Synergistic Red Fuse ...

Pair of Blacks are on the way for my PerfectWave II DAC/pre.   You guys are killing me.  I hate you.    :-)

Having never upgraded a fuse from stock, guess for me on this:  ought a black sound better than stock, right out of the box?  Also, ought a black in the "wrong" direction sound better than stock?

Time shall tell!

Man, that's my nightmare. If I dropped $250 on a dud fuse pair and the seller would not make things right, I would let the whole internet know.  

I would imagine that the margin on these things is so high that replacements could be sent to people who are using the correct spec for their gear.

Got the Blacks for my DAC/pre in the mail yesterday.   VH Audio shipped fast.  Out of the box, the sound was a little muddy and indistinct.  After about six hours, I had a listening session.  The mud was gone and leading edges of horn notes had a nice bark to them, but overall I felt I was lacking the harmonic and overtone development that I had enjoyed with (burned-in) stock fuses.  

I still retain great hope that these things will rebound with burn-in.  I won't be able to listen again until Tuesday night, at which point we'll have about 125 hours.

Can't wait to get home after this work trip and check in on the system at ~70 hours of burn-in.  Opening up the PWD II to change directions is quite a PITA, but I will certainly try it.

Here's my data point, which is not at all meant to be a downer or to question the premise of upgraded fuses.   It's a silly and delightful hobby that we cherish here, and this thread is a great example of the power of the web to bring us audio nerds together. That said, this is the deepest down a rabbit hole I've ever felt!  Definitely feel like I had the best sound in my system's life before the Blacks, and now the magic's gone.  (And I didn't note the direction of the stock fuses before I pulled them out, should I want to go back!)  

At ~100 hours on the Blacks I got home and sat down for a listen last night.  What I heard was definitely short of the musical engagement and detail retrieval I enjoyed with stock fuses on my PWDII.  I did hear a slightly lower noise floor, but the highs in particular were rolled off.  Cymbals, for example, just weren't as there as before.  Imaging was flatter.  My mind wandered.

Great to learn that Audiolover notes big difference with direction.  Popping open PWD is trouble enough that I'll probably wait several more days of burn in before I flip them.  

I my case, the clear winner is fuse seemingly reversed from current flow, such that incoming current sees the R side of the fuse.

I had a chance to flip by the Blacks in my DAC/Pre yesterday afternoon and had a night-time session after they’d settled in for a few hours. They’re now at about 170 hours total.

Wow. It was like the system had bolted awake after a nap. In this new orientation I’ll echo what some others have observed: _really low_ noise floor and black background. I was stunned to be able to follow cymbal decays for seconds longer than I ever thought possible.  Soundstage is pushed wider and brought 3-4 feet closer to provide a more front-row presentation, as if things are suddenly more close-mic’ed and revealing a little less of the room acoustic of the studio. Transient speed is fast, fast, fast. Bass has great heft and also great texture. The system is far more lively but not in a fatiguing way.

All this from the direction a fuse is turned. Who woulda figured? ;-)

Will come back with observations after another couple of sessions.

To circle back with listening impressions on the Blacks in my DAC/pre: I returned to stock fuses for a few days to re-set my ears and expectations, then last night re-installed the Blacks (in this case with the R side of the fuse meeting incoming current.)

Compared to stock, bass was indeed fuller. Tone density was thicker, but ultimately I do think it came at the cost of detail resolution. With stocks my soundstage was pristine and slightly concave, as in it invited me to listen in. With the Blacks, the stage was wider, and pushed in a convex fashion toward me. But there was less depth, and indeed though I felt closer in space to the instruments in the soundstage, I perceived a little less definition and detail.

I’ll flip direction once more before making a final judgment on these guys. And I’ll repeat that this is all in good fun, and I question none of the great results that so many people are hearing. Just callin’ ’em like I hear ’em.