Fuses that matter.

I'd like a sample of (I'll pay) what geoffkait is smoking. I have a friend with continuous pain who I am sure would benefit immensely. Please divulge.I don't need a money back guarantee-the stuff obviously works well and completely numbs one to reality. Must be 5 star. 

I had the same experience that Strateahead had. The SR Red was a bit bright in my system as well. The AH and Red both added more depth and bigger sound stage, but the AH allowed for a richer tonal balance. I had been using the SR20 fuses with the WA chips. I have purchased an additional AH fuse and plan to buy more. They have been a very worthwhile upgrade for my system.

@T_ramey - I tried out the SR Red and the AH Platinum in the same equipment (not a true A-B comparison OK). I found the SR Red to be great on inner detail retrieval, but a tad bright IMHO. The Synergistic folks were nice enough to give no questions asked refund. The AH Platinum is still in service.

So has anybody had the chance to compare the SR Red to the AH Platinum?

After_hrs, I still use both the H-Cat line stage and amp in my small room in NM. Presently I have the first Syn. Res. Quantum fuse in both. I know that they take 32mm fuses and think the value is 1 amp. I have yet to try the Syn. Rels. red fuses but soon will.

I also have found that the H-Cat is very responsive to vibration isolation and power cords. The Stillpoints Ultra minis work great under it and the Exemplar Portal power cord work well with it. My area code is 979 and 820-1314. Give me a call.

The H-Cat is amazing isn't it. My Koda K 10 is clearly better at only eleven times the cost!

Hello,

Sorry to break in to the discussion but...

I have read through this thread hoping to get Tbg's fuse choice for his H-CAT preamplifier.

Tgb, would you kindly share your current fuse choice.
I continue to be amazed at the performance of this device, besting some very expensive tube preamps and all this with the .50 fuse it came with 10 years ago.

Cheers, and thanks in advance

Thankyou Knghifi for giving that info on what to listen for when doing listening test on these SR Red fuses, that was alot of help,cheers.

Hi TBG, Elliot of Synerchistic Research said the the new top of the line fuses, the SR Reds only come in 500 volts, you can go to vh-audio web site too, there you will see the same specification, Elliot did say that the 500 volts would not matter, just the 1-amp like JWM has said, however, when it comes to my amp that I love and have to much money into, it's best for me to get many second opinions, cheers.

Audiolabyrinth, I don't recall ever seeing a 500 volt fuse. Were your component that expects to see 117 volts to ever see 250 volts, much less 500 volts, you would have a smelly mess.

A fuse in the wrong direction should sound noticeably harsher and more sour.

In my VAC SigMKIIa pre, wrong direction sounds similar to out of phase and not harsh. Image was fat, rounded and limited extension in both directions.

If the voltage is higher that is fine, its the amperage that should be the same.

I found out that I have to have fast blow fuses for my amp, however, the SR Reds only come in 500 volts 1-amp!, my fuses are 250 volts 1-amp, will this matter!

Thankyou Rodman99999 and Geoffkait for your advice, listening to one fuse at a time, and flipping one way to the other sounds good to me, I need 4 of these SR-reds, However, I am still waiting on Krell to tell me what my 250 volts 1-amp fuses are?, slow blow or fast blow?, for my Krell 700cx stereo amplifier, cheers gentleman.

Mr A- If you intend to reverse your internal fuses anyway: do your measurements while they are removed from the amp, to eliminate any possible issues. Place them on something non-conductive and be certain not to touch your fuses or probes during the procedure, so as not to affect the results(the variations of which will be minuscule anyway).

A fuse in the wrong direction should sound noticeably harsher and more sour. If you have more than one fuse of course listen to each fuse one at a time.

It seems the best bet would leave my top plate off my amp, and do listening test as to what may sound better by flipping the fuse's one way to the other to get best results instead of testing resistance of each side, I have bad luck, I would likly make the mistake checking resisance with the amp on and up in smoke everything would go?,listening would be my best bet, informative post here, enjoyable to read and learn from, carry on gentleman, cheers.

