Gonna try a Black fuse in my REL R-328. Arrives Friday. Last place to try one in my current setup. We shall see...
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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^^^ We didn't have those fancy transistor radios when I was a kid. They weren't invented yet. I think they came into fashion in the early 60's, if I'm not mistaken. In fact, everything had tubes, including the radio I used to take under the covers with me. Kept me warm though. The 50's were a great time to be a high school kid who loved jazz and blues. There were so many great jazz clubs around the L.A. area at the time. My girlfriend went to a private Catholic high school and they had Dave Pell's band play for all of their school dances. I did a lot more listening than dancing. :-) http://www.ebay.com/itm/living-stereo-RCA-dave-pell-octet-jazz-goes-dancing-LP-top-copy-M-/121988623... http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dave-Pell-Octet-Plays-Again-Fresh-Sound-101-SPAIN-NICE-1984-/201461048000?ha... And then there were the times at the Palladium ballroom in Hollywood ... dances for teens ... and the orchestra? .... Ray Anthony. Others: Shelly Mann's "The Mann Hole," The LIghthouse in Hermosa Beach and Zardi's in Hollywood on the Strip. All gone now. Thanks for the tip on room 228, David. I'll be sure to check it out. OP |
I loved that 9 volt transistor radio. The exotic 9 volt battery. Eveready with the cat on the battery cover just looked cool. No more crystal sets shaped like a Rocketship with the tuner wire coming out of the nose cone. No sir. I went Electric even before Bob Dylan did With a great system such as my Mother's, it is interesting how good Sirius Internet Streaming can sound. Yes it has fewer bits than Spotify and way less than Tidal, but Bobby Hackett's Trumpet was playing in the room tonight and then Frank Sinatra sang. "You know I heard him live- singing with the Dorsey Band" she reminded me. She loves the sound of her system with it's Black fuses, Black Wall Outlets, and SET amplifier. David Pritchard |
David, Jeff’s High Water Sound room never disappoints, excellent taste in music and presented beautifully by his choice of audio products. He’s a man after my own heart, SET amplifiers and high efficiency speakers. His jazz collection is fantastic! My mother and grandmother both played the piano, my dad was always playing Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong records in our home. I began playing trumpet at age 10. I sure do remember listening to music on my cheap 9 volt battery pocket transistor radio in the mid 1960s. I guess it's not surprising that guys like us have loved music our entire lives 😀😀 Charles, |
oregonpapa: With your love of vinyl and great music systems playing great music, I hope you will spend some time at the High Water Sound Room - Rm. 228. Jeffery Catalano will have a super vinyl rig with big horns. He has a wonderful Blues and Jazz collection. Because of the Super Bowl last year, Rocky Mountain Audiofest was deserted by 2 pm. Jeff let me pick track after track. Lightning does sound better on a $ 200,000.00 system as compared to the old days listening with my Firestone Brand transistor radio. We were like two kids given free reign in the candy shop. Together we both enjoyed some great music. See you and others at Newport. David Pritchard |
^^^ Thanks David ... We have a lot in common, David. During the early 50's I lived in Los Angeles with my Mom in a studio apartment. She slept on a sofa bed and I slept on a bed that folded down from the wall. I'd listen to the blues on my small radio late at night under my covers so that I didn't wake my Mom up. I remember the few times that I did wake her and her response was always the same ... "Frank, are you listening to that music AGAIN??" I'd always say ... "but Mom, listen to these guys sing!" It was her fault, David, because she's the one who instilled the love of music into me. Its one of the things I'm most grateful for and love the most about my Mom. Under those covers, I used to listen to a radio station that originated inside of a record store in South Central Los Angeles at Vernon and Central Avenues. The disc jockey's name was "Huggie Boy." His sponsor was "Mister Jim's BBQ." The commercial for Mr. Jim's BBQ was .... "You need no teef, to eat mah beef." *lol* I think my laughter at that ad woke my Mom up a few times. I still laugh when I think of that great show and ad. From listening to those early blues, things naturally evolved into Earl Bostic, Joe Houston, Big Jay McNeeley ... and then into West Coast Jazz, and then into BeBop and big band. And, here we are today ... still talking about and listening to that great music ... and in debt to our Black brethren for their wonderful contributions to great American music. Looking forward to meeting you at Newport ... Take care ... |
