Synergistic Red Fuse ...

macdude,

are you referring to the difference between a beeswax fuse and a stock fuse, or a beeswax fuse and a SR red?

Fliz, stock fuse vs Beeswax. I have had the Red fuse before and I liked it. But the Beeswax is is just a huge upgrade with the Exemplar DAC. It dropped the noise floor significantly, and has a lot of the benefits similar to the ESS rack.

As you know, the Exemplar stuff is incredibly musical and engaging. And the Beeswax just takes it to another stratosphere. The stock fuse is holding it back more than you'd ever believe.

macdude ...

What differences do you hear between the beeswax fuses and the Red fuses? 

My fuse dots will probably come in Monday's mail. 

Hi macdude, I  haven't pulled the trigger on the red's yet,  what's the retail of the beeswax fuses? 

audiolabyrinth ...$175.00

Does the Audio Horizon Beeswax fuse come with a 30 trial or return for refund?

I thought the Beeswax fuse came from Audio Magic?

Thankyou aolmrd1241 for your reply,  mmm, that's quite costly,  do you believe the beeswax fuses are nearly twice as good as the red's? 

taters:
Thank you for the correction.
Audio Magic makes the $175 beeswax infused fuse for $175.00.
I can find no information about returning this fuse for refund.

Audio Horizon makes an audiophile fuse. Most are $117.00
They carry fuses up to 15 amps rated.
They offer a 15 day trial and return policy to established Audiogon members.

Charles1dad,  you have any new feedback yet? 

^^^ Yep, the SR fuse chips arrived in this afternoon's mail. I did an a/b comparison with one piece of gear at a time, starting with the preamp fuse. Here's the overall consensus:
 
I used Diana Krall's "Live in Paris" CD first. I know this CD very well, so any improvement would be noticeable right away. With the fuse chips installed in the preamp and amp ... and with stock fuses still in the CD player, I noticed an additional lowering of the noise floor over just the SR RED fuses without the chips. This allowed for additional inner detail and previously unheard things to come through the soundfield. For example, on the cut "Oh Canada," an audience member coughs four times. I never, in all the times playing this CD, ever heard those coughs. In addition, the sense of movement of the musicians came through including Krall's operation of the pedals of the piano. the piano creaks, thumps and other things besides music that pianos do. All subsequent CD's revealed new information too. Very nice.

Next, I replaced CD's with Vinyl and put an SR fuse chip on the phono stage fuse. First up ... Sammy Davis Jr. with Laurindo Almeda on guitar. WOW! The sense of Davis being in the room was amazing. His personality came through like never before ... the mouth sounds, chest, throat and breath being controlled by the singer was amazing. Almeda's guitar had new inner detail, so much so, that I could hear "around" the strings. Such realism in that dang guitar!

Then, I switched to female vocalists. Same here as on the Sammy Davis album. The personality of the singers came through with a new realism. Sue Raney with the Bob Florence trio is one of my reference LP's. Again, the best I've ever heard it sound ... and I've heard this album at least a hundred times. 

There's more to the SR fuse chips that the fuses by themselves don't provide. Yes, there's a lower noise floor, but the realism of the system overall  has really been enhanced by the fuse chips. For the money, it's definitely a worthwhile tweak. 

Next ... two SR RED fuses for the CD player along with two more fuse chips. As good as CD's are sounding in the system so far, which is far better than I ever thought digital would sound, I predict a major improvement once the CD player is "fuse upgraded." Stay tuned ... 

Audiolabyrinth,
As I posted a couple of days ago , the Red fuses placed in the  mono blocks led to further  sonic improvement.  I'll do my DAC in a few days. The benefit of these  is unquestionable based on listening impressions of my system. I have not detected  any downside  or musical  compromise, this is an across the board upgrade.

I believe that the Audio Magic Beeswax or the AH fuses  would be  terrific also and all of these top tier fuses would improve virtually all audio  systems. The ranking order of them will likely be a matter of  taste and system synergies.

I'm very curious to hear  the impact of using the Afterburner 8 wall receptacle with the Oyaide WPC-Z cover plate,.
Charles,

These are the WA Quantum Chips you're referring to? 

^^^ Yes, the WA Quantum Chips. Sorry if I wasn't clear. 

