I am happy to weigh in on this lengthy thread. I swapped the Red for the fuse in my tube preamp and listened to it for a week. Then I swapped back the standard fuse, which turned out to be a Hifi Tuning fuse. Then I did an A/B comparison for a while with familiar music. To my aging ears, there was no difference in sound -- zero, zip, nada. So, for the price of a couple of stamps, I sent it back for a refund. I demo’d SR’s room dots (the little AL plugs arrayed around the room) and had the same experience. Still, they give 100% refund so you may find some merit in their products. I have a bunch of bottle caps from the dozens of Harp beers consumed at my home on St. Paddy’s day and I am gonna glue them all over the wall to simulate the effect of SR’s dots. I am always in search of a cheap tweak, but the SR products so far have not produced any improvement. Cheers.
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Geoff,
I am all Irish so I might just take you up on this idea, as I still have a collection of two dozen bottles. I am down with inexpensive tweaks!
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Hi,
The link you posted is informative, but you missed the fact that I am Irish, cursed that I am. Listening to music in a sober state of mind is not something we Irish do. Others must choose what is best for them. Cheers, Whitestix |
Gents,
At the risk of being the denier of Oregonpapa’s experiential views on all things fuse and power cord-related, my experience has been quite different. The Red Fuse provided no sonic improvement in my system, none at least that could discern. I have auditioned a dozen power cords in my system with no benefit, although none admittedly cost more than a few hundred dollars. It has been a fool’s errand trying out these tweaks. That said, I have rolled NOS tubes in my preamp that have made very obvious changes in the sound. Some favored the LF and some the HF and some yielded a sublime mid-range response. These tube-rolling experiences were far from subtle, manifesting their sonic impact within a few bars of the music. Their effect was immediate. Other than with new speakers, the notion of "breaking in" gear, such as fuses, IC's and power cords laughable.
My take is that this fuse and power cord business is reflective of the paranoia and insecurity of lots of audiophiles who are guilted into trying foolish tweaks thinking that such electrically illogical tweaks will reveal the sort of performance that their systems are somehow currently masking. Frankly, think about it for a moment... what is the logic in thinking that a fuse will make any difference, regardless whether it is cryo treated or not?
By all means, give these tweaks a try so long as can get your money back if they don’t please you. But don’t waste your time listening to the pablum on this forum "informing" you of what ought you to be hearing with them in your system. If they improve the sound in our system, keep them. If not, send them back. Cheers, Whitestix
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I am delighted to hear all the favorable views about tweaks and my only point is to give them a try so long as you can get full refund, which I did with my red fuse. The dealer who sold it to me noted that he had "sold thousands of them few few returns." This audio market is rampant with folks selling tweaks of unfathomably dubious usefulness, one of which is a frequent poster on this thread who makes completely absurd claims, so my best advice for my beloved fellow audiophiles is get a grip on your audio neurosis and just sit back and enjoy the music. I just got a new release of 1976 Stan Getz recording today and it is fantastic. Fuses are the farthest thing from my mind right now.... |
Well, gents, this thread goes on and on, with a lot of chatter, and like the discussions with my girlfriend, they reach no conclusions. I have a Don Sach's tube preamp, a modest Emotiva 5.1 amp driving a pair of Linkwitz LX mini speakers, with an Ayre DAC, upgraded Oppo 105 and a SOTA Sapphire TT for the poster who asked about my rig. This thread has devolved into a theological debate. I have tried a bunch of tweaks over the years. Steve McCormick's steel spikes 30 years ago were and are fantastic for heavy speakers on carpet but the new appalations of them are goofy expensive and of dubious value (Stillpoints). I tried SR's Magic Dots which made no difference to my ears. They are a silly notion, but were worth a try. I tried a couple of Shakti Blocks, to the amusement of my audiophile buddies. They were totally ineffectual, quite silly really. I have tried expensive power cords with my former Modwright amp/preamp and found no sonic benefit. Each and each piece went back for a full refund.
I tried two or three of Herbies tweaks -- tube dampeners and isolation devices, and back they went for refund. My $.05 silicon tube dampeners function just fine.
I guess from the number of folks on this thread who find the fuses, etc. improving their system, I think that is just great. They don't cost much and if they, like speaker cable elevators, do something to improve the sound of their system, then what the hell, go for it. I do advice you to turn in your "BS filter" to what is being said in an advocacy of these tweaks and understand that folks like GK, who chimes in on this post with baffling assertions coming from the realm of pseudo-electronics, have economic skin in the game to entice you to try the expensive stuff they peddle.