oregonpapa: Here is my cell phone - five- seven-five-six-four-four-one- four- six- two. Those You Tube posts were great. I would listen to Lightning Hopkins play live on AM radio on the Jim Lowe Blues Show late at night. Alligator clip from the window metal screen to the antenna of my (4 transistors) radio and the music going to my single ear plug. No air conditioning in my parent's house (Dallas, Texas) in the 50's and early 60's. You could hear the sweat in Lightning's voice and I could feel the sweat lying in bed with my head pressed against the window screen hoping for a little bit of cool air. I still love the old blues from the 30's to the 60's. A hundred hours now on the 300b amp that I have nicknamed Cutie Pie. It is small in size and light weight - 25 lbs. But with it's very good circuit design, high quality part utilization, new Psvane 300 WE output tubes, and Synergistic Research fuse it is really driving my horn system with emotion . The amp is based on a design by Shannon Parks' Get Set Go circuit and was built by Greg Johnson. David Pritchard |
Just as a public service just noticed a Yamamoto YDA-1 pop up in the classifieds........ https://www.audiogon.com/listings/da-converters-yamamoto-soundcraft-yda-01-dac-2016-05-30-digital-18... No affiliation just a very happy owner of the same Dac as is Charles and I know they come up very rarely so thought someone might appreciate a heads up. Happy Memorial Day all! |
^^^ Agreed, Charles. I thoroughly enjoy the Belafonte album. In Impex's 45 rpm reissue the sound quality is exemplary and very much alive. For your pleasure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48aQbh1lV1s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtNZm9KXm8w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCqEOboRctY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duRp_avXtMM And here's the tap root of the blues and jazz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-zlSq4mWiE |
Charles ... Belafonte really isn't much of a blues singer, but that album sure is demo quality. Belafonte should have stuck with the calypso stuff. To me, he sounds like Bobby Short trying to sing Led Zeppelin songs. Hard to pull that off. :-) I've been fortunate in acquiring a nice collection of Cisco reissues, and Impex reissues as well. The care that goes into the remastering of these tapes is superb. You won't find any artificial digital re-verb here at all. Just very natural sounding recordings done in state of the art style. Cisco is no longer in business, but it continues on as Impex. Some really good ones are the June Christy, Julie London, Monk, Miles and all of their classical reissues. Impex will be at the Newport Show in the record booths. OP |
Slaw ... Its not very likely that equipment mfg's will be willing to put the SR Black after market fuses in their electronics. Everything has to be marked up in price as it moves along the market trail. If a mfg. pays a dollar for any given part, the dealer pays two dollars and the end consumer pays four dollars. In other words, an amp that costs the mfg $2500 to produce, is sold to the dealer for $5000. The dealer then sells it to the end consumer for $10,000 (50 point item), less any discount the dealer wants to give. So, in considering the above, and assuming full retail prices all along the trail, the end consumer would end up paying $480 for one fuse. Or, put another way, an additional $480 on the full retail price of the piece of electronics being purchased. Unless I'm missing something, I think I have this correct. OP |
This all sounds fantastic. One would think that manufacturers of audio equipment will soon be striking deals with SR to have these remarkable devices included as standard in their products. It would seem to be a "win..win" based upon all of the positive comments.(Maybe not a win for SR, in one sense, considering their mark-up would diminish.) |
Hi Joe, Thanks for your kind words. If you consider the sheer length and huge number of posts on this thread it has remained remarkably on focus. Many people have become aware of a really nice worthwhile audio tweak. Frank, Funny that you mention that recording. A good friend of mine has that album and ripped a CD copy of it for me. Just as you describe, excellent music, wall to wall sound and terrific tonality of voice and instruments. Charles, |
jafreeman: What a great description of the sound changes the Synergistic Research Black fuse makes at the 10 hour mark. Three sentences that summarize what these fuses do for a system. Better separation - more detail - relaxation - a sweeter sound. The same descriptive words I thought of when listening to the new fuse after it had 10-15 hours on it. Charles1 dad: I big thank you for all your posts about 300B tube amplifiers. I bought the 300B tube amp listed here at Audiogon that is based on the DIY Ready Set Go circuit. It runs the 300 tube conservatively putting out 5 watts. To go with the amp I bought the Psvane 300 WE tubes from Grant Fidelity (I think a much better source for Chinese tubes than take your chances on E-Bay). The amp sounded nice after 24 hours of playing. And then the fun. I took a fully broken in SR fuse and put it in the amp. Immediate and Dramatic improvement! The room came alive with musical emotion. Six days to the Newport Beach audio festival- June 3 to 5. Two simple suggestions to improving one's audio system. 1. Go to Newport Beach and listen to a lot of systems. 2. Try a Synergistic Research Black fuse in your system. David Pritchard |
