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ORANGE Fuse rejected

So, to bring everyone up to date, my favorite fuse for analog equipment has been Furutech for a long time (I’m really sad that they no longer make the fuse). For digital transport type equipment, the best fuse has been Audiomagic Superfuse (NOT beeswax fuse - in my opinion the beeswax fuses push too hard on the voltage - this is the best I can explain what happens).

So, with the addition of a Farad Super3 linear power supply added for my Pink Faun S/PDIF computer card, I decided to try a Synergistic Orange fuse on this Farad power supply. It has been in the unit for at least 6 weeks constant now (24 hours a day). I recently finalized the burn-in of my last set of digital AES/EBU cables and sat down for critical listening and comparison. While this setup allowed me to differentiate between the digital cables and select which ones sounded the best, there was no cable that really sounded "good". I was really confused at this point because the sound had this harsh edge no matter what digital cable I put in the system.

So, I decided to pull the ORANGE and put back in an Audiomagic Superfuse. Low and behold, all that harshness was gone!! Also, the Audiomagic Superfuse gave me more tones and texture in the bass than the ORANGE fuse did. It sounded much more natural as well (throughout the entire frequency range).

I remember when I first put the ORANGE fuse in, it was like "wow, there’s so much high frequency resolution". But in the end, this was too much and too harsh (like someone turning up the sharpness on the TV way too much!). The ORANGE fuse -might- do well in warm laid back sounding equipment, but I only build my systems with high resolution detailed equipment and the ORANGE is not a good match for this.

Like I said, the Furutech Rhodium has been the best I have used for analog equipment (i.e. preamps / amps). However, it is a bit too slow and colored for digital transports (streamers, transport, bluray players, roku, video processors, etc.). The Audiomagic Superfuse excels in the digital transport area because it is fast and also neutral sounding.

There appears to be another thread here talking about Quantum Science fuses, in which even the Light Blue was an improvement over the Synergistic ORANGE. I may read through that thread and possibly try one of the Light Blue or Yelllow in the future sometime. Maybe it would be a good alternative to Furutech Rhodium.
auxinput

Showing 9 responses by auxinput

auxinput OP
2,920 posts
 
Please explain why members having a 9,000-12,000 posting history are unlikely to add anything constructive to this conversation.

It's my opinion that they spend most of their time trolling and posting junk rather than providing useful constructive thoughts on their experiences. 

auxinput OP
2,920 posts
 
And a warning for anyone reading this, I won't respond to negative comments.  All are free to post/read, but keep in mind that the people who have 9,000-12,000 posts in their history are not likely to add anything constructive to this conversation.  Anyone who posts with experiences of "what they actually heard" is much more valuable than any assumed negative commentary.
auxinput OP
2,920 posts
 
I pay specific attention to the direction of the fuse holder using a digital multi-meter to determine the "input" direction of the HOT/LIVE leg of the AC power cord.  I used the arrow printed on the ORANGE fuse to place it in the "direction" of the HOT input.  I will try putting it in backwards in the next day or two if I have time.
auxinput OP
2,920 posts
 
Does anyone know where is the ´´HOT  input ´´ on the LuminX1 power supply ?
If you look at a standard IEC inlet (such as your Lumin X1 power supply).  There will be two power prongs and then a single ground prong at the bottom.  The HOT contact is the top/right prong.  You will have to use a continuity tester or digital multi-meter to test which fuse contact connects directly with this HOT prong.  The fuse arrow/direction should be pointed away from this HOT fuse clip contact. That's how I generally place fuse direction.
auxinput OP
2,920 posts
 
On fuses such as Synergistic or Furutech, I generally use the direction of the printing.
auxinput OP
2,920 posts
 
In my experience, the Audiomagic fuses are not really directional. (well, they might be, but I have placed them forwards and backwards without hearing any significant differences). That being said, I have not done an A/B test where I reversed the direction for critical listening on Audiomagic fuse direction.

Fuses that I have tested and rejected: Hi-Fi Tuning Gold, Hi-Fi Tuning Silverstar, Hi-Fi Tuning Supreme, Isoclean, Synergistic SR20, Synergistic RED, Synergistic ORANGE, BUSS, Littelfuse (these are okay, but just okay).

Disclaimer: I have NOT tested the Quantum Science Audio fuses at all. These may work just as well for digital transport, but since I have no idea what kind of sonic character they impart, I can’t make a definite recommendation here.

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On the 9-12k post count, this is a generalization of what I see with most of these kinds of posts. Don’t take it as an absolute 100% match for every scenario.
auxinput OP
2,920 posts
 
Interesting take on the Furatech Rhodium. I tried one in my phono preamp and found it somewhat sterile adding a chromium color to the music.
I have not tested Furutech in a phono preamp.  I'm not a turntable guy, but I have heard some amazing turntable systems.  The Furutech has an extremely long burn-in somewhere between 300-500 hours, so you may have been in that really painful area.  And the rhodium does sometimes add a chromium color, especially when used in a digital transport or with Rhodium XLR/BNC connectors for a digital cable.  Also, in some systems, the Furutech Rhodium was a little bit too mild / laid back, so it is entirely system dependent.
auxinput OP
2,920 posts
 
ORANGE FUSE REVERSED.  Okay, I did reverse the direction on the Orange fuse and did critical listening.  While it did not have as an extreme effect as the original direction, it did still have a somewhat sterile harsh tone.  I even reversed the fuse again back in my original direction just to make sure.  In my opinion, the ORANGE fuse imparts somewhat of a sterile harsh bright character.  The direction of the fuse does impact this as the sterile/harshness was even worse in one direction, but it still carried the same type of signature.

Putting the Audiomagic Superfuse back in, again, removed the problems that the ORANGE fuse was presenting.  I reversed direction on the Audiomagic a couple times and I could not hear any significant difference.  The AM is much better, comes across more relaxed and much more natural sounding, but still presenting the upper mids and highs in a very fast and crystal clean way without any harshness.  Stronger bass with more bass tones and texture.
auxinput OP
2,920 posts
 
There are currently "new" Furutech fuses but they come out of HKG and are terribly finished and fail--I'd avoid them.

I took a look at it seems that these are from China sellers on ebay.  I suspect they are counterfeit products (which is very common on ebay from China).  The product box pictures don't even look the same.

I remember when Furutech originally discontinued, there were a number of Japan sellers on ebay selling out the remaining "real" Futurech fuses.
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