SR and AMR didn't. Since he's the head of the plant's engineering department and there's a big construction project going on right now, unfortunately, he's not someone that I can just go see anytime I want. Chuck |
Norm, I know. He was just basing his observation off of the marking on the HiFi-Tuning fuse and assuming that it was there for a reason other than making the fuse look more high-end or snazzy. I think it's the same marking as the one on the HiFi-Tuning Noise Destroyer, which is a filter. It may just be a company logo thing or it may actually mean something about what it's doing. I believe that he said that part of the symbol designates a diode and another something else. Can those things be fitted in there? Chuck |
