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?
128x128oregonpapa
Hello oregonpapa,

thank you for your great thread here at audiogon.
Since 2 weeks i am using the SR RED Fuse, which brought a big change in my system. Since yesterday my order for the Black Fuses arrived. You menschend it needs some time to settle. Therefor i have a few question concerning your experience with the black fuse.
At first it seams that its not as good as the red fuse. I started with my power conditioner, which has 3 fuses and the sound wall was huge. Changed direction of the fuse and the size of instruments and voices  was right again. It is more dynamic than the red ones.
Today we are gonna change the red in the cd player and the amp against the blacks. 
I remember that, when you placed the new blacks against the reds you where not happy at all. How long did it take till there was a change and how did the change happened. From the beginning to the state you are in now? Does the chip on top of the fuse, interfere with shaktis, or other chips used in a system? Did you change all components? 
Thanks for the rundown on the outlets.

Outlets are also a very large contributor to the sound, but find they, like plugs can cause a bigger change and improvements which need carefully synergies with the equipment and cables unlike the fuses. Any aftermarket fuse is likely to give an overall improvement over a stock standard fuse.

Like the wall outlets, i still like the old Teslaplex (non SE) in front of the SE version. It has some hardness and dynamics which the SE verion leaves behind for a more musical presentation, which for Rock music give a calmness which at times seem wanting.

Afraid an added GTX-D may add too much detail and spotlighting effect which a nonplated outlet will never give.. So may swing for the black.
Seriously, I've never seen a more substantial boatload of nonsense on any thread. Now outlets are supplying a sort of passive tone manipulation? Outlets with good grip on plugs make sense…hospital grade or whatever ( I use PS Audio power ports because of that) but they simply have zero effect on any aspect of tone. To think otherwise is really strange. Does anybody think about this stuff rationally as it applies to AC or is rationality simply swept aside when discussing imaginary fuse direction symptoms or dynamic tone changes from magical sources? Overpriced fuses pushed hard by smarmy agenda driven "experts" can ensnare the gullible into thinking they see clothing on the emperor (overused cliche' but valid in this case)…and encouraging others to waste their cash on placebos installed well outside of the active circuitry of power supplies and complex tone shaping components is sketchy behavior at best, unethical at worst.
Goldencutt ...

Changing from the Reds to the Blacks was the right thing to do. You are eventually in for a real treat. By "eventually," I mean that the magic comes into its own at around 70 hours and continues to improve past 100  hours.

 What you're experiencing is normal. You can hear some improvements over the Red fuses, but there's a hard edge that's annoying, right?  Once broken in (100 hours) all of that hard edge will be gone and there will be a new light shining on your sound stage with the instruments and vocals really coming into focus like never before.  There will be a  new sense of lack of grain, a grain that you didn't even realize was there. Its quite an amazing transition, really.

 When the fuse in your CD player is finally broken in, you won't believe the improvement in your digital playback. I'm mostly a vinyl guy ... but I have to say, these fuses have  brought my digital to way beyond where I ever thought digital could go. Totally enjoyable now, and I find myself listening to digital more and more. Good thing too ... I have over 2000 CD's in my collection. Sick, I know. *lol*

Please give us an update as your Black fuses start to break in. This is interesting stuff. 

Take care ...

Wolf when its a labor of love nothing else really matters now does it?


It's strictly a right dominant side of the brain subjective thing.   Us objective left brainers will never get it.  And vice versa.

Wolf & Mapman ...

And there is no reason to buy expensive Single Barrel Scotch or Bourbon whiskey ... After all, alcohol is alcohol, right? 

Choice or Prime beef? Nope ... meat is meat. 

Plain old American processed cheese slices vs a carefully aged English cheddar?  No difference! Cheese is cheese. 

A stock Dynaco Stereo 70 vs a modern day tube amp? Nope, tubes are tubes and amps are amps. 

For two guys who continue to rail against the progress being made in the materials being used to make the improvements in the items being covered in this thread, all I can say is ... try the upgrades for yourselves and then comment.  Until then, you two guys have nothing to go on except your prior experiences. 

Question ... Are you two guys still using the original cell phones with the huge battery packs?  If not, why not? After all ... a phone call is a phone call, right?  

And now, back to my audio system that is sounding simply amazing these days thanks to the various upgrades being applied to the system. 

Rest easy  ... 

Like I said, never the two trains shall meet.... :^)

Obviously no two things are exactly the same.    Its what matters to each and why that differs.


