Let me know when a clear winner emerges.
I’ll crown them ‘ King of the Monkey Heads’
I’ll crown them ‘ King of the Monkey Heads’
So done with audiophile fuses
The journey started with a medium priced ($50) fuse in my power supply. A failed rectifier tube blew that one out. Not a fuse problem. Next up was a blue fuse in my pre amp. It blew and was not caused by a pre amp problem. Apparently they sometimes are more sensitive and it was replaced by an orange fuse two values higher. Things were going along fine. I replaced the pre amp with a newer version of the pre amp and it has the same fuse value. Five months latter (today) I turn on the pre amp and nothing. it's a five month old pre amp so I suspected that it was the fuse. Sure enough, I replaced it with a ceramic Littelfuse of the lower correct value it works fine. No more wasting my money on unstable fuses for me.
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Forget this fuse bull s..t. If you cause a fire in your house one day, you will not get a penny from your insurance company if they find out, which they will. Do not give into this fuse bulls..t and just put a properly rated one in your amp, as the manufacturer did. It is there FOR A REASON. And that reason is NOT for improving the sound. It will NEVER EVER make a difference to the sound. Do not fall for all the crap you hear on this forum. You finally seemed to have done the right thing. |
They weren't necessarily engineers at Yamaha but "sound tuning guys" who reportedly believed they heard a difference between different basic (non-audiophile) fuses, when they were auditioning OEM sources for fuses in their AV receivers. While that is information to ponder, it doesn't rise to the level that would lead me to conclude that expensive audiophile fuses actually "improve" the sound of anything. The SR site lists the materials used in their fuses on their website and the ceramic body, silica filling, brass nickel plated end cap contacts, and metal filament are all pretty standard stuff.
I guess what makes them stand out are the (flavors du jour) quantum treatment, molecular realignment process, UEF treatment, and Graphene. I own and use some but really cannot understand what all the fuss is about, except that they cost a lot. For only $175, you can get the Audio Magic beeswax fuse, which appears to be simply a standard Littelfuse or Cooper Bussmann fuse that is injected with beeswax. |
Does saying they weren't necessarily provide an escape of sorts from the fact that some of them most likely were? Would you have anyone other than an engineer swapping parts to get to a particular sound? They were voicing the unit when the fuse broke. I thought that engineers did that sort of work. That, and they heard enough of a difference that they wanted to know what the repair guys did to the unit to make it sound so different compared to what they were working on. A fuse, according to the manual, is just there as a safety device and shouldn't have any effect on the sound. And yet it did. All the best, Nonoise |
A fuse, according to the manual, is just there as a safety device and shouldn't have any effect on the sound. And yet it did.That, of course, is the perplexing part. While I don't Know and won’t say that fuses have no effect whatsoever on the sound of a system, I still can’t buy that the magnitude of the effect (or improvement, or whatever) would be great enough to make me want to spend big money on a fuse. |
That, of course, is the perplexing part. While I don't Know and won’t say that fuses have no effect whatsoever on the sound of a system, I still can’t buy that the magnitude of the effect (or improvement, or whatever) would be great enough to make me want to spend big money on a fuse.The great part of it is that you needn't spend anywhere near the cost of a SR fuse or something even more dear in price. There are still some HiFi Tuning Silver Star fuses to be had (in dwindling numbers) for a fraction of what they initially went for. Maybe one of a value you need is still available. I've personally tried about 4 different brands and they all had a distinct sound characteristic and didn't cost that much to experiment with. I'm of the opinion that a fuse made up of metals that are on par with what you'd use in a cable are the way to go and to stop using the cheap, low cost fuses made out of a witches brew of poorly conductive metals. All the best, Nonoise |
low cost fuses made out of a witches brew of poorly conductive metals. This is just something someone would say that has absolutely no idea. You need to be schooled in Ohm’s law/s, Kirchoff’s laws etc etc They have to have a certain level of resistance, (as you say "poor conductively"), to blow at a certain amperage drawn through them. If they didn’t they would never blow!!! I’m of the opinion that a fuse made up of metals that are on par with what you’d use in a cable are the way to go🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️ OMG!! fuse has to have resistance to blow. I’ve personally tried about 4 different brands and they all had a distinct soundJust more fuser snake oil voodoo talk from someone who’s out there in fairy land. |
You two kids just don’t seem to get it and rely now on insults and other asinine statements just to get by with now that you’ve lost all credibility. I don’t know about you, edgewoundtootightly, but georgie knows full well that I’ve stated stated and linked sites to high rupturing fuses that use strictly copper, silver and other highly conductive metals. They’ve been around for ages and are used in professional equipment like you’d see in hospitals. labs, military gear, aviation and space applications. They’re not expensive at all and perform at tighter tolerances than the junk georgie blows through on a constant basis. I’ve also put it out there that some audio enthusiasts might have simply caught onto these types of fuses and began marketing them for themselves or had them made for them and/or adapted them for their own purposes, with HiFi Tuning and Mundorf teaming together to make their own line. It’s not that hard to get your head around, or is it? That, and it’s pathetic that georgie has to cite various "laws" to support his over the top responses. Didn’t work before and it’s not working now. All the best, Nonoise |
I was waiting to see how much more ridiculous the conversation would get :-) It exceeded my expectations by a huge margin.....You're completing your metamorphosis of sorts, to that of an insufferable troll. My, how the lowly have fallen. Also these fusers claim there's a difference in inserted direction with an ac mains fuse.And you can always count on old faithful to chime in. Same old tired shtick. You're gonna be a big hit with the nurses when your dementia kicks in. All the best, Nonoise |
