2. misc-audio
  3. 151208-481

Something For The Fuse Guys ...

There are fuses, and then, there are fuses. 

I'm evaluating some prototype fuses that I received in the mail three days ago. 

Over the past few years, I've used fuses from five different manufacturers. The last three were the Red, Black and Blue fuses from Synergistic Research. Each one incrementally improved the sound of my system. My favorite so far was the SR Blue. 

The prototype fuses being evaluated presently raises the SQ beyond all of the others mentioned above. The major improvement to my ears is better tonal accuracy. Instruments and voices are more life-like. The noise is reduced allowing for a more solid 3-D presentation with the musicians more solidly presented on the sound stage. Overall, more information is fleshed out of CDs and LPs. 

The manufacturer, the price and the name of the prototype fuses will come later. I don't have the information thus far. My understanding is, if all works out, the release date is to be mid-October. 

Stay tuned ... 

Frank
128x128oregonpapa

Showing 2 responses by prof

prof
3,450 posts
 
Frank,

The exact same argument you just gave  is made for psychics, faith healers, new age therapies, spiritualists and alternative medicine and pretty much every dubious claim you can find.  People’s subjectivity can “confirm” the efficacy of just about anything anyone has dreamed up.

Thats actually a problem - a bug, not a feature - of human psychology to take in to consideration when it comes to staking claims on “what people think they experienced.”

And there are limited ways of trying to avoid dealing with this problem of separating real world properties vs human imagination.  The most common is to put the blame on the person skeptical of the claim: they either don’t have the secret power or mindset to detect what others detect, or they just don’t have he appropriate opennes of mind to get the experience.

If you feel that pull toward that type of “explanation” when there is no objective evidence for a claim, consider the company you keep with that excuse.  ;-)






prof
3,450 posts
 
Frank,
Notice that in the post you alluded to I didn’t say the doubters CAN’T hear. What I did say was that perhaps they don’t know what to listen FOR. That’s a big difference, and not intended to be a slight in any way. 

Sure, you have a point.  It's at least possible that the fuses make a certain sonic difference that a skeptic isn't listening for.
I'd say, ultimately, that can't take this very far though.  Plenty of people with sharp ears, and who have technical knowledge, are skeptical of the claims.
Thousands upon thousands of aftermarket fuses sold by various manufacturers, and thousands of happy customers attesting to the viability of these fuse tweaks. Are they all just "imagining" an improvement in sound quality?

YES.  Really.  That could easily be the case.
If it's a normal part of being human to experience bias effects, we can expect a lot of people to experience bias effects. And so long as we are talking about people taking a "subjectivist" approach along the lines of "I don't need this to be objectively verifiable, if I hear it I know it's true" then that very approach self-selects for the pattern of people who "hear differences." They are all using the same problematic methodology.

Again, it is this same reliance upon subjective experience, without objective evidence or controls, by which people in the millions come to believe...anything! 

Anyway, that's all I mean to comment on this here.  If you want to test fuses and find you hear a difference, and it's all worthwhile for you, enjoy.  We all practice this hobby our own way.   And I'm not actually saying fuses can't or don't make a difference.   Cheers.
More to discover