What matters can be subjective or objective or both.     Two different ways of assessing value.    One can be measured and the other not.

We're all mixed bags....just different mixes each.

A poster on another thread said he considered cables  and interconnects as another component in his system.  Do you kind people agree with that sentiment and do you consider fuses to be as significant?  I have a fused Magnepan 1.7 with generic roll-your-own cables.  Would you recommend starting with a different fuse or cables first?
Hello,
Goldencutt,
When I replaced the SR Red fuses with the Black fuses there was an immediate improvement with my  DAC. The sound quality took a temporary step backwards in my Line Stage and amplifier. It required roughly 70 to 80 hours for these two components to sound better with the Black fuses. Frank's  (Oregonpapa )comments are on the mark IMO.Once settled in I believe that you'll be very happy with the benefits of this fuse tweak
Charles, . 

Abnerjack,


In the case of Magnepans specifically, I think there is a good chance of both making a discernible difference in that my understanding is the fuse is actually directly in the signal path which is not the case with most electronics.

Which would make more of a difference of course like always depends on the details. What are you starting with and what are you going to and what are the differences. I suspect that comparison would be easier with the wires but assuming one actually knows what the technical differences are between two fuses, in teh case of Magnepan speakers its quite possible that a fuse change might make a bigger difference. Of course it all depends. In lieu of facts to base a decision on, one might as well just choose randomly what to try first and go from there.

The devil is always in the details.

I still am at a loss regarding how fuse direction matters so I cannot offer anything more there than most which is if you think it might matter try both ways and see.


A poster on another thread said he considered cables and interconnects as another component in his system. Do you kind people agree with that sentiment and do you consider fuses to be as significant?


Obviously they are parts of teh overall system as are the room, people listening, resistors, capacitors, and any other smaller part that makes up the larger.

The question is always what happens when you change anything and how much does it matter?

Myself, I have spent considerable time to-date dabbling with wires hearing differences and using them to fine tune my sound. There is a payoff there I believe in many cases. I have not experienced that yet with fuses but others clearly state they have. I have compared fuses in one case when asked and could not say for sure if I heard any difference consistently. My system sounds just the way I want it to currently so I have no plans to dabble with fuses again soon. There is still a few power cords for my amplifiers that I might consider playing with if time and money permits but what I have performs well and sounds great so no rush.

I will say with respect to the controversy of the day that I have perceived over the years a somewhat understandable tendency among many audiophiles to over-attribute (or mis-attribute) intrinsic tonal and other sonic characteristics to things that may make a difference in some cases, but for which there is no reasonable basis to expect any consistency or predictability of the resulting sonic character among different applications. 

With respect to outlets, for example, it does seem conceivable that sonic consequences could result from certain factors, starting with contact integrity.  But to expect those differences to affect tonality or other sonic attributes in a manner that has any particular likelihood of being applicable to components that may be completely different in design and may be performing completely different functions and may be powered by AC having very different voltages and noise characteristics, seems to me to be fundamentally irreconcilable with any reasonable understanding of how this stuff works.

Regards,
-- Al
  
^^^ And I have no clue why a finely aged English cheddar tastes so much better than a slice of processed American cheese.  Maybe the English cheese makers use Quantum Tunneling?   :-)
Almarg wrote,

"I will say with respect to the controversy of the day that I have perceived over the years a somewhat understandable tendency among many audiophiles to over-attribute (or mis-attribute) intrinsic tonal and other sonic characteristics to things that may make a difference in some cases, but for which there is no reasonable basis to expect any consistency or predictability of the resulting sonic character among different applications.

With respect to outlets, for example, it does seem conceivable that sonic consequences could result from certain factors, starting with contact integrity. But to expect those differences to affect tonality or other sonic attributes in a manner that has any particular likelihood of being applicable to components that may be completely different in design and may be performing completely different functions and may be powered by AC having very different voltages and noise characteristics, seems to me to be fundamentally irreconcilable with any reasonable understanding of how this stuff works."

Actually, reading between the legalese, I tend to agree that it’s probably inconceivable to many folks how certain things in audioland can change the tonality. Was it Arthur C. Clarke who opined that a thing or technology only needs to be just beyond the grasp of ordinary experience or knowledge to be perceived as magic? You know, like a Polaroid camera demonstration to a tribe of some lost Godforsaken island somewhere. Or perhaps like tiny little bowl resonators, or those really tiny Marigo VTS dots for capacitors and electron tubes, or WA Quantum Chips, wall outlets AND wall outlet covers, Schumann frequency generators, wire directionality, Morphic messages, purple pen, Green Pen, Red X Pen, Intelligent Chips, carbon nanotubes, beeswax, Graphene. These all seem fundamentally irreconcilable as regards tonality.

