Knghifi,
Try the AH in stead of the Isoclean, you will thank me for that.
A friend did and prefer HiFi-Tuning Supreme.
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?
4,839 responses Add your response
The sound of my system still seems to be improving with the SR Red fuses. Listening to familiar recordings tonight and they sound gorgeous. It really feels like I'm in the actual presence of Sarah Vaughan "Sarah + 2", "Afters Hours" and "Lester Young With The Oscar Peterson Trio". Their enormous talent is conveyed so emotionally engaging.These fuses are musically wonderful, so natural, Next up, Sonny Stitt😁😁 Charles, |
Hi Lak, You have a wonderful system. You will benefit significantly by upgrading to the premium tier of fuses. I've come to the conclusion that the better the system, the greater the impact of the fuses. High resolution systems reveal what these fuses are capable of providing. I'd be surprised if you weren't happy with them in your system. Lak, thanks again for burning in my Afterburner 8 AC receptacle with your Audio Harma cooker. I'll let you know how it sounds in my system. Charles, |
Great news on getting the Afterburner receptacle burned in. For those who have an AudioDharma Cable Cooker, their new adapter allows the ground wire of power cables to be conditioned. The sonic improvement is well worth the cost. It is called theGroundBreaker. The other device that to me is an extension of the Cable Cooker is Jim Haggerman's Frycorder. This device conditions the house wiring all the way back to the utility transformer. Another sonic improvement. The Cable Cooker, Frycorder, audiograde A/C receptacles, and audio grade fuses go a long way in removing bottlenecks in the audio chain. |
The Frycorder ia available from Jim Hagerman at Hagerman Audio Labs. haglabs.com After ordering on line he shipped it quickly. Simple to use. Plug it in via any power cord for three days and that circuit is conditioned. Then remove from circuit. Ater treating, the music has a better flow, less grain, more emotion. The Frycorder was developed in 2012. the simple manuel even comes with a schematic. Now that is rare in today's world. Anouncement with a father's pride- I get to hear my son play in the New Mexico All State Orchestra tomorrow morning. No fuse rolling for me this weekend! David Pritchard |
Don't try this at home. No fuse rolling for me as I have been using cryo treated N52 magnets for years. Direction is obvious as you follow the ac voltage in and follow the dc voltage rails. Couple bucks apiece before doing the cryo and treating the center circumference with AVM. Component upgrade level of quality. More slam, more stage, more focus, no noise, no bang. Don't try this at home. I use these in conjunction with 6 dedicated Hubbell 5361's cryo'd multiple times. Single plugs have less mechanical resonance than their noisey twin. Remove the 2 ferrous fasteners and replace with brass. The 5361's can be had for about 8 bucks and use with non ferrous stainless steel plates. Paint the inside of the plates with AVM. Tom |
electroslacker: the 5A 250V will work both in Europe (220/240V) and the US. Fuses are supposed to blow when the specified current is exceeded (give or take a couple percent). Tom: you piqued my interest as I never tried DIYing magnets before. I do believe in the enhancement that magnetic cables a la HFC bring a lot to the table. Care to share more? "Don’t do this at home" sounds like you are inserting a series of conductive N25 chips where the fuse is...cost is indeed a couple of bucks and a high(er) adrenaline every time you turn that thing on and hope your house circuit breaker still works. Am I close? >>... no bang ... well maybe a big one someday? Replacing ferrous with non-ferrous material is known on/around sockets, I have replaced the standard covers with carbon fiber versions for selected sockets. I guess one of the reasons the PI Uberbuss works so well is that it comes in a wooden box that is on top treated with AVM paint. Basically, quality (some croy’ed) sockets, LC circuits, non-vibrating box and a steel AC sockets cover. I prefer Audience’s concept that truly isolates each socket, high quality caps and the use of a ground bar. As you know, they use their own dampening coating on their D models. It took a while before John McD decided to offer the superior GTX-D sockets as option. Their Cardas plugs are not in the top of the range. As for fuses, I will order a Bee wax Super Fuse so I comp it between the SR Red and AH Platinum in my DAC |
The final two RED fuses went into the CD player today in anticipation of two fellow audiophile friends coming over for a listening session tonight (Friday). After warming up the system for an hour or two, the session began. Holy ear openings Batman! This was no minor improvement. The entire back wall came down. I couldn't have put it any better than my friend Mr. Golden Ears (Robert) put it ... "These fuses in the CD player didn't just lift a veil ... they lifted the entire roof off of the house!" Other comments were: "It sounds like you have installed far better speakers or preamp!" Quite honestly guys, this is the most exciting improvement, at a most reasonable price, in my audio system since I entered the hobby in the early 70's. Digital playback has acquired an analog presence and is completely enjoyable to listen to. Usually when beginning with CD's, it's not long before someone wants to switch to LP's. Well, not tonight. It was one CD after another in complete astonishment. In the event you may be thinking that this is the irrational blatherings of someone who is just overly enthusiastic ... it's not. These damned fuses have taken my audio system to a completely different level ... a level I thought unattainable. I can almost reach out and touch the reality. I had no idea that the ARC CD-7SE was capable of attaining this type of three dimensionality and realism. I've heard good digital at the various shows like the Newport show ... but I'm hard pressed to recall better sound than what came out of my speakers tonight. I'm stoked! |
