Sounds about right. But in all honesty @thecarpathian, I don’t believe Ted has ever disclosed this information, at least not through my readings anyway.
Quote
Q: Are fuses directional?
A: Yes, fuses are directional. Electricity should flow from the left to the right when you view the fuse (from "S" to the "R"). If you do not know the direction of flow, you should listen to the fuse inserted in both directions. One direction will sound more detailed. This is the correct way.
I’ve studied the direction of electricity flow prior to inserting any of these fuses in the gear. Therefore, "set and done" so to speak. For those of you with any ModWright Instrument Amps specifically the KWA150 Signature Edition, one needs to be delicate and extra careful during the process of fuse removal and installation.
Appreciate the response, but what exactly did you mean by it?
Are you saying by some proprietary process it somehow becomes directional as if one end of the identically ended fuse receives some secret treatment the other end doesn't, thereby somehow making it directional?
Always buy the most expensive fuse that SR dishes up every couple of years as although they do nothing (except some previous versions I tested extensively did blow as they were rated improperly), the higher price does increase your expectation bias and thus the imagined improvement. Especially when fuse direction is tested...you know you can hear the difference because you know you’re Special, and although fancy fuses have been rejected by the vast majority of audiophiles and manufacturers (and really, what the hell does Nelson Pass know anyway?) you feel better...and people respect you (maybe)...you’re smart and a little more sensitive...you do get a 30 day trial period to return them, possibly casting doubt on your Specialness, and hey...you don’t want that.
I’m a bit curious as it sounds like these fuses are meant to be used in tandem with the less expensive but more "musical" Purple and Orange fuses. I can understand this, in a few components I found Purple to be absolutely tubby and midrange saturated. On the other hand, I have tried QSA fuses that were very high resolution and dynamics, but totally lacking in fullness, texture, and bass. I imagine these might be similar, pushing the envelope technically, but relying on other fuses to make the sound musical/listenable, and easy to overdo with more than one.
I’m less inclined to think of these as a cash grab than being stuck at a fork where they aren’t able to put all the attributes they want in a single fuse, but they can make an overpoweringly technical fuse specifically for upstream components.
As much as people complain, I’ve used 3k power cords that have an equivalent or lesser effect than an SR fuse. Unfortunately, I think QSA did realize this and cranked up their prices to closer match other power products.
No-one has mentioned whether it matters which way around you insert your fuses.
No-one has mentioned that your house supply contains other fuses and breakers, most of which are a lot bigger and thicker than those in your audio system. What about them?
What about the fuse for the supply to your turntable? Can this make a difference too.
What about the fuses for the supply to electrostatic speakers?
Do tell us!
This time and money-wasting exercise sure still has a long way to go.
These things have all been mentioned and discussed - but your purpose in these threads is not to participate earnestly, but to denigrate the product and those who enjoy them. Please stay out.
I had Purple for a while in my integrated and DAC. It was interesting, but I ended up preferring the sound with it removed eventually; too much bloom and mid-bass emphasis. I could see these working for less musical systems though.
I think this is honestly a cash grab and realizing that competition from QSA has proven there’s demand for higher priced fuses. I’ll try one in my DAC. Only thing I’ll lose is time, but for me it’s a fun process.
No-one has mentioned whether it matters which way around you insert your fuses.
No-one has mentioned that your house supply contains other fuses and breakers, most of which are a lot bigger and thicker than those in your audio system. What about them?
What about the fuse for the supply to your turntable? Can this make a difference too.
What about the fuses for the supply to electrostatic speakers?
Do tell us!
This time and money-wasting exercise sure still has a long way to go.
Here is the recommendation from SR's Ted Denney himself:
Yes, you can put a Master Fuse on your amplifier, but in all likelihood, you will try one or two higher up in the signal chain, like your DAC and or PRE, and choose this as your place to stop. In the system with a loom of Purple and/or Orange fuses, the point of diminishing returns will likely be reached with the addition of one or two Master Fuses higher up in the signal path. If someone would like to try a third Master Fuse, sure try on your power amp (or Ethernet Switch) But in all likelihood, most will find their best results with one or two Master Fuses higher up the signal chain than the amplifier which is end, or very near the end of the chain.
US and European plugs do not contain fuses as the fuse is on the device itself. This is quite different from systems in the UK and the Commonwealth where the fuse is in the plug of the power cable AND in the device itself. This being the case, if someone in the UK wants to get the benefit of any of the fuses under discussion here, does he replace the fuse in the plug of the power cable, in the device OR in both the power cable and device (ouch!)?
As it happens today I found a T4A SR Purple fuse and put it in my 10 Mhz Masterclock 12VDC power supply.