SORRY; I meant to include this: (http://www.scientific.net/MSF.207-209.47)

There's nothing, "theoretic," about the molecular structure and grain boundaries of metals, and the effect on electrical conductivity. Just in case you're actually interested in facts: (http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=metal+grain+boundaries+and+conductivity&hl=en&as_sdt=0&as_vis=1&oi=scholart&sa=X&ei=Yy9dVMjWKsKcygTgwILYCg&ved=0CBsQgQMwAA)

The fact is a this is applied physics not theoretical physics. Someone is a little superstitious, one assumes....how long have directional cables and directional fuses been with us? Gotta be at least twenty years.

There is a difference between theoretic models, even if 100% precise, and mattering.

Just saying...

A bit more insight, regarding metallic molecular structure, available here: (http://www.chemguide.co.uk/atoms/structures/metals.html)

Jazz,

I have no doubt anything different can make a difference. Caps, wires, fuses, not exactly apples/apples. The question is always how much, how significant, how much it matters, etc. Lots of things add up to a good design and good performance. Its not rocket science but no doubt some do things right and some not so much. I try to stick with vendors and products that have been around awhile and have a reputaiton for doing things right. Not to say there is no room for further tweaking, but you have to prioritize somehow. Most do not have infinite time available to much around with every minute aspect of everything.

TO each there own. It's all understood well enough to deliver SOTA results I think. ITs not rocket science. WHatever floats ones boat is always fine with me, even if I do not agree.

The molecular structure of all metals is crystalline. The grain boundaries of the crystals, and oxides between, can act as mini diodes. That's why oxygen-free(7N) and Ohno Constant Crystal wire is so popular, in higher-end cabling. When drawn into wire; the crystals form themselves into a consistent chevron pattern(ie: <<<<<<<). That wire can be found directional when passing electricity, should not be a surprise(even in a fuse).

Mapman, not all circuit designers, even good ones, are aware that direction matters. E.g. caps, I would say most tube amp manufacturers do not place the metal film coupling caps correctly and a lot of cap brands do not mark where the outer oil is (that should be connected to the path closer to the electric ground) to have a better sonic quality. Similar to the fuse direction, when deployed correctly, the sound offer more clarity.

Often those with an investigative mind and/or have system and ears or setups like great headphones can discern the difference and in the very small niche of audio gear, it is not the first time that DIY and audio enthusiasts discovered what designers and manufacturers did not know.

"This also leads to the need for science to follow up on this. "

If it was so important, would think it would have by now.

Geoffkait, I must admit that my reading was most cursory. I was hoping that I could easily identify the best direction. No such luck, I guess.

This also leads to the need for science to follow up on this. Why does one direction sound better? How does Isoclean decide?

Norm the T3 has lower resistance when cryo'd the T2 has the opposite result. Tom

Tbg, no offense intended but I suggest you try a second reading of the data.

;-)

Cryoparts sells very inexpensive ceramic fuses.Anyone tried them?

Theaudiotweak, my first reading of these data, suggest that cryoing increases resistance. I love the Tesla coil treatment that Syn. Res. does but find cryoing questionable, perhaps because some such treatment is not done right.

I saw this awhile back. It is also evident to the benefit of cryogenically treating materials. My mono bloc amps have newly redesigned circuit boards and of course all the parts including the transformers and magnets have been cryo treated at least twice. I haven't moved or changed any other device in months waiting for the amp re assembly to begin. I wonder if the magnets would now show a lower resistance after nearly being frozen in time. Tom

If it's so easy why don't more people do it? Lol

http://www.hifi-tuning.com/pdf/wlfr.eng.pdf

Geoffkait, I have been unable to find the data that you found on the Hi-Fi Tuning webpage. Can you give a specific address. Measuring resistance would be easy enough to do.

Thankyou Geoffkait and TBG, Sgordon1, you gentleman were very helpful, this will be my first attempt with fuses, that is why I am asking about them, I believe the both of you, cables are directional most of the time, why not the wire in fuses?, makes sence to me, however, I agree with TBG and would like to know why this is so with fuses, do any of you believe that the wrong direction can cause damage to the unit?, hope not, cheers.

