McIntosh fuse changeout to make better sound

Better conductivity is not a guaranteed path to better sound. Consistent conductivity may be.

What do you do when their under-rated fuse burns out. Can you still return it?

You are right you can't have it both ways. You can promote all sorts of exotic contact materials and high pressure contacts for AC cables, wall outlets, even IEC plugs, yet claim the contacts on a typically very cheap fuse holder which passes the same current, can't make a difference.

Hey OP, @ucdmac122005,
As yourself, does this sound like the opinion of someone you can trust to be unbiased, take some care in their listening tests?  Pretty much a given whoever wrote this does not have a firm grasp of the physics of electricity, how electronics work, etc.  They have to make a call to some hereto unknown facet of theoretical physics, of which they have no evidence or proof. Take that for what it is.

As the 'Flat Earth Church of Pushing Electrons Through Metals' continues it's fevered program, to deliver the music lover from the demonic influences of their own mental faculties and senses (HOLLOW-HEADED-LUJAH, AMEN): the intrepid listen on and enjoy the rewards of their own experimentation.    

If you are reading this, and you are new here, 95% of the time those that believe in "tweaks", which invariably are used somewhere in the electronics, don't have any depth of knowledge of how electronics actually work.   Does having a deeper understanding of electronics and electricity magically change your ears?  It may actually change your brain, as you will be less susceptible to suggestion.

w.r.t. "trying it", I have lots of audiophile friends who tell me about these crazy upgrades. Invariably, when I visit, they will demonstrate it, and I won't hear a difference.  Then I sit them down and make the change without them knowing what I did  ... and they don't either, though I have found loose contacts and corrosion that perhaps contributed to the change.

The so called "tweaks" rarely stand up to scrutiny.  There is no valid explanation for what the tweak does, and even when the explanation is in the realm of possibility, you will never find enough details to validate the claim (except fuses in the speaker path).

Wow, hotroady, way to behave like an a-- so easily. If people can't handle disagreement of opinion without behaving like an angry child (which you just behaved like), then perhaps the Internet is not for them.

Or it means you are susceptible to self suggestion. Have someone else make the change .... Oh and yes I have with many audiophile buddies. They can only tell a difference when they know the change.

Can you hear a change in sound? You can? That's great it means your system is sufficiently resolving and would respond to a better fuse.

George, you know I don't believe in fuses, but you also know, I have told you several times, that this argument, does not make fun of fuse believers, it makes fun of you, and your lack of understanding of how electricity works.   "AC" is not the reason why fuse direction does not matter.  Fuses are not directional (practically), hence why it does not matter in an AC circuit.  Thought exercise for you. You replace the fuse with a diode. Does the circuit operation change?  Yes. Does it change because it is AC or because the diode is directional?

georgehifi8,097 posts12-18-2020 9:23pm
Some i****s or (shills) will have you believe they can hear directional differences in an AC mains fuse, even though ac 60hz mains changes it direction 180 degrees 60 times a second, I let you digest that one.

Cheers George

George unfortunately you're understanding of electricity doesn't appear to be deep enough to have this conversation. you are trying to use AC as a justification for the fuse not being directional but that is a false argument because the fuse isn't directional is actually why AC doesn't matter.

I do find the claims that people who did not believe in fuses must not have tried it because many of us have I have many times with many people that's why I'm pretty confident about my position. What I'm also pretty confident about is that all the people who claim that people who don't believe infuses have never tried it have never themselves actually done a proper blind test a fuses after cleaning the contacts. So to them I say unless you've actually done a blind test and have cleaned the contacts you actually haven't done the test.

Now explain why every time my audiophile buddies over the years have claimed some amazing improvements from fuses, when I forced them to listen blind, those amazing improvements disappear. I do make sure to clean the fuse contact first to remove that variable.

Yes, confirmation bias is a thing and it’s proven every time someone says fuses can’t, and won’t, make a difference. They believe it so deeply that when they listen, they don’t hear any differences or write off any as of no consequence.

Tis called a blind test. You didn’t meet with rudeness your very first post was rude. Does someone have anger issues?

how do you "prove" what someone did or not hear??

Well Holo Audio checks off every other snake oil claim w.r.t. May DAC (but can't figure out a buffer) so why not add fuses in there?  Starting off with NOS at redbook rates is already a flawed presentation.  I did get a kick out of their marketing. That was some seriously thick spreading of the brown stuff.



https://www.kitsunehifi.com/product/holo-audio-may-dac/