Absolutely amazing. Maybe had something to do with a full loom of Purples. Except for my power conditioner which has a Power House Zero 2 fuse (amazing).
So I’ll be getting a SR Master for my DAC and maybe one for my power conditioner.
Any news on fuse sizing guidelines? Same as Purple, go up one level?
I talked to Synergistic Research yesterday asking if this master fuse could go in my amp or pre amp. The answer was no. They only suggest putting it in a dac.
I seems that in every product category (yes, high end fuses ARE a product category), there's a desire to create a product in a space not yet occupied. Elevating the price point 2x the existing "reference" is nothing new in high end audio. And, in each and every case, highly energetic discussions occur challenging their cost vs performance.
For the "right" system, this $595 fuse might be the best bang for the buck invested to date in the system. Or, not. Only a listening test will determine their true value to the listener.
The increased pricing of each new Synergistic fuse is pretty strong evidence that the game afoot here is expectation bias, leveraging trite, shallow assumptions that you get what you pay for. and newer is better.
The money-back trial is just a math equation for extremely high-margin products. If If the guarantee doubles the number of trials, you don't care if some (or many) are returned because the net profit is massively increased. And if you're marketing something as elusive as sound perception then once-bought, the product is often kept because it might be making a difference.
Does it cost synergistic THAT much more to manufacture the Master Fuse than it did their earlier models? Or was its price determined by the cynical principal of "whatever the market will bear"? Hey, I'm just askin' ;-) .
Mark Twain said "It is easier to con someone than it is to convince them that they have been conned."
You're quoting Twain because he's right, right?
Given that, why are you bothering to try to convince people that they're conned? Do you have magic powers that Twain didn't know about? Or is this kind of a religious mission for you?
I would never buy an amp that I couldn't afford to replace. And many of these fuses approach the value of the amp they are supposed to protect by destroying themselves.
I'll stick to my approach of no fuse and I'm prepared to replace (or more likely repair) the amp if necessary.
The new Master fuse is priced out of most audiophiles budget. I bought 3 of their purple fuses. That wasn't a bad way to spend on a system tweak. But the Master of 3 fuses is way touch for this audiophile. I'll stay with the purple haze fuses.
Fuses, including the expensive audiophile fuses, are always a minor degradation to the sound compared to solid wire. Ignore masturba...92 and he may go away.
The Purples need break in - maybe 50 hours on mine before they really kicked in though upon first installing they make an audible difference immediately.
I'll try the SR Mast Fuse in the Nordost QB-8 strip that powers my $90k retail system, replacing the Purple that's in there now which replaced the Orange that was in there before.
Each step was an improvement and I've got a $100 off coupon at Highend-Electronics. That and the 30 day trial makes this a no brainer...
Oh, and most recently treated all wires and devices with Nano Flo inside and out of each and every component..no longer available..but well worth the time and hassle. Tom
When I rebuilt my power amps I sent all components out to be cryod. Included were all poly caps, active devices ,new circuit boards , brass hardware , internal Live Vibe platform on which the circuit board is mounted and tensioned thru the chassis, all the Audiopoints, all wire and the last butt knot least the power transformers in each...oh and the magnets. It all matters , everything makes a difference. Tom
The youtube demo was amazing. With 6 fuses in each amp, I am hard pressed to upgrade the fuses. I bypassed the fuses in my two amps and the results were no less than outstanding. The sound stage improvement was the first thing I noticed, but after about 3 weeks, the bass improved dynamically. Not just my ears either.
I am planning on Purple ing my preamp and my Dac, If I went with one master fuse, where would be the best place to put it?
I have hifi tuning only because that's what came with the speakers. I put in fuses from home depot. Absolutely no difference. None. Zero. Zilch. I'm just happy I didn't waste money.
The Synergistic Purple fuses that I installed in my amps and pre-amp improved the sound for me. Some folks get angry when you don't hear the world only through their ears.
@coralkong: what about all the miles of very fine wire in the power transformers in each component? Plenty of resistance and high inductance there! Compared to that a half-inch of fuse wire is nothing! Add that to the fact that the audio signal does not go through the AC line fuse. Mark Twain said "It is easier to con someone than it is to convince them that they have been conned."
@audioman58, some people bring absolutely nothing useful to a discussion. They don't know what they don't know.
I try to ignore them. Why they feel the need to post on discussions such as this baffles me. It only makes them look dumb.
Everything matters, and fuses can make a huge difference in the sound of your components. Is a $600 fuse worth popping into a $6K, $8K component that already has an audiophile fuse (SR Purple in my case) worth it? I don't know. Start upping the ante to $10k-plus components and then I can start to see the value proposition. I might try one, and see if it's worth it or not. I know all of SR's stuff comes with a 30 day money back guarantee, so nothing ventured, nothing gained.
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