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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 1 response by waytoomuchstuff

waytoomuchstuff's avatar
waytoomuchstuff
996 posts
 

I’m okay with bypassing the fuses in a audio system. But, I’d recommend the following:

Install a heat sensor (standard security system hardware) above the system. Hook a 12v solenoid (plunger) to a power supply. Mount this adjacent to a wall-mounted fire extinguisher. Decorate to blend with existing motif in the room. So, when system is ablaze, the wax in the temp sensor melts causing the little spring to push the contact closed, activating the solenoid, that jams the plunger into the trigger on the the fire extinguisher, putting out the fire. Might be a little "collateral damage" but, hey, much cheaper than building a new home. Pretty basic engineering. Low cost. And, no fuse!!

But, seriously, if we really want to get "tweaky" here, I’d take some very high quality power cable and jumper around the fuse hold completely and silver solder the connections to the board. This would bypass all inferior metal, and eliminate a contact/relay point in the circuit.

CIrcuit breakers are preferred by many. We’ve substituted chassis mounted circuit breakers in place of fuse/holders in vintage gear with good results.

 

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