To finish, rolling tubes is an extremely worthwhile tweak to consider and the sonic effect of different tubes can be profound. BTW, I have $3.00/ft Neotech speaker cable in my system and I am completely happy with it, after comparing it to far pricier cable. Whitesix
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Jafreemen posts:
Among the pantheon of tweaks, I am highly skeptical of room treatments such as the stick-on chips, blocks, pebbles, discs, boxes and tiny bowls. The idea guys had to go SOMEWHERE with their products though, and since the under-component market was saturated with plinths, cones, bearings, points, racks, rubber cups, etc, it only made sense to move tweaks on top of and around the gear--hours of fascination and wonder for the customer. I would like to try that Novum PMR resonator, though. In choosing external audio tweaks, you have to look for items that either block, dissipate or absorb unwanted energy and sound waves or that clarify or focus the sound that you do want. This often involves items of considerable mass or area.
Wolf Garcia, you are in Dire need of some tweak faith. Jerry would have approved.
Thanks for listing your gear Whitestix. I'm not one to knock a guy's budget, but when it comes to the lower-priced amps, etc out there, you really DO get what you pay for--not much. Emotiva 5.1--is that a Chinese five-channel for around $600? Genius marketing, those guys. And those speakers--geez, couldn't you get some speakers that don't cross paths? You have to realize that the sound we hear is an energy transfer from the cone excursion to air molecules that then hit our eardrums. The smaller speakers should at least point at you........And yes, GK, the L. Ron Hubbard of audio, has combined a love of science fiction with shrewd observations of the audiophile's willing gullibility to try anything that may bring more audio beauty. You just have to learn how to wade through the BS.
Sir,
Thanks for your post. We agree and disagree. You suggest that you don't want to disparage lower-price gear, but you proceed to do just that. Don Sach's tube preamp is the best preamp I have had in my system in 45 years, following on the heels of a Luxman, Klyne, Modwright, Belles, CJ, Berning, a fully restored HK C-I, and a few others that I forget. Don's preamp is by far the best. When I auditioned the Linkwitz speakers in Mr LInkwtiz home, he drove them with the same Emotiva amp I use. (Do not diss the Linkwtiz speakers if you have not hear them. They are a quantum leap in speaker technology.) If the Emotiva amp he has in system good is enough for him, it sounds fine to my ears. I paid $350 for the amp. I will admit that a pair of Pass Labs amps might sound better, but they would not fit in my audio rack.
I agree that one has to wade through the BS to get to the useful tweaks, none of which you suggested passes my BS meter. But jez, the silly notions you cats seem to devote your energy seems to me a mostly useless diversion from the sheer enjoyment of listening to the music we long to hear. Eddie Higgins in the rotation tonight.
PS: Share with us your audio components which so profoundly benefit from the tweaks you find worthy. I am thinking maybe Ayon mono block amps, a Basis TT, Rockports, Wilson, or Raidho speakers. Maybe a pair of the lovely Lansche speakers. Maybe a pair of KEF Blades? Share with us the system you have so we we plebeians can stop wasting your money on foolish tweaks with our modest systems.
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Gents,
I contritely apologize for posts suggesting that these pricey fuses make no difference in ones' system. If you like them, then that is what counts. Maybe my aging ears can't discern the improvement you guys hear.
I received a pair of Spatial Audio Hologram M4 speakers yesterday and am breaking them in. This is my first foray into OB speakers and I must say that for $2K, they are quite amazing. Have a look at Clayton Shaw's new speakers.