Oregonpapa, I have to say I'm not completely surprised that your CD player responded the way it did with the SR Red fuses. It would make sense that the effects of a source component (upstream as it is would be ) has potential for much positive impact. I eagerly look forward to putting the Red fuse into my DAC given the very positive results with my amplifier and Line Stage. As you clearly note,the performance to cost ratio of these fuses is quite impressive As I've said before, these fuses provide more actual sonic improvement than a number of interconnect and power cables I've heard in my system. To be clear, the cables made a difference but to a lesser extent relative to the Red fuse. I'm very curious to hear the resulting impact of the Afterburner 8 wall AC outlet with the Oyaide WPC-Zealand cover. Charles, |
While the fuses were most impressive in the line stage and amp, they were less impressive in the phono stage. The phono was a marked improvement mind you, but he amp & preamp was more significant. The best improvement was at the CD player. It may have been because the CD player required two fuses. Now I'm thinking about what geoffkait said and will try reversing the position of the fuse in the phono amp tonight. Stay tuned ... Charles ... When you get your outlet and cover, would you please do an A/B comparison with the cover plate off ... and then on? Reason I ask is because I never replaced the cover plate after installing the Oyaide outlet. Thanks ... |
Don’t do it…reversing a fuse can cause a warp in the time continuum that can plunge you and the rest us of into an irreversible black hole. Also, am I the only one to doubt the claimed astonishing sonic effects of a half inch of potentially self destructing metal on everything electronic that comes after it? Is to do so simply a retreat into my self absorbed Luddite-like rebellious albeit tenuous world of logic based doubt? I refuse to re-fuse…unless somebody sends me a pile of "premium fuses" to test without the influence of having spent my money on the damn things…somehow that seems just as unlikely as the appearance of a "3D Holographic Soundstage" that could most likely just frighten me. |
wolf ... I enjoy your posts immensely. Your humor is such that it clearly reveals your intelligence. Last night one of the listeners during the listening session was so overwhelmed by fright due to the 3-D realism afforded by the two RED fuses in the CD player that he ripped off his clothes and ran down the street naked. He said that he hasn't been so inclined since the late 1960's. When the Sheriff's Deputy returned him intact he was fine, although he was blabbering something about Dr. Timothy Leary. Does this disprove your theory that the "black hole" isn't irreversible? After all, my friend came back. Even Alice came back ... |
Aolmrd1241, The PFO reviewer used SS (Vitus electronics) and experienced the same level of improvement as reported by users on this thread. I use a DHT Line Stage and a SET 300b amp. So very different systems yet near identical results. I believe that the Red fuse has universal application given its high quality. Charles, |
This is interesting. I've been using different fuses, since (and I had to come on here to see when I first started posting about fuses: senior moment…) 2012. Just 4-6 days ago, I noticed that my system sounded really, REALLY bright, especially on Mercury Living Presence CDs. Stravinsky's 'The Firebird' was pretty screechy on cut 23. I had gotten speaker cables weeks ago, and were breaking them in (same company, updated cables), and until this week, never thought the sound 'bright' or 'screechy.' So, tonight, I was talking to a friend and suddenly exclaimed that, if I'd changed the fuses in my other equipment, I must have changed it in the CD player as well. At the time, I could not discern correct orientation, but that was hardly surprising: terminal illness in my family had just begun, and I was not in the state of mind to be as observant. Anyway, opened the CD player, and sure enough, there was a Synergistic SR-20 fuse in there. I changed the orientation, and SOME of the brightness was ameliorated. I wanted to simply post now, while I was thinking about it. Fuse application is clearly not Universal. What works in one application does not necessarily translate to others. I found a thread from 4 years ago, when I first started experimenting with fuses, where I had complained that the Hurricanes sounded not so good with the Hi Fi fuses in them (I first posted that in 2012). 