Between the SR RED fuses and the fuse chips, my system has been brought to a level that I wouldn't have believe attainable only a few weeks ago. This is with only three new fuses and three fuse chips. I still have stock fuses with no chips in the CD player. That will be the next upgrade. 

I recommend the chips for sure. They bring about a relaxation to the musical presentation that the fuse upgrade alone doesn't provide. It adds a lot to the realism of the playback. 

This thread keeps getting better and better!

Charles 1:
I hope you are able to first install the Synergistic Research RED fuse in the DAC and then Install the Afterburner A/C outlet.
I gentle reminder when changing the A/C outlet, circuit breaker turned to off and take the time to clean those household wires.
We do not need any shocking results!

I have spent a lot of time investigating the WA Quantum Chips. They certainly do cause a sonic change. For me they tend to give me a sense of subtraction. A sense of hearing detail but at the expense of feeling emotion. They are not expensive and can be returned after a trial.
I am left with a total of one in place on a non user replacable fuse.

I have had better results with the Synergistic Research ECT (electronic circuit transducers) on or near fuses. But more expensive.

Both products have an immediate effect but take about 24 hours to fully settle in.

David Pritchard

^^^ David ...

I had to remove the three RED fuses in order to install the WA chips. After replacing, everything needed to settle in again. After the system was on for a few hours, it just came to life. You comment about a "sense of subtraction" was right on. Much more inner detail with the chips, but not in an etched sort of way at all. Just closer to the music. More organic. More emotionally impactful. 

Once I have the CD player operating with the RED fuses and WA chips, I'll move on and try the ECT's. From what I've read online, these make more difference than the fuses and chips. Has that been your experience as well.??

I trust Charles' ears and may try these fuses, but this company's quantum chips simply have to be a placebo (and make me distrust them more generally).  They make big ones to slap on the sides of your speaker cabinets for god's sake.  Only $130 a chip to make your speakers look horrible.  Standard arguments aside, there simply isn't a mechanism by which these speaker chips could work, besides the extremely well-established psychological one. 

^^^ That's what they used to say about cables, speaker spikes and removable power cords.

I assume, Charles, that you've tried all the sizes of WA chips in your own system before making your judgement though, right? 

Don't get me wrong here, Charles. I understand your skepticism. I bought the fuses and chips with full knowledge of the distributor's money back guarantee. 

I'm not sending them back. 

One of the best places for a WA Cable Chip after much experimentation is wrapped around the house AC wire for the audio circuit as it comes into the circuit breaker on the breaker box. I also am a big fan of the WA Inductor Chip adjacent to the transducer of each headphone.

Hi Oregonpapa, I enjoyed reading your impressions of the quantum chips with the sr-red's fuses,  we'll said,  very exciting indeed,  also,  I like this thread,  thankyou 

Hi Charles1dad,  thankyou for your reply,  however,  hope no one here trips on what I'm about to tell you,  remember when I said I tested high end receptacle's?, OK,  we'll the outlet's  yielded some interesting facts! , the stainless non magnetic screw's that come with the furutech wall frames are terrible sounding,  now, since you believe in magnetism,  like your cable's,  I found that zinc highly magnetized screw's that are common place used in most standard house wiring works to very, very,  good effect,  but you have to go to your electrical supply house and get bigger diameter, and longer  length for the outlet wall frame and receptacle it's self to screw in the electrical gain box, btw, thick fiber glass gain boxes sound best,  I done all this testing December 2014 for a couple of months,  you are the first I have ever told this to on audiogon thread that I can remember,  hope this helps,  it gave me a good noticeable improvement,  cheers. 

Charles1dad,  I  must mention why the thick fiber glass gain boxes sound best,  isolation from vibrations! Plastic is terrible, metal can ring,  and isolates nothing. 

Hi Oregonpapa,,
You have me confused with Ca3713 comments regarding the Quantum chips. I've never  used them. Hi Ca,l,  skepticism is a legitimate  reaction to unusual  products. I have no opinion on the  various chips. I can only attest  to the improvement via the SR Red fuses.