One assumes the expression "reasonable understanding" is subjective.

famous last words:

"I can find no technical explanation of how this thing works."

"I don’t have any explanation for how this thing works but work it does."

cheerios,

geoff kait
machina dramatica

^^^ And I have no clue why a finely aged English cheddar tastes so much better than a slice of processed American cheese. Maybe the English cheese makers use Quantum Tunneling? :-)
..


I’m sure a simple google search would easily clarify how and why they are different.


A scientific study could even be done using statistics and sampling to determine which more people prefer if anyone cares but science will never be able to accurately predict what each individual will prefer every time.

Unless all of one or the other turns outright moldy perhaps. Probably that would still not stop some from saying they prefer it.




If I am understanding correctly, then my best option would be to begin with the cheese on the Maggies? 
^^^ *lol* ... 

If you were to go back and read all 37 pages of this thread (a chore for sure), you'd find several posters who have swapped out the stock fuses on their Maggies for the SR Black fuses and were pleasantly surprised at the improvement

I'd start with the fuses on the Maggies, then sit back and relax with a nice single malt Scotch, some aged English Cheddar on crackers ... while listening to Paul Desmond's alto sax. :-)
Hmm, Boars Head White Canadian Cheddar aged over 1000 days, some rosemary crackers and a nice red wine for me (whatever gets you there).
:-)

All the best,
Nonoise

oregonpapa,

Thanks for the input.  I, like many, am skeptical but open minded regarding the fuses.  However, I do draw the line at a certain point.  I can no longer suspend my disbelief when I read certain product descriptions:

" Audio Magic latest fuse in the Premiere line - The "Beeswax" Premiere Super Fuse. The Beeswax version is identical to the Premiere version the only difference is Audio Magic uses Beeswax instead of the normal anti vibration fluid, this gives the fuse a very organic flavor but maintains the detail, dynamics and everything the Premier does. The production of this fuse is very difficult, very hard to get the Beeswax into the fuse but the organic sound is too good to ignore. "

It only follows then that the bees are on diet of organic pollen.  When I mentioned this to a couple of my audio-unsophisticated friends they were amazed that someone had the gall to advertise a product this way.  I am embarrassed for the industry.

There is quite a buzz about these fuses, although many have reported that they were stung on the purchase of these things.  It's really not a honey of a deal.

 
Abnerjack wrote,

"It only follows then that the bees are on diet of organic pollen. When I mentioned this to a couple of my audio-unsophisticated friends they were amazed that someone had the gall to advertise a product this way. I am embarrassed for the industry."

The industry doesn’t even know there are such things as aftermarket fuses and directionality of wire. You should be embarrassed for them.

abnerjack also wrote,

"There is quite a buzz about these fuses, although many have reported that they were stung on the purchase of these things. It’s really not a honey of a deal."

Actually one reported he was stung.  The rest thought it was the bees knees.

Speaking of cheese, had a nice 6 eggs omelette with Boars Head Munster cheese and Trader Joe’s Black Forest uncured bacon for breakfast this morning.

I’m not armed with a culinary degree so did I got ripped off, all cheese taste the same??   How about wine?   Should I buy some Trader Joe's Two Buck Chuck?   
Hey Frank,
Last night my friend Jeff (Jwm) and I had the great pleasure to hear Roy Hargrove live in a terrific jazz club near us called the Dirty Dog Jazz Cafe  (Grosse Pointe,  MI. ) . This is an intimate venue with excellent acoustics, we had a front table and sat 5 feet from the stage. Wow! What an absolute joy it was to hear this top notch quintet. Beautiful music, high energy and superb warm and natural sound, what more could you want? He alternated between his trumpet and flugelhorn,  both horns sounded gorgeous 😊 This quintet was just captivating. 

Frank I had to change the  topic briefly as this show  was so much fun! Besides the back and forth between pro and con camps  about the fuses is redundant to the point of becoming stale.  At this stage we all know where both sides stand. Thanks to you  for starting this thread  "many" have been able to  improve the sound of their respective audio systems. 
Charles, 
Charles1dad wrote,

"Frank I had to change the topic briefly as this show was so much fun! Besides the back and forth between pro and con camps about the fuses is redundant to the point of becoming stale. At this stage we all know where both sides stand. Thanks to you for starting this thread "many" have been able to improve the sound of their respective audio systems."

