Since directionality can be heard in standard fuses, not just audiophile ones, it doesn't cost anything but time to test it in your own system. Simply flip a fuse. If you can hear a difference, better or worse, then you've proven to yourself that at least that part of what people are saying here is true. Unless, of course, you don't trust your own ears...
Synergistic Red Fuse ...
I installed a SR RED Quantum fuse in my ARC REF-3 preamp a few days ago, replacing an older high end fuse. Uhh ... for a hundred bucks, this little baby is well worth the cost. There was an immediate improvement upon installation, but now that its broken in (yes, no kidding), its quite remarkable. A tightening of the focus, a more solid image, and most important of all for my tastes, a deeper appreciation for the organic sound of the instruments. Damn! ... cellos sound great! Much improved attack on pianos. More humanistic on vocals. Bowed bass goes down forever. Next move? .... I'm doing the entire system with these fuses. One at a time though just to gauge the improvement in each piece of equipment. The REF-75se comes next. I'll report the results as the progression takes place. Stay tuned ...
Any comments from anyone else who has tried these fuses?
Any comments from anyone else who has tried these fuses?
Showing 50 responses by tommylion
Just wanted to chime in and share my experience with the SR Quantum Black fuse. I was inspired by this thread to try one. I am new to the audiophile grade fuse thing, but it made sense to me that a cheap fuse could be a bottleneck to good sound. I decided to try one in my amp first, since it has a fuse holder on the back that is easily accessible. My Antique Sound Lab Tulip is a 2A3 SET amp, but I am running it with Emission Labs mesh plate 45s (I love 45s, and especially these ones). While I was waiting for the black to arrive, I decide to test the directionality of the stock fuse. I flipped it, and, sure enough, there was a nice improvement. I got the black, popped it in, and let the amp warm up. When I started listening, I could tell right away that something was off. I turned off the amp, flipped the black and turned it back on. Wow! The difference was immediately apparent and jaw dropping. Instruments and voices had more "presence" and sounded more real. I was hearing subtle details I hadn't noticed before. The dynamics were improved, and it was easier to follow the lines of individual instruments. In short, it sounded more like live music. I left the amp on for several days, and these qualities increased as the black broke in. They were all there right from the beginning, though. I just ordered another black for my Audio Note DAC Kit 1.1, and am eagerly awaiting its arrival. oregonpapa, I read in one of your earlier posts how much you like Thelonious Monk. You inspired me to pull out a CD of his music I had in my collection, but hadn't listened to for a long time. Good stuff! |
Installed a black in my Audio Note DAC Kit 1.1. After getting the direction right, I left it on for 4 days to burn in. Didn’t hear any difference. Just kidding! Instruments sound even more real. Background is blacker. Individual lines are easier to follow. Subtle lyrics are easier to understand. Musical enjoyment went up another notch. I’m hearing this with my own ears, and it’s still a little hard to believe the difference a tiny fuse can make. I’m loving it, though. It’s like I can go to a concert every day. Listening to the Oscar Peterson Trio's Night Train right now. Let the flames begin.. |
Who has tried the quantum black fuse in a CD transport? What were the results? My new CEC TL5 belt drive transport will be arriving fairly soon, and I am thinking about upgrading the the fuse. Been listening to Clifford Brown and Max Roach at Basin Street. What a tragedy that Clifford Brown was taken from us so early! 😔 |
Just ordered a black for my new CEC TL5 CD Transport. The CEC is finally broken in, and I'm loving it. It betters my previous transport (Audiolab CDM 8000) in pretty much every aspect. Looking forward to swapping out the stock fuse. My system only has 3 fuses, so that means my changeover to the blacks will be complete. |
Got the black fuse for my transport yesterday morning. I installed it, and have had quite a parade of guests through my living room: Stan Getz, Joao Gilberto, Astrud Gilberto Sir Adrian Boult and the London Philharmonic John Coltrane and friends Johnny Cash The Killers Carlos Kleiber and the Vienna Philharmonic U2 Talking Heads Supertramp I had really been enjoying the CEC with the stock fuse. I was hoping for a nice improvement with the black, but am rather stunned at what I hear. I was expecting to go through the 100 hour break in period before getting a clear idea of what it does. Instead, after warming it up for an hour, the "magic" was there right from the beginning. I’m still going to do the full break in; maybe it will improve even more? |
There's a line where what you're listening to stops being a recording, and becomes a musical event. That line is not always clearly marked or defined, but you know when you've crossed it. For me, that's what this hobby is all about; turning recordings into musical events. Adding the black fuses to my system, especially the latest one in my CD transport, has made it much easier to cross that line. |
I have really enjoyed the people and conversation on this thread, and decided to start one called "The Black Fuse Clubhouse" on the Misc. Audio Forum so we can post about a wider range of topics, not centered around a particular product. https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/the-black-fuse-clubhouse Please check it out, and post away. |
I just got a black PC (Thanks ronrags!). It replaced the stock cord from the wall to my Tara Labs Powerscreen. It shows great promise right off the bat. The improvements are very similar to what I heard with the black fuses. Now I just have to endure the break in process. My CEC TL-5 CD Transport, AN Kit 1 DAC and ASL Tulip amp are plugged into the Powerscreen with old MIT PCs (my ASL TX-1 preamp is an autoformer passive). Assuming the black PC settles in and continues to sound at least as good as it does now, I plan to upgrade the MITs next. |