Audiolabyrinth,
Thanks much for your observations regarding  various screws and AC wall receptacle mounting.
All reports seem to  confirm that the  Oyaide WPC-Z is a very effective wall plate. So I'll go that route. 
Charles,

Charles ...

Yes, I reread the guilty post and realized my mistake. So sorry. Do you think it may have had anything to do with the WA chip I pasted to my forehead? :>)

The Oyaide is an excellent choice, Charles. I was using another "hospital" grade outlet before I installed the Oyaide. The improvement was not subtle at all. It provided a major reduction in grain, a more silent background and more inner detail. 

Does anyone have a good idea on how the WA Quantum chips work? I don't think it has anything to do with reducing the micro vibrations of the fuse itself .... or does it??

Audiolabyrinth ... Thank you for your complement.  I really enjoy writing about these tweaks, especially when they are as mind blowing as these SR products. I love the fact that for the cost of a hundred dollar fuse, a stereo system can be transformed for the better. I can hardly wait to put the two required fuses and WA chips in the CD player. Should be really mind boggling. 

Stay tuned ...

 

Unless I miss my guess the active ingredient is rather like the active ingredient in the quantum chip I designed, the Super Intelligent Chip. But I've never actually looked inside one of the WA Quantum Chips. Quantum mechanics joke.

Oregonpapa:
I think the "RED" fuses give the most significant change in the system of the various devices we have discussed.

The Synergistic Research ECT's  (for me ) reduce grain and hash. When the right locations are found, the sound becomes better focussed but still is full bodied. My Sacd player, and three amps each like about 7 ECT's installed. It is trial and error where to place but the change is immediate whether it is a good spot or a bad spot. For me they really have let me fine focus the systems.

Nobody has published how the WA Quantum Chips work, but they do affect the sound. Not universally for the better.

Interestingly they even work on acoustic instruments. I know because I bought the music instrument chip for my son. He is an all state high school viola player!  He, his instructor and myself could all hear a change. "The viola had more presence".  I liked the sense of "more" . My son did not.

But we have published how the Intelligent Chip works. Close enough for Government work.

http://machinadynamica.com/machina64.htm

GK

Audiolabyrinth, you'll get a better deal on the Beeswax fuse by going with Jerry at Audio Magic.

Interestingly, the sound in my system started getting dull with the Beeswax after it settled in. I flipped the direction of the fuse and it's back to sounding good.

I spoke to Jerry and he definitely said to leave it in one direction after break-in. So I don't know what's happening.

I've had the SR Red fuses in my Line Stage 9 days and the SET amplifier for 4 days. I can say unequivocally that they are exceptional  value  purchases  and as Knghifi wrote earlier,  offer  great ROI, amen. The people who have posted on this thread  are very experienced listeners who have very good  audio  systems. 

The SR Red fuses are targeted to this partinsular group for a reason,  they can easily  recognize  and appreciate  a fine audio product  when given the opportunity to  hear it  in their own  systems.  These fuses are simply  wonderful and deserve  their  place  in any and all  high quality  systems  owned by folks who just love listening to  music.

I've not been able to identify  a single  negative  aspect to these  excellent  fuses in any manner. You can with little effort  spend more and get less sound quality in return. I can  recommend these  top tier fuses to any music lover without  a trace of  hesitation.  Synergistic Research did their  homework and  deserve  whatever  success they are able to  obtain. Although I haven't  used them, I'm  sure the same is true in regard to Audio Horizon  and Audio Magic Premium Beeswax fuses. I believe that the  better the system, the greater is the  impact of   these premium  level   fuses.
Charles,

David ...

Thanks for the info on the  The Synergistic Research ECT's. After I finish with the fuses, the ECT's will be my next step. In addition to your analysis, I've read nothing but good things about them.

I had two friends over for dinner tonight (my homemade chile), and they were amazed at how well the system sounded. We played nothing but CD's ... and it was so good we were listening to entire CD's all the way through. It was kind of mesmerizing actually. I know it sounds far fetched, but I believe even the WA  Quantum Chips needed some burn-in time. 

Getting back to the WA Quantum Chips for just a sec, I would like to point out a couple things. One is just how tiny some of these chips actually are. The one for small capacitors is what about 1/8" diam and thin as all get out. It cannot be a vibration damper or contstrained layer damper or anything like say the Marigo VTS Dot which is also rather the same diameter and also intended for (damping vibration of) capacitors.