^^^ Joe ... As I stated before, I replaced the SR RED fuse in my ARC amp about a week ago with an SR Black fuse.. I don't know if its a synergy thing or not now that I have other Black fuses in the system, but its safe to say that the amp has afforded the most improvement of all. For last night's listening session, I decided to pull out some of my Cisco/Impex reissues and have a go at them. The Harry Belafonte Sings the Blues album (45 rpm) was amazing. The instruments were wall to wall and tonally correct. Belafonte's voice was such that I felt I could reach out and touch it. The improved realism with the new fuse in the amp has brought the system to another new level. Percussion and skin tones on various types of drums is right there. Big improvement in the bass as well. OP |
My thanks to Oregon, Charles and David, the true gentlemen here who have been exchanging preferences in music and food and also for holding this topic together against all boorish onslaughts. Now about ten hours in on the SR Blacks in my Maggies, I am being treated to a sweeter, more detailed tapestry of instruments, some not heard in their fullest detail until now. Vocal harmonies are better defined for their separate voices, bass and low organ notes are extended and more relaxed. Congas and are popping out, cymbals are emerging that were before part of a whole that I had wished was more defined. These fuses are a worthy addition that should continue to improve, but if they stopped here, I could not complain. I will change out the SR Reds for Blacks in the mains of my ARC amps and Wadia 861SE in the near future, as these areas have also benefited from every fuse I have tried. Cheers to all, Joe |
^^^ Having musicians in the family is a real bonus. One of my grandsons plays the bassoon at the concert level. He lives in Chicago, but when he comes home, he practices at my daughter's and son-in-law's home where he stays. I always try to take in a few practice sessions. Its been a real pleasure over the years hearing him develop from a Junior High School clarinet player to the fine, soulful bassoon player he is today. He covers the gambit ... from chamber groups to symphony orchestras. OP |
goldencutt: What a wonderful post. I find it interesting that you and I have had good results with these Back fuses and both of us have serious musicians in the family - your wife playing violin and my son viola. I am also blessed to have a reference point for the seemingly obligatory audio show female voice in my daughter who is in band and choir. It is a thrill to hear her sing the national anthem at a school function. Acappella - no auto pitch- no compression - no retakes - no overdubs. Just heartfelt emotion. That is more of what I hear with the Black fuses in place - emotion. This is with using three different systems in three different rooms. So if your life experience would benefit from listening to music that communicates with more emotion give the Synergistic Research Black fuses a trial. If you are absolutely content with your system, quit reading these posts on Audiogon and go turn on your music system. David Pritchard |
wolf-garcia ... Its very comforting to know that someone, somewhere, voted you in as the spelling, punctuation and grammar Nazi for the site. Also comforting to know that you are watching our backs by taking a protection mode to ward off the profiteering manufacturing evildoers who try to steal our money for no gain what-so-ever. What in the world would we do without you? Hmmm, I'd like to find out. Take care ... |
Goldencutt…not knowing things like grammar and punctuation and how your Tesla works (no mystery to any of that by the way) might work for you, but my position on this over hyped baloney has been clear. SR uses terms in its production description that are nonsense (Quantum Tunneling? really?), produces products that, at least in the case of the fuses, have cashed in on the naiveté of possibly well meaning audio "seekers", and through the hard selling minions endlessly repeating their supposed astonishment at the magic in these things while rarely missing a chance to hard sell 'em like a Vegematic (which actually might work as described…no mystery there), SR sells the panting tweakers a fuse for around 4000% profit. Ka-ching! Allegedly bombing a fuse with 2,000,000 volts doesn't change the fact that it's a $2 fuse that has nothing to do with the circuitry of what it's stuck into except that it should blow if necessary, regardless of which direction (AC…goes both ways…look it up) it might be installed. Has all the supposed tonal improvement that the electrons buzzing through the "magic half inch" provide caused any brilliant gear designers to sign on to this stuff? Not the ones I know…but then they aren't on the SR payroll. |
