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?
Back to tommylion’s posts re: the use of digital 75ohm terminator caps, I tried a BNC 75ohm terminator on the unused BNC input of my Exogal DAC and could hear no audible improvement. Tried a RCA 75ohm terminator cap ($1) on my Modwright5400ES player’s unused s/pdif digital output and heard a reduction in the noise floor. I think that Al (almarg) said that the improvement from 75ohm terminators would be greatest on digital outputs vs inputs and I found that to be true.
Also tried RCA shorting caps on the unused analog inputs on my Ayre preamp and heard no effect, but using same on the unused analog inputs of my Onkyo digital processor (HT system) I did hear a reduction in glare. Likely due to the difference between the quality of input isolation of the Ayre vs the Onkyo.
Hifiman5, In addition to Herbie Mann there's Pepper Adam's on baritone saxophone and Paul Chambers on bass. I hope you find these recordings as enjoyable as I do. Charles
THANKS oregonpapa and charles1dad! I just went to Amazon, read the reviews there and ordered the CD. Will be here Tuesday. From what the two of you have said above I'm looking forward to a musical Tuesday evening. Bonus for me with this disc is Herbie Mann on flute. A big fan of his.
Frank, Half of the songs listed on this CD are from the "-Chet" recording. This is an excellent example of vintage Chet Baker in top form. Two songs "It Never Entered My Mind" and "September Song" feature guitarist Kenny Burrell. The combination of these two is drop dead gorgeous!
I agree with you, excellent recording quality and musicianship. I’ve owned this CD for years and I listen to it often. Chet could extract so much beautiful sound and emotion from his trumpet and flugelhorn. Charles
Finally got the line stage and the CD player back from the tech. All is fine and sounding better than ever.What a joy to have music playing from the big system again. Spotify with headphones and a small dac feeding into the PC is okay .... but, well you know. :-)
For all of the Chet Baker fans out there, I highly recommend this CD:
Got the BNC terminator for my unused DAC input (Thanks Al 🙂). The improvements are very similar to what I heard putting the first one on the S/PDIF output of my transport. There is a physical switch to choose between the the BNC and AES/EBU inputs. You'd think that would mean the BNC is terminated when the switch is in the latter position, but apparently not.
The difference is not at all subtle, and I've got to say this is one of the most cost effective tweaks I've ever tried.
I’m getting a bad feeling. Can it be that pro audio will never be able to reconcile with high end audio? Or is just that some folks are following the wrong sheep?
Adjusting fuses for directionality, although very likely a complete waste of time since fuses are a part of an alternating electricity flow (AC), could reveal a .000137% difference in something or other that you're not going to be able to notice unless you fool yourself into thinking you do…it's a fuse…a tiny, output irrelevant wire not actually in the signal path, and designed to melt. Don't be fooled by the unexplainable mythology of snake oil purveyors unless hey, you enjoy faith based tweaking…in which case, geoffkait is your man! (and, he claims to not use fuses except in the metaphorical sense of his "having a short fuse" as illustrated in his re-posting everything he sees fit to comment on).
Even standard stock fuses exhibit directionality. A clever fellow can address electrical contact, RFI/EMI, magnetic field and vibration concerns as well. Problem solved!
Found similar 75 ohm BNC terminators on Amazon 4 for $10 with 2-day delivery and 75 ohm RCA terminators on eBay 10 for $10. I am going to give them both a try. Will report back.
The part that I linked to has a 75 ohm resistor built into it. And since it is intended for use in video applications (I have used it for that kind of purpose) I would expect the resistor that has been chosen to be suitable for use in terminating the RF frequencies that are present in digital audio signals.
Would one need to solder a 75 ohm resistor between the live and neutral on this BNC connector to produce a shunt? Or simply plug one of the shunt connectors tommylion refers to into this BNC plug? Looks to me like those shunt caps above could be replicated using an inexpensive RCA connector and a 75 ohm resistor...
Good question. The description says they work for inputs as well as outputs. The unused input on my DAC is BNC, so I’m unable to try it there.
They also have RCA shorting plugs for unused analog inputs on a preamp or integrated. I have had similar "caps" on my passive pre for some time. Maybe I will take them off to hear again what difference they make.
Tommylion, thanks. That's definitely a tweak that makes sense from a technical standpoint, IMO. The degree to which it may help will of course vary depending on the design of the specific component.
Also, in cases where unused digital outputs on BNC connectors are involved, something like this should do the trick:
If you have an unused S/PDIF output on your CD Player, Transport, or other digital device, it may be mucking up the sound. I use the AES/EBU output on my CEC TL-5 Transport. Plugging the digital terminator into the S/PDIF resulted in smoother, more relaxed and transparent sound.