4 years later, and post some losses in my family, I looked in the Hurricanes fuse box. Something just told me to look in there: Hi Fi tuning fuses in them. I had WONDERED what was wrong with the system over the past few months, although the use of the Hurricanes was to bypass the amp stage of an integrated amp. Don't recall WHY I put the Hi Fi tuning fuses back in the amps, but it must've simple been that I forgot they didn't work as well. So , I'll be putting Synergistics back in - as soon as I can locate them. (Don't ask. It's been 4 years, and I have fuses upstairs, in the basement, in boxes in the shed, the garage, and, I'm sure, stored in trees outside [ hope the squirrels haven't found them]). I had stopped using the Hurricanes in the system because of the lack of dynamics and low-level detail. Now I know why - but don't know WHEN I put them back in the amps. (Must've been during that bad period, when my memory was ONLY a memory - to me) But the CD player is clearly better with the orientation change. Just a warning to those who don't see the improvement that maybe it's not the fuse: maybe it's the orientation or the component into which the fuse has been placed. |
lak: The Hagerman Frycorder arrived in about 7 days. The unit is small, well built, and not heavy. The price included shipping. charles1dad Thank you for the kind words. 85 top high school students really put out a wonderful big sound. Very adult moment. Then immediate post concert trip to Game Stop to pick up a new video game. Certainly this 21 century is interesting with it's ironies. On fuse direction: When putting in a new fuse do a quick comparison and pick a direction. Then wait a week before doing a final fuse direction test. Longer if the system is not played a lot that week- 10 to100 hrs. |
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Got this from another site: Interesting observation relayed from Warren Gehl about fuses in ARC gear in this month's letter section of Audio Beat |
A friend of mine just returned from CES and says during a discussion with the Founder of Absolare Audio (Amps,preamps etc.) he's very aware of and impressed with the SR Reds. A number of manufacturers acknowledge the improvement derived from premium fuses. Pretty obvious to me if you take the time to listen to them. No different than rolling various types of tubes in my experience. The impact is similar and sometimes even greater. Charles, |
I have about four or five hours on a
Synergistic Research "RED" fuse in my amp. Very worthwhile improvement a great value. Don't judge it right away the break-in is kinda odd in my case after about twenty minutes things improved dramatically. In a couple of weeks I may swap it end to end see if that changes for the better. I'm inclined to just leave it alone it sounds so good as it it. Thank you for suggesting this and all the comments too. Who would have thought a silly little fuse could affect things like that. Will soon order another for the CDP. |
I have used both Brands: Isoclean and Synergistic Red. I will be interested to hear your comments after 25 hours on the RED. For me they both improved the sound initally but with further break in- the RED continued to improve to a greater degree. Also after some break in time it is worth the effort to reverse the fuse direction to see if there is further improvement. David Pritchard |
I'll stray away from the primary topic for a moment. Lak burned in my Afterburner 8 AC receptacle on his Audio Harma cooker for 160 hours and I sincerely appreciate his kind favor. For 79 dollars this is a very worthy product and on par with the SR Red fuses in terms of genuine sonic impact. I can easily compare it to my standard outlet in the same wall,. The Afterburner 8 is clearly an improvement, jaw dropping? No, but unquestionably superior sound quality. As with the SR Red fuses it doesn't change the innate system character but it does improve the clarity, openess and there's more ambience retrieval and nuance. The generic outlet is by comparison marred by a thin layer of haze and hash. This isn't apparent until you use the Afterburner 8 receptacle, then it is obvious. I use the Tripoint Troy which is a passive grounding device that plugs into a wall receptacle for grounding purposes. The Troy is clearly better sounding when plugged into the Afterburner 8. The main effect with the SR Red fuses and the Afterburner is increased purity of the sound. This further improves the musical engagement, naturalness and realism, which is my objective, the presentation is very organic, tonality and timbre are superb. If you're very happy with your system and have no desire to change the components, these two products will help you get the most out of your present system. The ROI is exceptionally high without question. Two products for less than 100 dollars each that truly make a very noticeable improvement. The next step is to put the SR Red fuse in the DAC. Charles, |
have a question- why when I check with my manuf. they say do not change the fuse- It will void warranty and does not affect the sound- It only seems that way because people spent $$ on the fuse-?? Seems like way to many folks here whose opinions I trust have noticed improvement with these fuses=thks |
Oregonpapa Avatar Acoustics 678 817 0573. They're located in Georgia. Hi Fluffers, This is a case where you just have to listen for yourself. There are people who are skeptical and doubt practically any thing, why care about what they believe? I've tried products that were disappointing and not worth the money. When I find true high quality audio products, I like to let others know of their existence. Either you trust what you hear or you don't. You may not agree with my impression of these items once you hear them yourself, who knows? I just report what my individual listening experience is and leave it at that. Charles, |