The difference between buying a car and buying a component audio system is that the car comes with selected parts all assembled and the user chooses the parts that must work together in an audio system so knowing something but not necessarily everything about each part is absolutely required to get best possible results. Of of couse things like integrated amps help make things a lot easier. |
to wolf Garcia: why should i need to understand how it works technically . Do i know how my new tesla works. For me its jut fine if it works and if it fits for me. My wife is a violinist and has done many international contests. She has an absolute hearing, her aural ability is far beyond mine without even taking care about the technic. So from time to time when i changed some stuff in the system i want here to listen. Most of time she is not interested in what i changed. If she says what a difference to the sound before, or even that sounds good, ill take it as judgment. So easy isn't it. And if you would like to get a technical background ring up Mr. Deney from SR and talk to him, he is the owner and engineer and he will help you with all your question. In the meantime enjoy the music. |
I just made an observation that you don't necessarily have to have current top-of-the-line electronics to hear the audible difference(improvement) with the SR Black fuse. In my bedroom system, I have a 1960 Pilot 402 tube receiver and taking out the cheap glass fuse(AC fuse) and replacing it with the SR Black fuse made an enormous improvement. Of course, I have excellent cables and older Reference 3a Master Control speakers but these better cables and high-rez speakers only made it more obvious with the improvements given by the SR Black fuse...pretty impressive. |
Just installed SR Blacks in my Maggie 3.6Rs. The blacks have replaced the reds, which sounded remarkably better than the Furutechs and SR20s. Two hours in--the blacks sound just as good as the reds right out of the box--I am hearing midrange information that was not audible with the reds--more space and decay, more inner detail. I am not hearing any of the harshness or lack of focus forewarned of before full burn-in. Perhaps this is because of their function in the signal path--they are not being held back. As with my reds, the blacks are 8A and 16A in the tweeter and midrange positions, far exceeding the stock 2.5A and 5A ratings. The larger filaments provide a more robust presentation--this has been the case with all the brands tried--like using a larger gauge wire. The fuses are no longer protecting--just improving. I look forward to an ever sweeter, wider soundstage as these blacks settle in for a few days. Another score for those who have been believers--sorry naysayers and skeptics--these fuses are providing sound improvements that far exceed bias expectations or other variables such as cleaner contacts because of fuse changes. Try 'em! |
goldencutt: Congratulations on your sonic improvement. Your system sounds like it has achieved the level so many desire and yet so few obtain. Ordering ten fuses and then taking the time to orientate the fuses takes courage and dedication that many lack. I hope you will try the Synergistic Research Black outlets in your system. They do use the same technology as the fuses. And like the fuses, they need 100 to 200 hours to fully settle in. David Pritchard |
OP & C1D & David i do appreciate you all share your experience here. I would like to give you a update due to my last change to the black fuse. Today we changed the fuses in the active bass-amps. Expensive experience, since there are 5 in each amp. :-) After that change the picture became what oregonpapa experienced, huge, colorfull and so on. The audience when you listend to Music registered live, is huge. Handclaps are real which is a hard thing to do.But the the presentation of the space is woooow. Never heard before.The Direction of the Fuse is against the Writing. It sounds like out of Phase otherwise and not focused. Did someone already tried out SR power cords made which are using the same technology then the fuses? Enjoy your Music. GC |
tbg: I am glad you are enjoying the SR Black fuses in your already wonderfully performing system. I hope you will be able to give the SR Black A/C outlets a try in your system. I am finding a very good synergy with using the Black fuse with the Black outlet. Will you be able to attend Newport Beach this year? David Pritchard |