In like manner the WA Quantum Cable Chip, as I already mentioned, is very effective wrapped around the audio circuit wire as it comes into the circuit breaker box. Therefore - and I hate to judge before all the facts are in - I kind of doubt the Cable Chip could be operating as a vibration damper as it’s just too far upstream. Upstream of where all the vibration is. The vibration that’s causing problems is way downstream of the circuit breaker box and the Cable Chip is even upstream of that! So, if they’re not anti vibration devices what they heck are they?

There’s a WA Quantum Chip for Cables, one for Power, one for capacitors, one for Inductors and Coils, one for Fuses. If they were acting on vibration wouldn’t they just sell one Type of Chip that could be used anywhere? Are the chips affecting RFI/EMI? Probably not since the speaker chip is placed on the cabinet. Are they affecting the way energy flows in the system, as the maker of the WA Quantum Chip suggests? Well, maybe. But what’s inside the chip? There not much room in one of those chips to put anything. In fact there is NO ROOM to put anything. Hel-looo!

As as regards the reports that WA Quantum Chips don’t work in some applications, or don’t work for some people or require breaking in well, isn’t that true of just about everything?

Like many who posted earlier, I have the original Synergistic Research fuses in most of my equipment, including some that I've sold. This was the results of comparisons some time ago with every fuse that I could lay my hands on as well as experimenting with the direction of every fuse I used. I remain very happy with what I hear with my old SR fuses.

Many manufactures claim that their fuses don't have a direction, but I have failed to find any such fuse. I think this was true of the SR fuses also. I hope to soon try the SR  Red fuses but that entails once again checking what values I need,

One thing is certain fuses and their direction are important.

Oregonpapa:

I very much look forward to your listening experiences with using the RED fuses in your CD player. I found this to be a very pivotal position. My SACD player has one main power fuse and then 5 fuses for the various circuits. I found the main fuse location to be a major change. The 5 rail fuse locations had a much smaller sonic change. One approach would be RED fuse at main fuse and then the WA Quantum chips on the stock rail fuse locations.

Charles1-  I absolutely agree that the SET amplifier magic is only enhanced by the Synergistic Research "RED" fuses. The Emotion type 45 SET amplifier putting out maybe one watt to the Teresonic speakers has an elegance to the sound that was not there with an ordinary fuse. So much more emotionally engaging.

Hi David,
I bet your system  with those pieces sounds marvelous. I wouldn't be surprised if  the upgraded  fuses have more impact on the source  (DAC,Phono stage) and preamp than the power amplifier. I ordered  the wrong  size fuses for my DAC (my error ). So I'm  looking forward to the fuse effect on the  DAC once they arrive. .
Charles,

Thankyou macdude for your reply post. 

Hi Charles,
What size Red fuses did you use for the Franks?

Joe

Hi Joe,
My older Frankenstein MK II ( bought new in 2009) uses one 3 amp slo blo(that plugs into the rear of the amplifier). The SR Red is 3.15 amp(closest match). Your Franks are a newer version so you may or may not have the same size fuse. Joe; the SR Red fuse actually made more of an impact than changing the stock input coupling capacitor(Solens) to the Jupiter copper foil (which was itself a worthwhile change). Just to give you an idea of the sonic effect in my system. Once the fuse burns in for a few days reverse the direction and see which placement sounds better to you.
Charles,

I am not sure where the most efficatious location is for fuse upgrades except to first replace the main fuse of each piece of equipment in the audio chain. I first started with the amp fuse and worked my way "upstream". Even a subwoofer benefits.

Charles1- I did the same thing with my DAC. I ordered the wrong fuses. The great thing with the Synergistic Research dealer organization was the fuse was exchanged for the correct value with no hassle.

Interestingly  to me is the Antelope DAC uses a fuse on both the hot and neutral circuits. It also has its own separate power supply. The "RED" fuses still made a big sonic difference. So despite a very expensive DAC manufacturer ( Antelope) going to the Nth degree for sonic clarity, changing the fuses to  Synergistic Research "RED" made a big improvement.