Why does direction matter? If you were an electromagnetic wave would you rather travel over a porcupine's back with the quills or against the quills?

Audiolabyrinth, when SR came out with their earlier fuses, their chief engineer said that the zapped them both ways on their tesla coil. This made them non-directional, he said. When I got some, I found that they always sounded better in one direction and that this was opposite to the writing on the fuses. I have never found that fuse direction doesn't matter, but I haven't a clue why this is so.

I have not tried the new SR red fuses as yet. It is probably a pain identifying which way sounds best as this may vary on production runs. I would be helpful were we to have research on this to tell us why direction is important, rather than putting our heads in the sand as so many do.

Hi, audio labyrinth, Hi Fi Tuning used to claim that his fuses were not directional and that they would break in properly no matter which way they were inserted. But he has since recanted. In fact his data sheets provided on the Hi Fi Tuning web site illustrate that in fact wire is directional, and will exhibit slightly less resistance, for example, one way than the other. It's an easy experiment to listen to any fuse one way then the other. Hint: when the fuse is inserted in the wrong direction you should hear a little less coherent sound and a little more say stringent or harsh metallic sound.

If you can hear a difference, then there is a difference.
If you can't, then there isn't. For you, in that specific
application.

Hi Geoffkait, Do you really believe that fuses would be directional?, I will need four of the SR Reds to go into my krell 700cx, the reply from krell when I asked them about these fuses being directional,quote, you read to much into this, it does not matter which way the fuses go in your amp, end quote, However, I would like to know how I can decide which way the fuses set inside my amplifier to sound best?, It is my opinion that the manufacturer does not know everything concerning fuses after that reply to me, are do you think that they are correct concerning their product?

"Hasse - See my post above."
Sorry Hifial, I missed your post, "Red" seems interesting. Thanks

One reason why aftermarket fuses usually sound better than stock fuses is simply because they are inserted in the proper direction, especially if the stock fuse was inserted backwards. Now, knowing that wire in the fuse is directional should be a tip-off that all wire is directional, no? Can you imagine what the sound could be like if all speakers and electronics and transformers and capacitors, etc. were fabricated with this directionality in mind? Hel-loo!

Hasse - See my post above.

>>..if there is such a thing as a better fuse???
The same reason there is a different kind of power cord, the same reason there is a different kind of speaker.

Anyone tried the new, and quite expensive, Synergistic Red? How does it compare to other "high-end" fuses? I am thinking of trying something better than the stock fuses in my Maggie 3.7´s....if there is such a thing as a better fuse???

Ask Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson about fuses that matter. :^)

Tbg-
Awesome. I will give that a shot. Thank you so mucfor that insight information!

Budburma, I faced this some time ago. When the manufacturer could not or would not tell me the direction of the fuses, I used a meter to find the side of the fuse with the least resistance to the hot pin of the IEC. I figured that the direction of the fuse was from this side to the other. One manufacturer suggested that most designers used this convention.

It is still a pain to do but better than to have to switch each fuse and listen and on and on.

@Wig-Ouch. Directional, huh?...and there are 5 in the Plinius SA201.
I may wait as I am considering a change to Electrocompaniet.

Thankyou Rodman99999, I will input the SR quantum Reds in my amplifier,I will be absolute as to what, fast blow or slow blow, I am thinking fast blow, I will listen to krell as to what this amp has to have, As I am going to make my modded krell 700cx one of a kind to my likeing, I have already got different total capacitors in this amp, I expected a subtle difference there, I was corrected to having a substantial difference with sound quality, most notably, the resolutution is unlike any krell I have ever owned before, let's put it this way, with the incredible air and 3-dimensional sound I am getting on this resolution, I would be purly impressed to find the SR Red fuses to improve upon that, oh yeah, I am batting for the REDs, bring it!

I've found that the SR are directional but I'm enjoying the AH fuses which are the best I've tried so far; The Reds are on my shortlist...