For anyone interested in exploring the benefits of graphene further, I highly recommend looking into the Graphene Extreme line of signal and power cables from Cerious Technologies. There is a thread devoted to them on the cables forum. I purchased a digital cable and PC for my CD Transport. As a result, I am enjoying profound improvements, particularly in the areas of realism, palpability, clarity, detail, and true-to-life tonality of instruments. I will definitely be buying more cables as funds permit. The prices are VERY reasonable, and Bob Grost, the owner of Cerious, has been a pleasure to deal with. |
If anyone is looking for an inexpensive, but high quality, equipment rack, I recommend the Pangea Vulcan: http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=PGVULRK I just got one, and love it. It is very easy to assemble. I was pleasantly surprised at how much it improved the sound, especially with the addition of Herbie's Audio Lab Cone/Spike Decoupling Gliders: http://herbiesaudiolab.net/spkrfeet.htm I also highly recommend Herbie's Tenderfeet: http://herbiesaudiolab.net/compfeet.htm |
Another shout out for Herbie's Audio Lab. I recently "Herbieized" my Audio Note AN-E/L speakers. I used the Square Fat Dots to isolate them from their stands, and I replaced the original spikes on the stands with Threaded Stud Gliders. Talk about clarity, transparency and natural sounding detail! If you are interested in affordable, cost effective vibration control for your entire system, I highly recommend HAL. |
Moving on to another fascinating area of controversy; tube rolling. My Audio Note Kit 1 DAC uses a single 12AU7 type tube in the analog output stage. I had been using a NOS (80’s vintage, I think) Tesla ECC802S, which I thought was a pretty good tube. Supposedly, they were made with the original Telefunken tooling. I swapped it out for a low noise, low microphonics tested, 50’s-60’s vintage, Telefunken I acquired from Andy Bouwman at Vintage Tube Services years ago. I was not really prepared for how much better it was. I think the black fuses, along with other recent changes and tweaks to my system, have increased the resolution such that the differences are easily discernible. If you are interested in exploring the difference really good NOS tubes can make, I highly recommend Andy: http://vintagetubeservices.com |
The thing I really like about the fuses, is I can forget about them. After investing the time to determine the best sounding direction (didn't take long at all, in my case), and get through the break in period, I don't have to fiddle with, readjust, tune, or reapply anything. I can just just sit back and enjoy the music. I did my research, and decided to go with higher values than the stock fuses, so no worries about them blowing; unless something happens where they should blow. |
Other forums I’ve participated in have an "ignore list" feature. You can add a member’s name to the list, and their posts will not be visible when you are viewing threads. You can see that they posted, but the text of their post is hidden. You have the option of making a particular post visible again, if you want to see it. It's a great feature, and I really wish audiogon would implement it. |
Speaking of emotional involvement, my system has taken a leap in this area with the latest change I've made. I swapped out the Crimson Audio interconnects between my DAC and pre for Cerious Technolgies Graphene Extremes. I thought the Crimsons were pretty darn good for the money, but the GEs, at the same price, easily surpassed them. The "realness" of voices & instruments is almost scary. That, combined with a much better sense of the air and space around them, draws me further into the music. One of the best things about the GE ICs is that they are affordable for most anyone who is serious about enjoying their music. |
I recently got a matched pair of Telefunken 12AX7s from from Andy Bowen at Vintage Tube Services. They replaced some Teslas’ (80’s or 90’s vintage) I had been running in my ASL Tulip 2A3 SET amp. The Teslas’ were supposedly made with Telefunken’s tooling, and I thought they sounded pretty good. The real deal Telefunkens blew them away. It’s hard to describe the difference; just more air, sense of space, transparency, detail, involvement & general musical goodness. If you’d like to find out for yourself the difference really good NOS small signal tubes can make, give Andy a call. If you’ve priced NOS tubes elsewhere, you’ll be pleasantly surprised. |
On the subject of graphene, I came across this contact enhancer. http://madscientist-audio.com/presta/22-graphene-contact-enhancer Anyone volunteer to be the guinea pig and report back on it? 😉 |
"For myself I can only be saddened that some people put up with such poorly maintained or designed equipment that they have resorted to flipping fuses and even worse - a different fuse actually sounds different on their inadequate gear !" That's right, Audio Research is well known for making poorly designed, inadequate gear 🙄 |
What got me started on fuses was when I blew one in my amp. I replaced it with a standard fuse, and that got me thinking about them as a potential bottleneck to good sound. I then read about the SR blacks, and got one to try. The fuse the black replaced in my amp was new, and I still heard a very significant improvement. |
For those who are interested, agon member ozzy got a sample bottle of the Mad Scientist Graphene Contact Enhancer and is currently testing it. https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/cerious-technologies-new-graphene-cables?page=23 |
I have a polarity switch on my pre-amp... IMO, having a way to switch polarity on the fly is a must for a good system. I can readily hear the difference, and, more importantly, so can my wife 😉 The CDs in my collection are pretty evenly distributed as to which polarity sounds best, so switching speaker leads was not a viable option. My amp (Antique Sound Lab Tulip) came with a switch to invert the polarity in one channel for bridging purposes. I had a friend install a switch in the other channel, so I can easily invert both. oregonpapa, I also prefer the 4 ohm tap with my Audio Note AN-E speakers. It's definitely worth trying to see which sounds better with one's particular amp/speaker combo. |
Just wanted to give folks here a heads up about Teo Audio’s Game Changer liquid metal ICs https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/teo-game-changer-ic-s-get-on-the-bus?lastpage=true I recently got a pair, and, I have to say, room temperature liquid metal as a conductor really does seem to be a "game changer". |