What’s beyond Thunderdome? Could fuses be the Holy Grail? The end of the line? The Sinatra qua non? One can't help wondering, what's gonna be the Next Big Thing for the fuse dudes?



My point is simply what more can be said about the upgrade fuse issue that hasn't been expressed. There are always new products or tweaks that come along.  Their merits will be determined by user experience. Some may be as effective as the premium fuses and some won't be. 
Charles, 
charles1dad
4,635 posts
05-19-2016 11:17am
"My point is simply what more can be said about the upgrade fuse issue that hasn’t been expressed. There are always new products or tweaks that come along. Their merits will be determined by user experience. Some may be as effective as the premium fuses and some won’t be."

Nice footwork. I was asking you, actually. Or are fuses the last stop to Xanadu? Perhaps taking a breather. 

cheers
Great results with Synergistic Research ECTs on top of SR Black fuse.
The mains fuse of my amplifier extends on both sides of the
rear wall.  I have placed one ECT on the screw-in cap (outside) and one on the fuse holder cylinder (inside).  The ECT does not have direct contact with the fuse.

Shout out to davidpritchard, who has mentioned this on another post.

Hello geoff,
No fancy footwork intended (or needed). I thought yours was a general comment rather than directed towards me personally. I'm very pleased with the sound of my system and have been for a long tine. It's nice to discover effective fine tuning tweaks however. I am casually looking into some power cords at this time but am in no hurry. Cerious Audio graphene and the SR UEF Black cords seem very promising. I have Coincident components so their latest Statement cords are also a possibility.
Charles,
Kingfi, before you consider buying you should check out this article on
Two Buck Chuck. I've always been told one of the urban myths about it but it turns out to be something else entirely.

All the best,
Nonoise
In Oregonpapa's response to my last post all the analogies he noted were irrelevant, and he likely knows this as clearly it's not in his interest  to let reality interrupt his mysterious shill for SR (kickbacks galore I reckon).  Almarg makes his usual elegant case which does allow some fresh air into the room…albeit prompting a rush to close that window. 
So wolf, your are in the room! (me with a friendly smile))Wolf's in the room! How did that happen?(me with a friendly smile)  I thought you were vehemently confident this conversation about fuses was 110% BS. (me going to deep thought or confusion) Well being in the room is a good first step to come to the dark side. Welcome. Do you bring greetings. Or did you just get a subscription to Stereo Review.  Or, did you come in here to be our conscience, to trade ours in for yours? You keeping yours of course.  Hmmm? Or did you come to tells us we need to go back to kindergarten, that we just cannot draw reasonable conclusions on our own. Hmmm?(me still in deep thought or confusion) What did you come into this room for? Inquiring minds want to know. You haven't said anything different from your first post in this thread, just like some others commenting very often. Conversations such as most of this thread had been nice and friendly, whether agreeing or not. You have had a nice humorous moment or two. Thank you for that.(me with a friendly smile) Let us know why you are still here, and maybe we can be little more accommodating. When my alarm clock goes off in the morning I don't converse with it. You can probably guess what I do then and why.

sgordon1:

Thank you. I am glad you tried this advanced modification and it enhanced your sound system. In fact I just repeated the experiment using the combination of Black fuses combined with  Synergistic Research ECTs placed on the fuse holders in my headphone system. The fuses now have over 300 hours on them so are surely settled in. The results continue to be positive. 

One can over do using ECTs. In my speaker horn system adding ECTs to the fuses on a Synergistic Research Transporter gave more definition but with a loss of the music having a palpable quality. The sound became more  like the way  electrostatics often sound.

It is always disappointing for me to read a post as the above post by wolf_garcia. He is a coward and cyber bully. He has made extremely serious allegations and accused Oregonpapa of illegal and unethical behavior. Of course he is hiding  behind the  screen of a moniker.

I use my legal name in all my posts so there is no doubt who wrote the thread. I have posted my phone number for all to see so if anyone wanted to discuss an audio topic off line and one on one they  could do so. 

I have found the Synergistic Black fuses to make a significant improvement in the sound and enjoyment of my audio system. I have tried to articulate the change in sound I hear  with installation of these fuses. I have emphasized the fact that if one does not hear a benefit with these fuses to return them for a refund.