In closing, the fact of the matter that we are all looking for the supreme enjoyment of our musical experiences. Nobody would spend time on this thread if they weren't music lovers and from what I can see, you guys have systems which I be delighted to hear, truly. Man, we are all in search of the absolute sound. My notion is that we have forum in which we can discuss our gear and our devotion to the music that such gear reproduces. That is what it is all about. Still, watch out for anything GK markets. With good will, Mark
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Mikirob,
As much as I loved the HK C-I that Don fully modded for me, Don Sach's new preamp is much much better and much more simple in design. The heart of the preamp is the octal tubes. It is an unfathomably fine preamp, better than anything I have heard, and Don shared that view. He sells his preamp for about $1800 with a fine custom-made wood base, which allows easy tube rolling. Don is now also selling a KT88-based amp that, in his view, betters the HK-CII, an amp he also fully modded for me. Don has worked on hundreds of tube amps and preamps and has both a great technical background, but also a very acute pair of ears. In 45 years of having good gear, Don's new preamp is the finest piece of gear I have ever heard. If you have great vintage tube gear in need of an rehab, Don can do wonders with it. BTW, Don is the only guy recommended by Jim McShane and nobody has more credibility than Jim McShane in the tube audio space. Cheers, Mark |
A shout-out to friends of the forum jafreeman, davidprithart, and mikirob who weighed in on a comment or two of mine in an affirmative way. Guys, my main passion in life is jazz music and a fine system with which to hear it, within the limitations of my living space and budget. Literature is a passion, too, which I can enjoy the with the music. I live for music. As I point a finger at myself, never should we music lovers find ourselves at unfriendly odds over silly issues like the debate over fuses and create ill-will toward one another with our strongly-held views as to what is right and what is wrong with a particular tweak, for example. I responded irresponsibly in this thread to folks who love their upgraded fuses and I find myself now realizing that there are many paths to sonic pleasures and we must all let out ears (and pocketbooks) be our guide. Still, if you have a BS Meter working in your head, be wary of anything that GK posts about tweaks or more particular, anything that the sells. That is my best advice.
Peace and love, Whitestix
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At the end of the day, lads, it is a fair proposition to try out all sorts of tweaks like fuse swapping, just so long as you get a money-back return deal. My take is that the business model for a lot of after-market tweak vendors is that if even 95% of the buyers return them for refund, they are still making serious money, given their production costs. The fact of the matter is that 90% of guys that purchase ~$100 tweaks who don't find them worthy will not waste their time sending them back for a refund. Employ your BS meter and send the tweaks back that don't improve the sound of your system. I am gonna go down to the river this weekend and see if I can find some of those magic "crystals" that GK hawks to see if it is the "lack best improvement" for my audio system. Maybe my CD's need some "treatment" too. Cheers, Whitestix |
A very pithy and funny comment, Geo. If the fuses work, that is just dandy, really. What the hell, a great tweak for $100 is a no-brainer for the dough we all have wrapped up in our gear. Folks here love them and I can't dispute what their ears are hearing. But, virtually anything spouted by GK must be judged for what it is, pure foolishness, unfounded by any rational thinking or science. Remember, the dude has skin the game. "Crystals", indeed. Cheers, Mark
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GEOFF KAIT FOR PRESIDENT. He has got the audio world's problem solved with solid logic, so maybe he can figure out our geo-political problems. Since I support the leading candidates of neither party, and I live in CA which is presumptively Democrat, I am going to write in my nomination for GK for President. Let's get behind GK and maybe we will all get some "crystals" for our audio enjoyment at the expense of the Federal government. |
You guys have it exactly right. These two recordings are as good as it gets. |
Fuse heads,
I bit the bullet last week and ordered a SR 20 Black fuse which was marketed at 50% off the regular price. I tried the SR Red fuse in my Don Sach 6SN7-based preamp earlier this year and found no discernible difference compared to the sound of my system using $10 Hifi Tuning fuse. I just fired up the system with the SR 20 fuse and can say definitively that my system sounds fantastic (with a Dennis Had Inspire Bottlehead SET amp and Spatial Audio M4 Hologram speakers, and a modified Oppo 103 CD player). I hasten to add that the system sounded fantastic last night when I turned it off and went to bed.
So, I will run the fuse in and then have my pal swap the two fuse variants to see if I can tell any difference. It makes no sense that the fuse would improve the sound, but it is worth a few shekels to have fun trying it out. And obviously a lot of you "fuse heads" are devotees of the SR tweaks.
I will let you know my results in a couple of weeks. Cheers, Whitestix |
Papa,
I got the low end fuse, the SR20, cost me $30. It has done no harm so far. Dave, I am gonna miss the RMAF this year as the coin of the realm is tight. I hope some of the guys on the forum hook up with you there. I also hope you get a chance to hear my coveted Spatial Audio speakers while you are there, they are quite amazing and reasonably priced. They are the most enjoyable speakers I have owned in my 45 years in the audio world. Cheers, Mark |
I put a SR Red fuse into my preamp yesterday and it blew immediately. I put the Radio Shack fuse back in the preamp and the preamp powers up fine. That was a $50 "butt dart".
The notion of directionality of fuses, as so much of his thread revolves around, is as silly as the notion that pricey fuses make an audible difference. However, I thought the same thing about PC's and recently got both a Shunyata Venom 3 PC and Silnote Poseidon PC and the improvement in sound in my system is significant. Caveat emptor, my friends. |
