Merrill VERITAS Red fuse upgrade


I urge all future & existing VERITAS owners to get the upgrade ASAP! I had mine upgraded about 3 weeks ago & they have never sounded better. Imaging(which is already one of the VERITAS's strong points) is now even better! More dimensional & vivid image. Separation from the speakers has also improved which makes the soundstaging more precise. Not sure if it's due to the blacker background people have mentioned is a plus from Synergetic Research‘s Red fuse all I know is I like it alot! Bass has more authority & texture now also. All from a fuse?! Amazing! Such big benefit for little(in a world of $10K+ cables) cost should not be passed up!
My Merrill VERITAS amps continue to impress me & audio buddies. I couldn't be happier with my purchase I made almost two years ago. Never a hiccup just pure audio bliss!

Quiet/no heat/no maintenance/small size/high power/low power consumption/bulletproof quality construction/excellent sound

BTW- Next week I have a JPS Lab's excellent Kaptivator power cord coming & will be trying it on the VERITAS! I’ll keep ya posted…...
ptheo
I've never heard textured bass. Amazing!
Do I buy it from you or your friend?
I find audiophile fuses amusing in that, when they blow, people get mad and think they bought a defective fuse. But when a regular fuse blows, they look elsewhere for the problem.
I find Merrill's policy of not allowing customers, or reviewers, inside of their amps interesting given that they are constructed of what are basically off-the-shelf SMPS1200 power supply and NC1200 amplifier modules. There is a single fuse on the SMPS 1200 PS board that could have been bypassed had Merrill included a fused power supply inlet like on my Acoustic Imagery Atsahs. Obviously, since I own the Atsahs, I think the Merrills are great sounding amps, I just find the level of secrecy about their internals to be curious, and maybe a bit inconvenient in the event they ever blow a fuse. Thanks for the tip on the Red fuse upgrade.
Ptheo so you opened your Veritas and is your warranty now voided? From the Merrill web site it states:

"A synergistic fuse is used for the best power supply and excellent response. For the best flow through and contact, the fuse is soldered instead of a fuse holder."
I use SR RED fuses in all my components except for ARC. RED fuse just arrived for my Hegel H30. It's one of the best ROI in audio.

09-30-15: Czarivey
No $90 can purchase me a nice massage with happy ending instead.
Sorry to hear ... I get nice massages with happy endings for FREE but unfortunately not RED fuses.
Congratulations on a satisfying sonic upgrade. I am using the Synergistic Research RED fuse in three different systems and in each system like what I am hearing. The SR fuse is great to try in that they have an excellent return policy if you do not hear an improvement.

I found they can take about a week to reach their maximum effect but there is a significant immediate effect.
09-30-15: Aolmrd1241
Q- Did you do the install?
A- NO WAY. SHIPPED THEM BACK TO MERRILL. Do to my unyielding Audioquest Caldera cables, one of the speaker binding posts came loose. So Merrill was kind enough to ship both amps back on his dime, fix the loose post, upgrade the amps with the new fuses all at the same time. The man charged my for the cost of the fuses only! Who else does that!?

09-30-15: Czarivey
Q- I've never heard textured bass. Amazing!
A- Try Jennifer Warnes cut 'Way down deep'. Definitely came hear better definition down low.

09-30-15: Mitch2
Q- I find Merrill's policy of not allowing customers, or reviewers, inside of their amps interesting given that they are constructed of what are basically off-the-shelf SMPS1200 power supply and NC1200 amplifier modules. There is a single fuse on the SMPS 1200 PS board that could have been bypassed had Merrill included a fused power supply inlet like on my Acoustic Imagery Atsahs. Obviously, since I own the Atsahs, I think the Merrills are great sounding amps, I just find the level of secrecy about their internals to be curious, and maybe a bit inconvenient in the event they ever blow a fuse. Thanks for the tip on the Red fuse upgrade.
A- Merrill does a number proprietary modifications to the board besides soldering the fuses(who else does that?!). That is why you can hear big differences with any improvements on the VERITAS, whether the improvements are internal or external.

10-01-15: Knghifi
Q- I use SR RED fuses in all my components except for ARC. RED fuse just arrived for my Hegel H30. It's one of the best ROI in audio.
A- I plan on installing the SR Red fuse in all my compatible equipment as well.

09-30-15: Czarivey
Q- No $90 can purchase me a nice massage with happy ending instead.
A- Man, where do you live? around here try two big ones+! ;-)
"Sorry to hear ... I get nice massages with happy endings for FREE but unfortunately not RED fuses.
Knghifi"
--Cliche!
Merrill does a number proprietary modifications to the board besides soldering the fuses(who else does that?!). That is why you can hear big differences with any improvements on the VERITAS, whether the improvements are internal or external.
I have not heard about any "proprietary modifications" to the boards being done by Merrill, with the exception that their literature indicates they solder the internal wiring that is typically connected by the wire harnesses included with the Ncore boards. I would think that is a good thing. However, since nobody is allowed to look inside the amps, who can say?
BTW, the board-mounted fuse holders on my Atsahs are bypassed with a wire soldered across so the only power fuse is on the IEC, and replaceable from the back.