nonoise7,011 posts05-11-2021 10:02pmI was waiting to see how much more ridiculous the conversation would get :-) It exceeded my expectations by a huge margin.....You're completing your metamorphosis of sorts, to that of an insufferable troll. My, how the lowly have fallen.Also these fusers claim there's a difference in inserted direction with an ac mains fuse.And you can always count on old faithful to chime in. Same old tired shtick. You're gonna be a big hit with the nurses when your dementia kicks in. If you were actually witty, your comments would be less than sh*tty. You're way funnier when your not trying to be. |
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That's all. |
Hello, This upgrading fuses situation is one of the reasons why I am going with Ayre equipment. They gave up on fuses and came up with something that not only sounds better but is also more reliable. I know some houses still have fuses on the main electrical box but most who could afford it have upgraded to breakers in the electrical panel. Plus, There are even upgradable options for audiophiles like us. If you have fuses on your audio equipment and you like the way it sounds then I get upgrading to SR fuses. If you are buying new maybe consider if someone designed a better product. Would you buy a brand new house if it had an old fashioned fuse panel? I doubt it. I demoed the Ayre KX-R preamp this past week. It was amazing to say the least. Perfection does cost. At least someone finally strives for it. I hooked up a $450 TT setup to it. It sounded like I spent $2,000. The phono preamp was a Schiit Mani. Unbelievable! I checked out this gear at the new Chicagoland Ayre dealer. Here is a link if you want to listen for yourself. https://holmaudio.com/ |
What is Ayre now using instead of fuses? I googled them and came up with a picture of the back of the KX-R and it shows a standard inlet IEC with integrated fuse. |
Wyred4Sound had been using a circuit breaker on one of their integrated amps for some time now. A long time ago, when I considered getting one from them, I asked about a fuse upgrade and was told they'd be happy to do so for that last 5% improvement in sound. That was many years ago. All the best, Nonoise |
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So let me get this straight: you cannot hear any difference between a
Synergistic Orange and a ceramic Littlefuse. Okay. I can believe that.
But then why were you paying money using expensive fuses that you cannot
hear in the first place?
" He paid money because he was fooled into thinking it would improve his sound by a bunch of pseudo-scientific jargonj and opinions promulgated mainly by the gullible and those who make money from the gullible. He is learning about snake oil at his own expense but at least he is learning. Question for you fuse nuts. Are these directional too just like cables? ;D Does it help if fuses are wrapped in tin foil or should that remain the domain of fine audio haberdashery? Should I use heavy or thin tin foil and how many wraps around the fuse? I hear tightly wrapped is a good thing, heh heh. |
Yeah, sorry. There are already nuts in earlier threads who think fuses are directional. It also makes a difference how they are twisted in the holder. I put a little bit of salt inside, it brings out the high frequencies very nicely. Must draw out any dampness inside. A damp fuse is a poor-sounding fuse. Conditioning the fuse in the oven at 87C for 39 minutes gives a sheen on the metal end barrels that increases the front to back soundstage. It would be interesting to try 92C for an hour - would probably be different. ............................... (insert your own nonsense) etc, etc etc, ad nauseam. |
This is an issue of inrush current at initial turn on. I've experienced boutique fuse failure only with tube amps and preamps, ss devices have never given me a problem. You can replace with higher value and they will survive the initial current surge, have to take in account there might be warranty issues. |
I switched from plain glass fuses to ceramic and did detect a noticeable difference. Not earth-shattering, but noticeable. My fuse experiment ended there. Until I took the fuses out of my Maggies and replaced them with like-sized sections of silver tube. Another noticeable difference. That's where it REALLY ended. |
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Wyred4Sound had been using a circuit breaker on one of their integrated amps for some time now. A long time ago, when I considered getting one from them, I asked about a fuse upgrade and was told they'd be happy to do so for that last 5% improvement in sound. That was many years ago." And I bet you bought it hook, line & sinker LOL. If an amp's performance should indeed improve by simply changing the fuse, it is a clear indication that those people have no clue about building an amp in the first place.. What a load of nonsense..... |
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If you cause a fire in your house one day, you will not get a penny from your insurance company if they find out, which they will. I think you are using scare tactics, an insurance company would pay. What if you just got into audio and bought a used amp with an aftermarket fuse that was of a higher rating. |
There was a time in the last 200 years when people would go to the barber when they were sick, to have the bad, infected blood drained out of their body, with the thought that the person would produce more non-infected blood and would be healed. This practice was called "blood-letting". Come to find out it didn't work too well...and the person died anyway from either anemia or increased infection...sepsis... because the infection fighting white blood cells were also drained away with the red blood cells that carry oxygen to the various organs that would keep you alive. What you are espousing is modern day blood-letting. Not very good practice. Have we not learned anything through the sciences? Or has everything just gone back to how you feel about it? Subjectivism. |
What you are espousing is modern day blood-letting. Not very good practice. Have we not learned anything through the sciences? Or has everything just gone back to how you feel about it? Explain to me how my comment about an insurance company paying a claim is bloodletting? Your mind works in mysterious ways. |
Using a different, higher value fuse to get better performance from an amplifier is stupid. You might burn your house down...from what we have learned through electrical engineering. Is that understandable to you? It's not that hard to figure out if you're actually paying attention. |