Oregonpapa has taken considerable time and his money to investigate the effects of audio grade fuses. He  has then simply shared his results to this forum. I am grateful  for this information.

David Pritchard


Charles1 dad:

I have enjoyed your posts, and so I have taken the plunge and the 300 b tube SET amp is on the way. The Psvane 300b WE tubes arrived yesterday ( 4 day shipping from Grant Fidelity- via their Hong Kong facility). It will be interesting to see how the 300b amp compares to the Art Audio Px-25 amp. A battle of the high output giants- five watts versus six watts!

What do those Pass Lab owners do with the extra 295 watts?

David Pritchard 

Hello David,
The feeling is mutual as I find value in your insightful comments. You come across as someone with honesty and integrity. I only have significant experience with two output DHT tubes, the 300b and 845 (limited experience with the 2A3). I absolutely cherish my 300b amplifier.

I’ve only heard good things about the PX 25 tubes.  What 300b amplifier are you awaiting?  
I’m very interested to read your listening comments. I’ve heard many different 300bs but not specifically the Psvane. Word of mouth says that it is a very good sounding tube.
David regarding the derogatory comments about Frank (Oregonpapa ) simply consider the source.
Charles,

charles1dad:

The amp is the DIY Forum ( but already built Get Set Go ) amp that was listed here on Audiogon. It runs the 300b tubes conservatively and so output is 5 watts. I very much like the sound of the Psvane 845 WE-  in the Triode of Japan 845 amp. They and the Elrog 845 do  sound good. The Psvane perhaps more lyical and the Elrogs more detailed.

The tubes arrived from China faster than the amp has from Arizona!  Still waiting on the amp to arrive.

Rachael Grant who continues to manage  Grant's Audio was very prompt in my E-mail questions.

Newport Beach Audio Show in 2 weeks from tomorrow.

I hope all who read Audiogon and can go, please do so. I find the trip from New Mexico to Irvine, California well worth the time and money.

My son Jack who is an all state viola high school student has his final concert tonight. He has tried the WA Quantum chip (for acoustic instruments ) on his viola. He heard a definite change in sound with there being  "a sound with more presence and more forward ".    I was impressed he would try the Chip, and I am glad he is able to have a sense of adventure and experimentation in music and in life.

I hope all are able to enjoy music this weekend on the system of their choice and the fuses of their choice.

David Pritchard



Dear Mr. Wolf-Garcia ...

I have two words for you ... and it isn't Happy Birthday!

David ... 

If you live in New Mexico, you should send some of that great Dixon red chile to wolf-garcia and mapman to compare with the little packages of inferior chile slop they've been using at Taco Bell. Oh, never mind ... they won't be able to tell the difference. After all .. chile is chile, right? :-)

http://thechileshop.com/dixonmediumhotredchilepowder.aspx

Looking forward to the Newport Show and meeting you, David. 

I replaced the SR Red fuse in the ARC-75 SE with the newly arrived SR Black fuse tonight. Right off the bat, there was an increase in air around all instruments with much improved articulation. More of the organics we all love with these fuses. Not much of that hard edge from the usual unbroken in Black fuse. Very musical right off the bat.  At this point, I'm looking forward to the complete break in. 

Next, will be the SR Black wall socket. After that, I'll experiment with the PHT's for the cartridge ... and then the ECT's. The room treatments sound like a good bet too. 

OP


Kingfi, before you consider buying you should check out this article on
Two Buck Chuck. I've always been told one of the urban myths about it but it turns out to be something else entirely.

All the best,
Nonoise

Actually I enjoyed Two Buck Chuck for ~4 years before the quality deteriorated.   I get sh_t from everyone but like audio, I just trust my sense of taste.   Well, some friends call it sense of NO taste. :-):-)


oregon papa:

Living in Las Cruces, New Mexico, chilli both red and green types and then which variety is taken very seriously. I have had the pleasure of meeting the Family that developed the famous Big Jim  chile plant (Hatch, New Mexico).
When you get to talk with the developer+ breeder of a well known type of chilli you gain a lot of insight into the complexities of a respected product.

This holds true in the audio world. When you have the opportunity to talk to the developer of a product don't miss the chance. I think most of us will know quickly if that person's product is worth the time and money to evaluate. This is why I attend shows like Newport Beach.

Tomorrow Zuill Bailey is playing a "Pop Up Concert" in El Paso at 2:30 in the afternoon! This is spontaneous music at it's finest. Up close and informal, listening to a 1693 cello played by a master of the expressive school of cello playing. Is it worth the 100 mile drive round trip. Absolutely.