I got SR Blacks after I had experienced the benefits of High Fidelity cables and power cords as well as the new H-Cat X-10 MkIII amp with zero distortion. Together they gave me the most realistic sound stage I had ever heard. Then I added the SR Blacks which further embellished this realism. I must say that perhaps twenty years ago, I thought I had the best sound reproduction I thought possible. Now I know how wrong I was. I should also add, that I have an Archiving Vinyl AMS Mk III music server and play mainly SACDs converted to DSD but also many CDs. All are played in quad DSD on Signalyst software. I have excellent vinyl but it does not rival what quad DSD does. I a;m getting too old and lazy for vinyl and have well over 700 albums to choose from, merely by touching my MS Surface screen. |
clifton ... If the fuse is installed in the "wrong" direction, the sound will be somewhat diffused as if the system is out of phase. The sound stage may appear to be a little wider but don't be fooled by that. When the fuse in in the "right" direction, everything will be more focused and locked into place. |
Hello all, I have one of these in a power cord running my CD player. Can anyone confirm which way they generally have the fuse inserted - with the SR writing with or against the flow of current? I'm not sure which is correct as they sound different each way. Currently I have it against the flow of current as that was the way everyone said the Red and earlier SR-20's worked best. |
Hi OregonPapa & Charles1Dad, thank you for your experienced answers. Things start to wake up. In my system the change from RED to BLACK, was not immediately better. It was harsh, i had the feeling the softness of the middle was gone and the tonality of that part as well. Like if there was a Gap between the octaves with a slightly cut out of the middle. Made me nervous.....:-)! I changed the CD, AMP and Powerconditioner Fuse at the same time. I could hear from the beginning on, that the heights - which i missed with the REDS- where there and the BLACKS where much more dynamic. Day after Day it gets better. The Soundstage becomes huge, and Instruments seams to stand in the room. Spectacular is the bass and drums, the heights are shining and they are real. The starting experience is like if you are used to look at a picture and you could see every color, now you can see the picture as a whole and the frame, as well as the room where it hangs. I hope that is not to bloomy:-) But still, i have only 75 Hours on the Powerconditoner and maybe 15 Hours on the AMP and CD. I will change also the Fuses in the AMPS for the Active-Bass. Enjoy the Music. |
slaw 1,137 posts 05-22-2016 3:23pm "almarg:, Your post makes more sense (to me), rather than trying to explain, in some fashion, things that cannot be explained or measured, but can be heard by listening." Sometimes it’s probably best not to try to figure out what’s going on with these controversial tweaks and devices. It would, however, not be true that these cannot be measured or explained. It’s a question of the thick membrane of skepticism that cannot be broken. Aftermarket fuses and wire directionality has been around for almost 20 years. So, while fancy fuses might appear mysterious or bizarre they’re not exactly breaking news. “If a black cat crosses your path, it signifies that the animal is going somewhere.” - Groucho Marx Technology that is sufficiently advanced is intistinguishable from magic. - Arthur C. Clarke |
nyame ... Your last post was excellent and right to the point. For tonight's listening session, I pulled out one of my favorite CD's. Its a private recording of a live event featuring the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra accompanying a young pianist playing the winning performance in a Rachmaninoff piano concerto contest. With the new Black fuse in the amp and the system completely warmed up, I was awestruck by the realism of the hall. In the beginning of the CD, the orchestra is warming up and there is a lot of noise coming from the audience ... coughing, chatter and such. I was transported into the room. Just prior to the start of the music, I could hear the conductor's feet getting settled into position on the podium. The presentation was fantastic ... The massed strings enveloped me very much like they do in a live performance. During peaks, the dynamics were off the charts. I can't tell you who the conductor was, or who the young man was that played the piano ... but I can tell you that this is about as close as a home system can get to being true to an actual live event ... at least in my experience. And that experience includes listening to a lot of live orchestral music close up ... hearing tons of systems over the years at the various audio shows ... and visiting other audiophiles' homes with ultra high-end systems. I'm totally stoked! I'm going to leave things as they are for a month or so, then decide on what new tweak to try. I'm thinking about trying either the new SR Black wall socket or the ECT's. The XOT Carbon - Crossover Transducers have my attention too. Has anyone here tried the XOT Carbon -Crossover Transducers?? OP |