I just talked to Ted Denny and he says this stuff really doesn't do anything and no real research was involved other that some marketing ideas. He says enjoys reaping a pile of money from the "seekers' who are seemingly born every minute, and apologizes to those who have found his products to be useless…he has issued a resounding "meh."
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?
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Awhile back I asked if anyone had put an SR fuse in their conditioner OregonPapa responded, Fourwnds ... So far, no one has reported trying an SR fuse in their power conditioner. Why not be the first, then report the results here? I'd certainly be interested in the results. I recently took advantage of the sale on the SR20 fuses and put one in the conditioner and one in each mono block replacing standard glass fuses. It was a little over 100 bucks with shipping. So less than the price of one Black. I figured it was a good way to go and establish a baseline. It was. Except I didnt have the patience to put fuses in a step at a time evaluating the incremental changes. I just went for it, time is precious. Anyway, down to the nitty gritty, or more aptly to the lack thereof. The bass is so clean and full now is the biggest improvement. Before it could be on the ripe side. Now it's so distinct I can follow it with no extra attention. Overall it's a similar across the board improvement but to a lesser degre, with faster cleaner notes, keys sound purer and cymbal shimmer has more texture, there are more little noticible details bringing you in but with no etch. In fact this has been tamed on a few hot recordings where a violin could be shrill or a horn could have a little to much bite. Spatial layering is better to. Interestingly, I knew I wasn't sending these puppies back and it was gonna be awesome from the second the needle dropped as the gentlemen introduced the band it was as if it was a live direct patch from his mouth to my ears. I could hear his lips and I could tell they were wet like he licked them or he just took a sip from a drink. But, this little artifact aside it's like these fuses take what you have and make it better, changing the overall gestalt positively. It's not an additive thing like putting a little salt on something but more like the ol cliche of a cleaner window. Also, It is Not an improvement that is something of a compromise either where I lost something to get something else. I can't imagine the difference the Blacks would make. From what understand the highs are what get an improvement. Cheers all |
Four winds, I'm happy for your positive results. I began with the SR 20 Quantum fuses four years ago purely out of curiosity and was delighted with the outcome. Each step up of the SR fuses has led to improved sound in my system. Frank, It's really impressive the large number of people your thread has exposed to the merits of premiun fuses. The list of satisfied listeners continues to grow. Charles, |
^^^ ... Thanks, Charles. The "Hagerman Frycorder" has been connected to the Oxaide main outlet, the one that I plug the power conditioner into, for 24 hours now. Very nice improvement in overall articulation and a much improved three dimensional presentation. I connected it yesterday when it arrived in the mail and let the system warm up for a couple of hours. The improvement was heard immediately ... and was even better this morning. I'll let it continue cooking in that one outlet for two more days, then start running it through each power cord, and subsequently through each socket on the power conditioner. After that comes the TV system. Its a 73" Mitsubishi rear projection set. Its an awesome toy for this football junkie and his similarly affected friends. According to the reviews I've read, the Hagerman Frycorder is supposed to improve not only the sound of the TV, but also the picture as well. Looking forward to the results. And speaking of football ... For those of you who haven't been to a high school football game in the last 20 years, you must go if you're a football fan. These high school athletes have come a LONG way and are competing at the college level of 20-25 years ago. Training and nutrition, that's where its at. I've missed maybe five Friday night games over the past 25 years. We're just a bunch of old coots who meet up each week and we still love our Friday Night Lights. We get there early for the JV game and stay 'till the end of the Varsity game. We even go to all of the "away" games. Fun. Fourwnds ... Thanks for the well written report. Your description is right on. Its the removal of the grain that you didn't know was there until you changed the fuses. That lack of grain accounts for the improved articulation and naturalness of the instruments. You should be getting more of a 3-D effect too, with more space between instruments. Moving up to the SR Black fuses would account for even more improvement in the areas you described. That's because as good as it is now, there's still a lot of grain left to be removed. Its getting to the point in my system where there is no longer "space between instruments." There is a real sense of actual musicians and vocalists moving about in their own spaces between and around the speakers. In fact, on most well recorded material there are no longer any speakers. No electronics either. Its like all electronic devises have been removed from the room with the music being left in a more real fashion than ever before. Looking forward to more of your reports. Please post the results as the fuses continue breaking in. Thanks ... OP |