From my experience, replacing the builder grade with Maestro
outlets (audiophile grade) was the best ROI. The improvements far exceeded changing fuses. Last summer I replaced the Maestro
outlets with
Furutech's GTX-D R and improvements were equivalent to changing fuses, not as big. I have 2 20 amp dedicated lines. IMO, anyone with a decent system should replace their builder grade with any audiophile grade outlets. |
fluffers: Which manufacturer and piece of equipment does not allow the customer to change fuses? To all readers of this thread. There is a wonderful review of several A/C duplex outlets by Jonathan Lo. Enjoy the Music.com. January 2014. Reviewed- Oyaide Synergistic Research Acme Hubbell Maestro Furutech I have the Synergistic Research, Furutech, and Oyaide outlets. Each has different properties that it brings to a system. If buying a first audio grade outlet buy one with a money back return policy. Of course there is an initial change when installed ,but these outlets need 10 to 150 hrs of current running through them to completely open up. Good listening this weekend! David Pritchard |
I’ve had two Reds in a VAC Avatar integrated for three days. The effect is trans-formative, and seems to cry out for measurement and explanation from EE-types. This is not to say that I’m fully sold on the Red’s. I’ve always been a skeptic of tweaks backed by mumbo-jumbo claims, and always felt it was far easier for the tweak vendors to introduce distortion than to clarify the sound, and then claim “better.” That said, the Red’s effect on voices and midrange-up is stunning. Blended voices are suddenly separate individuals harmonizing. On a Magnet Fields cut, the male singer is kind of talking to himself in alternative verses, but with the Red’s, it’s obvious he recorded the alternating verses as separate tracks. The female singer changes from an interesting voice to a knowable person. On “Cry You a Song” (Jethro Tull, Benefit), Ian’s voice has reverb, but with Red’s, the reverb is an endless echo, like a mirror image inside a mirror image, inside a mirror image….The reverb has reverb, clearly heard. I’ve done a series of tweaks – cleaned all connections, Furutech outlet, Audio Arts Power Cord, silver IC’s—and each has delivered improvements in percussive attach and clarity of voice. I wondered if this was a placebo effect from touching/caring/new, but how do you explain newly heard lyrics as placebo? The same was true with the Red’s—things never heard are now heard. But. I put the Red’s in, dialed in Radio Paradise for some burn, and left the room for an hour. On return, Solsbury Hill was playing, and my initial reaction was, “Where’s the bass.” This was similar to my initial impression of the Stager Silver IC’s (which I now love.) But other CD’s, like Punch Brothers, seemed to have complete bass. Hmm. I was still being amazed at the dramatic increase in clarity and separation of sounds, but on Abbey Road I again had the sense that the low, foundational bass was gone, and that I had started increasing the volume, looking for it. Perhaps the Red’s are just cleaning up the bass? But emotionally, not as satisfying. I wasn’t “Coming Together.” Finally, I tried good ol’ Enya. A carefully crafted soundscape of powerful but unobtrusive percussion over a fog-like blend and dreamy vocals. The Red’s dissects and reassemble these layered sounds so that the percussion is much more real and pronounced, and all those layered sounds are suddenly separated and in your face as a cacophony of competing sounds. Enya sounds trapped behind a band gone mad. So that’s where I am. Both amazed and puzzled. We’ll see what time reveals. |
Any volunteers to compare BLACK vs RED? LOL!!! |
I just saw the post about the SR BLACK fuse as well in the Cable Co's show review of CES...it lists for $119, and knghifi is correct in his post...it is supposed to blo away the improvements from the RED. I am glad I waited, now I can simply order three black fuses and wait to be amazed! Amazing how their R and D keeps amping up the noise. |
With every component in the system sporting the SR RED fuses, I cannot imagine how the system can improve beyond where it is now. The sound is phenomenal. Absolutely phenomenal. The CD player, taking two fuses, was the biggest improvement so far. It is so good that I will NEVER, EVER get rid of this CD Player. Put it in my casket and lower it down with me boys, lower it down with me. And now we are faced with the new Black fuses from SR. What to do, what to do? Sell the RED's? Keep them for spares? Forget the Blacks and just be satisfied with the RED's? Naw, that's not happening ... the Blacks are supposed to be an improvement like the RED's were. With that in mind, who could pass them up. I think I'm having a love/hate relationship with this hobby right about now. *lol* |
I just contacted high-end electronics to see if they would give me credit for the two most recently purchased RED's for the BLACKS if I pay the difference in price. They have a 30 day refund policy. We'll see what they say. Stay tuned ... Good point! I purchased my fuses from theCableCo so will ask about 30 days refund ... |
