Question about suitable fuse metals


I've been wanting to experiment with audiophile fuses for a while but the cost and the concern of blowing one of these costly fuses has kept me from purchasing.  However, I read that solid slugs actually sound better than fuses and cost WAY less, so I purchased a 6" rod of 99.99 copper and, because I wasn't really thinking, also purchased another 6" rod of titanium.  I guess I was thinking of rhodium, palladium, or platinum, not titanium.   I had these cut down to 20mm and, so far have tried them in my amp, a Red Dragon S500, and my DAC, the Bel Canto 2.8, which I run direct without a preamp.   The titanium slug sounds pretty darn good in the DAC, noticeably better than the copper. I tried one in the amp as well and that combo did not work well at all.  The amp is doing better with the copper slug.  I looked up the electrical conductivity of titanium and found it is a rather poor conductor.  Is there any risk to the DAC using the titanium slug, given the poor electrial conductivity?  Thanks for any relevant input.

lcherepkai

Showing 2 responses by tksteingraber

 

@lcherepkai Congrats on joining the sluggos. I use copper sluggs except in my tube pre where my QSA yellow sounds better for some reason. Kind of tames things down in a good way. I have nerver had a power plug fuse blow in my many years of stereo enjoyment. I have all the components on a power conditioner and don’t get lightning storms in my community. Also, everything is only powered up in my presence. I see it as very low risk and am willing to accept it. Copper sluggs really do sound much improved over expensive fuses. 🤞

@lcherepkai 👍👍  agree…for me it was a poorly wired outlet with old crumbling insulation which started to smell, turn brown and popped a breaker.  Wires/cords are most often the problem and should be inspected regularly.