Wolfie sez ... " I just talked to Ted Denny and he says this stuff really doesn't do anything and no real research was involved other that some marketing ideas. He says enjoys reaping a pile of money from the "seekers' who are seemingly born every minute, and apologizes to those who have found his products to be useless…he has issued a resounding "meh." Alcohol is such a wonderful drug. <Sheesh!> OP |
Frank, Just finished watching the Detroit Lions comeback against the Indianapolis Colts in the final 37 seconds and win with a late field goal. Taking a break from football and am listening to Baritone saxophonist Leo Parker and some Oliver Nelson. I'll catch the Sunday Night game (Patriots vs Cardinals) in a little bit. Charles, |
four winds: Thank you for posting a very articulate description of what the Synergistic Research SR-20 fuses can do . They really are the current bargain in audio upgrades being on sale at 50% off. I know High End Electronics Inc.and Parts Connexion Inc.have them at this price. Possibly the Cable Company also. Friday night high school football is a real treasure here in southern New Mexico. Las Cruces has a great well lighted field. Teams use an open passing style of play. And for the audiophiles in the audience, fabulous bands both in their music skills and in their complex marching routines. And for me it is a chance to see my senior daughter play the snare drum as part of the Las Cruces High School Bulldog Marching Band Drum line! Good Stuff indeed. Charles - I have not tried the Teresonic speakers with the 300 SET amp yet. Getting ready to put in the EML mesh tubes in the 300 amp. I hope everyone takes time to listen to some beautiful music this week. Today not many years ago there was no music playing but instead only the sounds of pain, death , and disbelief. David Pritchard |
It was nice for me to see the 4 quarter of the Lion's game. Detroit was home when I was younger.
Been following them since 1965.
Matthew Stafford looked good. Now my black fuse is making my system sound sublime. About 30 hours on it. I can't believe that these fuses can do what they do. But I am listening with my own ears, so maybe I should believe it. They kind of do everything. Spooky black background, not really spooky more like amazing. Actually I was spooked a couple of times on a live album of Antonio Forcionne. I hope I am not spooked again and get a heart attack or worse. If so I might have to see if covering medical bills are part of the satisfaction guarantee from Ted. Anyway I am getting richer tone saturation where everything sounds more real than before. And a very coherent musical tapestry, everything fits better like when we have live music at home. Hope everybody is enjoying their music. |
^^^ I'm enjoying your posts Marqmike. My roommate is a die-hard Beatles fan ... but he's not an audiophile by a long shot. Last night he was literally begging me to play a Beatles album. I thought ... what the hay and threw on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club. I thought the Beatles were in the room. It was Soooo good. My room mate was loving it. This is the first high end system he's been exposed to. His musical taste doesn't expand beyond 60's and 70's rock. He hates jazz. I figure another 6 months or so and he'll come around. Who can resist Paul Desmond and Chet Baker?? The good news is ... I've got him hooked on high school football. :-) OP |
jond ... If you like Zoot Sims, this album is a must: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Jutta-Hipp-With-Zoot-Sims-by-Jutta-Hipp-RVG-Remaster-CD-Blue-Note-2008-/1121... I haven't heard the CD, but the LP puts Zoot's tenor right there in the room. OP |
Jond, "Blues For 2" is an excellent recording featuring a duet of Zoot on tenor saxophone and supreme jazz guitarist Joe Pass. This is first rate across the board. Marqmike I grew up in Detroit, hope springs eternal for the Lions 😊. Frank, Jazz music is either something you really get or you don’t, this has been my experience with people. For me it’s an astonishing art form full of emotional expression, to others it means nothing 😣😣. Charles, |