After putting in a fuse, I normally wait a week of use before changing the fuse direction. I have not heard as big a difference in fuse direction as TGB forum member has. Meaning the new "RED" fuse sounds better in either direction as compared to the stock fuse.

Wow, makes a bigger difference then the caps!
I'll have to order some, thanks.

Sorry for going off topic but, did you change the resistors in your amps to run less voltage and if so did it change the sound?

Best,
Joe 

David,
 I find that the change of fuse direction is "noticeable" but subtle in effect.

Joe,
Yes, the fuse seems to have a bit more of an impact. The capacitor change improved along the lines of refinement and tonality(which were already exceptionally good). Again just my observation.Your outcome/impression could be different for sure.
I have the resistors but haven't installed them yet(still waiting on the Elrog replacement). I'll definitely post my findings on the Elrog thread.
Charles,

I find the change in fuse direction subtle, too. However, if you have say four or five fuses in your system including fuses in speakers and you change the direction of each fuse one at a time, listening to the sound after each change, deciding whether the new direction is better or worse, then repeat the entire process to be sure you guessed right, at the end of the day, with all of the fuses in the right direction, the difference in sound will NOT be subtle. Or if you like, it will be subtle but powerful.

GK

I have had the amp fuse in for 12 days. The sound was slightly coarse sounding in the first 20 hours. After that the system started to sound noticeably more open, natural, lively. Things I am really liking. I don't know if they will continue to effect a change in sound, but if the system stays like it is, I am giddy about that. That's 'giddy', not 'giddy up'. Now for the cd transport fuse to go in. If it goes as well I will get another for my dac. I would like to try a audio horizons or audio magic. I will see how the next 50 hours go.

I found fuse direction was very noticeable in my VAC SigmMKIIa pre.  In wrong direction, sounds out of phase with no weight, bass, rounded ...  Compared notes with several VAC owners, same results and ultimately we confirmed with Kevin Hayes.    Now I ask manufacturer for correct direction so no need to experiment.

I don't find replacing stock with any after market fuse is an improvement to be true.   I don't want a fuse to change the character of my component but enhance it.  Once I had a fuse that elevated the mid so much prefer stock.

I prefer a neutral and linear sound so SR RED is 1st choice and then HiFi Tuning Supreme.     Since RED doesn't offer a 7A slo-blo for my ARC REF250, I'm SHOCKED how well Isoclean is working out for only $49.    It's very neutral and linear.

Knghifi,
That's a good observation and I agree  regarding the SR Red fuse effect based on my results. The sonic character wasn't altered in my system. It just seems the present good attributes  were simply improved. Clarity,  openess, dynamic ebb and flow, transparency and nuances further improved. I know that  this is a cliche but it is as though a veil is removed. That's the overall effect I perceive.
Charles,

Marqmike:
That was a nice description of the way a new RED fuse breaks in.
knghifi:
I also started at the amplifier when I started replacing fuses, but I have yet to not hear an improvement in a piece of equipment with a RED fuse.

And yes that includes Blue Ray players with replaceable fuses. Dialog becomes more articulate. I wish my Honda radio-CD player had standard fuses so I could replace them!
David Pritchard

Knghifi,
Try the AH in stead of the Isoclean, you will thank me for that.

David,
my son plays the violin, also all-state and the WA Quantum chip is still sitting there.

Generally, I have max. ONE fuse with the WA chip per device and have noticed no noticeable downside. As with a lot of tweaks, you can have too much of the same.

SR has a winner now with the SR Red fuse but many of us remember when their wizard of Oz each time promises a quantum leap (pun intended) and two months later you have the 2nd version, or a newer bullet. I am bit wary of their other tweaking gear because of their history and my experience and, for now, wait patiently to see if their three letter magic devices are here to stay.

Mind you that the deployment of a good bypass cap mostly improves the sound but that requires some soldering. 

jazzon the hudson:
Congratulations on your son making all state! My son plays with the  New Mexico All State Symphony Orchestra this Saturday. Does your son have the WA Acoustic Chip on his violin? It certainly changes the sound of acoustic instruments- violin, viola, and acoustic guitar have all been tried at my house. All had a change in sound- facinating to me.
I agree with the Isoclean fuse. There are other fuses that have made a bigger improvement in my systems.