QUALITY AND SECURITY OF "LITTELFUSE" PRODUCTS

The fuse argument is much like the power cord argument. People contend that inexpensive wire is in your walls, so why would the last 6 feet matter, and yet most people reading this will agree that it does.

Thom, its not hard to measure the effects of the power cord. The measurements seem to correlate with listening experience (on an amplifier, measure the voltage drop across the cord and also measure the power output; compare to the power output of the amp if the voltage is corrected at the IEC connection using a variac).

We've seen a 2 volt drop across some power cords, which with some of our amplifiers results in a loss of 40 watts. Pretty significant and not a measurement 'buried in the noise'.

You can also measure the effects of a fuse, however we've not been able to measure any effects of the boutique fuses as being any different than the regular ones, assuming that they were indeed the right rating. All that I've ever used is a regular 3 1/2 digit DVM.

If you could use the wiring in the walls as a power cord it would work quite well. However such use is illegal and dangerous due to the wire being solid core.

But how's the SQ?   Does components with best spec sounds the best?

If the power cord does not have a voltage drop, has good shielding and also good high frequency characteristics, its sound quality will be as good as a much more expensive cord with the same characteristics.

Power cords are not actually voodoo, but there is a surprisingly large and totally unnecessary snake oil. I suspect this is because many of the power cord manufacturers simply don't know why their cable works. 

Audiophile fuses have been in the market for YEARS and if they are not designed for ,capable of, or suitable for, use in a DC circuit---the very kind of circuit in which a tube operates ... why is the market growing and these voodoo companies are not out of business? Give me ANOTHER LEGITIMATE case, except for the ONE pony, where it damaged a component?

You're actually not addressing the right argument here. No-one is disputing that the audiophile fuses work. They work fine in our gear. The issue bdp24 is addressing in his post is the directionality issue, which when purported, is a form of fraud as there simply can be no such thing.

What makes fuses directional?

Nothing.

@joecasey, I had read that, but that does not seem what your prior post was addressing. Am I incorrect in this?

FWIW, We’ve had boutique fuse manufacturers sending us fuses for years. At least one of them was a customer of ours. Funny thing- none of them have mentioned anything about directionality of the fuse (although one of them is marked as if it is).

So we did test these fuses. The ones that are marked with a diode symbol on them are from Germany. Measurements of the fuse show that it has exactly the same characteristics in either direction- in both regular resistance mode of the DVM and also on the diode test function (where it shows a dead short).

What we are dealing with here is something called Expectation Bias. This is where there is an expectation that something might be so (regardless of the reason for the expectation) and so a predisposition to perceive that phenomena exists. However, the fact is that in the case of fuses there is simply no difference.

This Expectation Bias can arise out of someone with an agenda telling you that a fuse is directional (which might be done by marking the fuse with a symbol); what you are experiencing is some sort of scam or fraud.

Again, we do have good reports from our customers regarding such fuses and all reports we have are quite consistent, with one exception:

One amplifier came in with one of these ’tuning’ fuses which was blown. Usually when the particular fuse location in question is blown, it indicates a service issue, but in this case the amp was fine- once a good fuse (we use Buss and Littlefuse for the most part) was installed. As this fuse was made in Germany, I suspect its the same fuse as Roger Modjesky must have encountered. Even though marked correctly the fuse was not up to its spec! So Roger likely has good reason to not recommend these fuses.

Since the installation of this fuse caused a customer to have downtime and the cost of shipping (about $170.00), I have to agree that these fuses can be problematic! While we are not saying they can’t be used in our gear, I am saying that you may experience fuse failures that are premature. So this aspect should be on your radar should you choose to install such fuses.

FWIW, we detected audible issues with fuses about 26 years ago. This was when we were developing and releasing the MA-2 amplifier. Since boutique fuses did not exist back then, we used a different style fuse that uses a larger fuseholder. The fuse is a type FNM (Google it) . It has substantially larger contacts on the fuse and much higher contact pressures in the fuseholder. We still use this system on the MA-2 today.

Regarding the anecdotal reports Geoff refers to, such as those provided by various A’gon members in the current SR fuse thread, those are the one reason for which my mind remains somewhat open on this issue. Particularly given that some of those reports emanate from sources I consider to be particularly credible, such as Charles1dad among a few others.

Al, I suspect the reason they hear a difference is due to the fact that the equipment has to be powered down (and thus also has to warm up) in order to change the fuse. I would not be at all surprised to find out that even though the fuse is now 'correctly' installed, reversing it and listening again would get the same result- as long as an open mind was doing the listening.

In case no-one has made this clear, Littlefuse and Buss are the two top manufacturers of fuses worldwide. Their product is excellent and reliable and beyond reproach.

^^ Folks, this is what complete and utter nonsense looks like.

Apparently when you run out of rational arguments there is always the old fallback to name calling.  

Actually no- the principle is 'attack the argument not the person', otherwise you could report my post.  You have mis-stated things, quite clearly. I am saying your statements (arguments) are nonsense- including this one.