Just ordered a black for my new CEC TL5 CD Transport. The CEC is finally broken in, and I'm loving it. It betters my previous transport (Audiolab CDM 8000) in pretty much every aspect. Looking forward to swapping out the stock fuse. My system only has 3 fuses, so that means my changeover to the blacks will be complete. |
Charles ... Yeppers ... Lou Dobbs fan here. Dobbs has no problem goring sacred cows. I'm a total political junkie. Libertarian, free market, honest money sort of stuff. Also a big Mark Levin fan. I subscribe to Mark's TV show and listen to his radio show via his podcast. No commercials. In addition to his talk show and TV show, Mark is a prolific author and constitutional attorney. He heads up the Landmark Legal Foundation. The foundation challenges unconstitutional law all the way to the Supreme Court ... and they have won many cases in front of the court. Mark also worked in the Reagan Justice Department. The guy is brilliant. One of the best commentators of our time. I'm burning that Montgomery Bros. CD for you as I'm typing this. A little surface noise ... but the music is outstanding. Tommylion ... Please post the results/improvements that the Black fuse brings to your transport. I believe the most significant improvement that I got was from putting the Black fuses (it takes two fuses) in my ARC CD-7se. OP |
^^^ Politically, I'm just to the right of Darth Vader. :-) With that said, Its not a good idea to discuss politics on a site like this. Just way too much of a chance for conflict resulting in ruined friendships. In the meantime, I'm burning a few very rare LP's onto CD's for friends and to play in my car. The AT ART-9 and the SR Black fuse in the phono amp has the vinyl singing. OP |
John, I see in various photos and in the manual for the REF 5 that the following markings are present above the fuseholder: 5A Fuse Slo-Blo T3.15A (230) I would interpret that to mean that you should use a 5 amp slow blow fuse, and that the reference to 3.15 amps would only apply if the preamp is wired for 230 volt operation, for use in a country having 230 volt (or similar) AC. I don’t know either whether large or small is called for. Best regards, -- Al |
Al, right you are...again! Thanks! The resolution on my photo was not good enough to make out that 5A Fuse on the top line, but you are correct, it is clearly legible in the manual once zoomed in. So it is a 5A, not a 3.15A Slo-Blow That seems pretty high for a preamp, doesn't it? However, this still does not tell me if it is a small or large fuse. Anyone? Thanks Al!!! |
@jond , my thinking was based on the fact that my VAC 160iSE integrated amp (86 wpc) also uses a 5A fuse. It made me think that a 5A fuse on a preamp was a bit high, but I am no expert. As @oregonpapa noted, the REF 3 uses a 3A fuse, and the REF 5 uses a 5A fuse. Makes me wonder if the new REF 6 will use a 6A fuse..... ;^) |
For those SR fans out there or others interested in the graphene technology I just posted about my experiences with the new Powercell 12UEFs -- another great application of this technology I think |
Got the black fuse for my transport yesterday morning. I installed it, and have had quite a parade of guests through my living room: Stan Getz, Joao Gilberto, Astrud Gilberto Sir Adrian Boult and the London Philharmonic John Coltrane and friends Johnny Cash The Killers Carlos Kleiber and the Vienna Philharmonic U2 Talking Heads Supertramp I had really been enjoying the CEC with the stock fuse. I was hoping for a nice improvement with the black, but am rather stunned at what I hear. I was expecting to go through the 100 hour break in period before getting a clear idea of what it does. Instead, after warming it up for an hour, the "magic" was there right from the beginning. I’m still going to do the full break in; maybe it will improve even more? |
Tommy, Regarding break-in of the Black fuses, it varied among my components. In my DAC the placement of an upgraded fuse resulted in an immediate improvement that progressed further with additional hours. On the other hand my amplifiers and Line Stage actually took a step backwards when going from a broken-in Red fuse to a new Black fuse. It required roughly 60-70 hours before the Black fuse overall sounded better and then improvement continued as the hours accumulated. The upgrade fuse was more impactful with the Line Stage compared with the power amplifiers. For whatever the reason may be the break-in process wasn’t uniform across the board with my particular components. The common ground factor with them was the end result of improved sound quality. Tommy I’m happy for your positive outcome with the CEC transport. Charles, |
Tommylion wrote, "I had really been enjoying the CEC with the stock fuse. I was hoping for a nice improvement with the black, but am rather stunned at what I hear. I was expecting to go through the 100 hour break in period before getting a clear idea of what it does. Instead, after warming it up for an hour, the "magic" was there right from the beginning. I’m still going to do the full break in; maybe it will improve even more?" I suppose we can assume the fuse was installed in the correct direction. ;-) |