Is it worth trying a Synergistic Research Black fuse with it's 100 hour breakin. Absolutely.

David Pritchard


Been a while since I've checked in on this thread. I'm very curious about the black outlet. Davidpritchard has me very intrigued.  Right now, I have the gtxD r feeding my power conditioner and subwoofer. The teslaplex se are retrofitted into my conditioner. My power amp and my CD player are connected directly to the wall, into a wattgate 381 Ag Cryo. I'd imagine the wattgate would get spanked by the new black outlet. I'm just so lazy to get back there. I wonder if it would be worth it though. Lol. 
David ...

In my opinion, and as a die hard chile lover, nothing ... nothing, can top the chiles from Hatch and Dixon.

 I used to visit a friend in Sante Fe, and while there, I would eat myself through every chile place I could find.   There used to be a place in downtown Sante Fe that was like an old Newberry's five and dime. They served a medium sized bag of Frito's cut length-wise and added a liberal portion of red chile gravy that they poured over the Frito's.  My god ... what a taste experience. So very hot ... but so good you just can't stop eating it.

Then there was another place that had the best huevos rancheros in the world ... made with the green Hatch chiles. Zowie ... another hot one that had you sweating even on a snowy day. So good!

Now that I no longer travel to Sante Fe, I just order the ground chile from the link I left in my last post. I use it for a lot of cooking that calls for chile powder. With its unique taste, its one of my better "secret" ingredients. 

I was wondering David ... have you ever attended a concert at the outdoor venue in Sante Fe? Chesky did a number of recordings from there that reside in my collection. 

On tonight's listening session with the new SR Black fuse in the amp: While more transparent and showing all the promise of the other Black fuses in the system, there is that slight over brightness and hardness typical of an unbroken in SR fuse.  What I heard tonight tells me that once its broken in ... new levels of musicality will be achieved ... and a lot more there, will be there. :-).  

OP


Charles ...

Thanks for sharing your experience from the live concert with Roy Hargrove.  Nothing like live, that's for sure. Especially sitting near the front where you can actually hear the instruments in their natural state. The flugal horn is such an amazing instrument ... great for jazz. So is the oboe, by the way. Check this album out:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HOWARD-RUMSEY-LP-Lighthouse-All-Stars-Vol-4-Oboe-Flute-1956-Contemporary-RI-...

It only comes in mono, but not to worry, its great mono and the sound is right there too. Its available on CD to if interested. 

I think I mentioned before that my friend Robert and I attend concerts at a  local church that consists of our city's professional symphony orchestra with solos played by very talented high school students. We sit in the front row right between the piano and the string section. Wow! If only massed strings could sound like that on my stereo system. Just beautiful. 

OP
Hi Frank,
Thank you for the recording recommendation,  well recorded mono is just fine with me. Honestly when you hear live unamplified music as I did that night it sounds like hugh,warm and beautiful mono. There's very little sense of musician placement precision it is rather vague. The overwhelming effect (at least for me ) is the gorgeous blending of the instruments with resulting richness and harmonics. Dynamic energy and the musical pace and flow just grab you.  My foot just spontaneously taps and my head nods in time with the music,  its as though you can't control this reaction 😊

This type of listening experience always reminds me that the High End audio direction towards ultra detail just misses the boat IMO. My recent visit to Axpona in Chicago confirmed that in a number of rooms. To be fair there were rooms that got it right. Frank,  I hope you , Robert and David have a wonderful time at the Newport show. I look forward to show impressions from you all.
Charles, 
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Yeah…since I question this nonsense and the motivation behind the "over the top" promotion of SR’s technically unexplainable and likely useless products in a room full of believers, I do row against the tide. If some of the uber sensitive among us can’t simply answer technical queries with anything other than a "try it and send it back" reflexive dismissal or fanboy obfuscation, I don’t mind, and frankly expect nothing less. I only assume there’s a commercial connection to the promotors of this stuff because that’s the only thing that makes sense…and the defensive stance feigning insult is exactly what makes that seem more likely. If you read Almarg’s extremely well informed, elegantly written, and technically accurate posts you could learn something about fuse directionality or audio mythology, but these fall into the category of "pearls before swine" when laid at the feet of the oddly motivated faithful.
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David Pritchard, do you have any experience with the old school watt gate 381 silver cryo?  If so, how would you compare it to the new UEF black Receptacle?

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