There's a line where what you're listening to stops being a recording, and becomes a musical event. That line is not always clearly marked or defined, but you know when you've crossed it. For me, that's what this hobby is all about; turning recordings into musical events. Adding the black fuses to my system, especially the latest one in my CD transport, has made it much easier to cross that line. |
Tommylion ... I could not agree with you more. That's exactly it. This morning I had an early morning listening session. I love listening to the system with the purity of the power that comes into the house around 5 am or so. Two nights ago, my good friend "Mister Record" (Robert) dropped off a rendition of Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker" with artur Rodzinski conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. recorded in 1956. This is a CD transfer from a Westminster stereo analog tape recorded in 1956. I already had a budget CD of the work that I thought was pretty good. In fact its very good,. BUT ... while listening to Robert's CD this morning, I was transported right into the recording venue. What a beautiful performance. This is the best Analog tape transfer of the work that I, or Robert, has ever heard. Yes, there's a small amount of tape hiss, but that's a good thing as the highs aren't rolled off. Then, I put on the Reference Recording of John Rutter's "Requiem" performed by the Turtle Creek Chorale. Wow! That chorus was spread out from wall to wall ... and so believable. And so utterly beautiful. I haven't played this CD in a couple of years, having put it on the back burner. It has never sounded as good as this. Its a reflection of the improvements made to the system over the past year, with a big jump due to the SR Black fuses. This is the budget version I already had. Its quite good. I found it on Amazon. Its a two CD set. This is a must have. You NEED this CD. :-) https://www.amazon.com/Tchaikovsky-Nutcracker-complete-Symphony-No/dp/B00005OLDM/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&... Here's the Requiem CD. If you like choral music, you'll need to jump on this one. http://www.ebay.com/itm/John-Rutter-Requiem-Five-Anthems-Referecne-Recordings-RR-57CD-Still-Sealed-/... So many recordings in the collection ... so little time to listen. OP |
Tommylion 9/20/16 " There's a line where what you're listening to stops being a recording, and becomes a musical event. That line is not always clearly marked or defined, but you know when you've crossed it. For me, that's what this hobby is all about; turning recordings into musical events" This is what this tread is all about. This is what our hobby is about. What a beautiful .way to say it. |
tommylion, Your post above reminded me of my listening notes after I received my SMc DNA 225/Ultra 15 upgraded amp from Steve a year ago. While I had Hi-Fi Tuning fuses installed, (on the list of most sonically important items I had to choose from on my upgrade (I did give a budget of $2500, I already had the Plitron as I upgraded from a previous Platinum), the fuses were down on the list of most important things according to Pat & Steve. If you know of McCormack, they test/listen, re-test, re-listen to everything including different solders on specific circuit board soldered items. I trust their expertise on their products. I don't doubt others' experiences with the Synergistic fuses. There aren't on my "to do list". Happy listening! |
Astro58go ... When I took delivery of my ARC REF-75se, I replaced the stock fuse with a HiFi Tuning fuse for a nice, but marginal improvement. When I read the advertisement in TAS on the SR RED fuses, I decided to replace the HiFi Tuning fuse with the SR RED fuse. I figured ... Hey, if I don't like it, I can always send it back using SR's 30 day return policy. Replacing the HiFI Tuning fuse with the SR RED was a major improvement, not unlike a real upgrade in electronics; maybe to a better pre-amp. This is what started this entire thread. I subsequently did the entire system with the SR Red fuses, much to my delight. Within months of changing all of the fuses in the system, SR came out with the BLACK fuses. I decided to take a flyer and try one in the amp again. There was no contest at all. The Black fuses blew (no pun intended) all of the other fuses down the tubes (again, no pun intended). The point is this ... if you don't at least try an SR Black fuse in your amp, based upon the many positive experiences other's have experienced, as attested to in this thread, you are most likely missing out. What I thought was a grain free amp in the ARC REF-75se, I realized right off the bat after installing the SR Black fuse that I wasn't even scratching the surface. Not even close. So, with a money back guarantee, as Donald Trump says to his Black audiences: "What do you have to lose?" :-) OP |