I'm sure it would be easy for someone more DIY oriented to make one for themselves. For me, it was well worth the modest price, especially with free shipping.
Recently viewed a Youtube thing about a Japanese audio maniac who erected his own "telephone pole" for isolated electricity to keep his neighbors pesky distortions out of his gear heap. Seems to work, and fits with my idea of buying a salvaged nuclear power generator from a retired submarine to put in my backyard…just don't tell the neighbors, or bribe them for their silence with free juice.
Thank you for asking. Its been a rough row to hoe. I've finally turned the corner on the loss of appetite. Gained seven pounds over the past week. I look into the mirror and see a death camp survivor looking back at me. 130 lbs on a six foot frame. Not good. Its truly been a battle between the body and the mind. Thanks to many skilled specialists I feel as though I've finally turned the corner and entering back into the land of the living.
In the meantime, two components of my system are at the tech. The CD player and the line stage. What an obsession this hobby is. Without the system in operation its like missing two ribs. Before the laser pickup went out in the CD player and the line stage developed noise the system was WAY beyond what I ever thought attainable in a home system. Its something that really must be heard. It doesn't play huge like a big Wilson system, but more like a Harbeth 40.2 system with better bass. Tonal correctness is the end- all as far as I'm concerned ...and those of you who are enjoying your Harbeth 40.2's know exactly what I mean.
Here's a free tip for those with tube amps. Try both the 4 ohm and 8 ohm taps to see which ones sound best with your speakers. If you've never done this, or haven't for a while, give it a try. You might be surprised. I recently confirmed that it's the 8s for me (much more open and dynamic).
"It addresses a major problem that has gone unaddressed before."
It couldn’t be a very major problem. 'Cause if it was a major problem it surely would have been addressed before. I suspect you’re just being a tease. 😄
Since starting this thread, my system has improved by leaps and bounds. And to think, it all started with taking a chance on just one of SR's RED Fuses. I'm indebted to the guys at SR Their tweaks truly work and are transformative. This has led me into other area of tweaks, many of which, came at the suggestion of members here. I'm indebted to those members as well.
On the "mystery tweak," It looks like the reveal date may be sometime toward the end of August. At least that's the latest info I have from the genius, who now has become a personal friend, that came up with the idea. I hope so anyway ... its just too good not to share it with all of you. As I said before, it addresses a major problem that has gone unaddressed before. It brings audio systems into the realm of true realism. I think even the mid-fi guys will benefit. Those with high resolution systems will be completely bowled over.
Just wanted to thank oregonpapa for starting this this thread, and many others for participating and contributing. It has pointed me to many ways to improve my system, and increased my enjoyment of it greatly. I am truly amazed at how far it has come in a relatively short time, and this thread has played a significant part in that.
Really looking forward to hearing about the "mystery tweak" that oregonpapa is currently testing.
As fate would have it the arrows on HiFi fuses don’t indicate direction the fuse should go. In fact HiFi Tuning advises customers to try each fuse both ways to determine direction. It is an old wives’ tale that the arrow points in the direction of the signal flow or electricity flow. It’s also an old wives’ tale that the fuse should go in the opposite direction from the direction of writing on the fuse. The little diode logo or arrow is simply a way to help you remember which way the fuse went just before you flip it. This feature is especially useful if you accidentally drop the fuse with clumsy fingers whilst flipping it or forget which way you had it. This means HiFi Tuning doesn’t "pre-set" each fuse for direction. But HiFi Tuning IS AWARE fuses are directional, we know that for sure. All fuses. Even fuses in AC circuits. So the probability is 50% that a given fuse was inserted in the correct direction. Therefore the only way to procee when one has multiple fuses is to flip each fuse one at a time rather than all at once.
Nonoise: Congratulations on having the courage to experiment. I am glad you did this experiment because I had the same results in both of my Marantz SACD players. David Pritchard
I thought I'd never post this but after almost two years after installing HiFi Silver Tuning fuses in my amp and SACD player, I thought I'd try out reversing the fuses in my SACD player. I was never in the camp of "correct orientation" of fuses but knew that simply using a better made fuse could improve the sound. Replacing them gave me a leg up on what was possible but I never could get the results I wanted. The highs were a bit subdued.
Still I resisted changing the direction of the fuses.
Fast forward to the present: I've been on the lookout for a new pair of speakers that could satisfy my yearnings for what I'd heard with my ribbon super tweeter on my old Tonian Labs speakers. Eagerly I waited for the chance to hear the Elac Adante monitors and they almost had me. Reading up on the Tekton line of speakers got me interested in their monitors which used the patented design of the Double Impacts.
It was after consulting Elliot Midwood of Acoustic Image and picking his brain that I came to the conclusion that it had to be my amp or SACD player since he felt that the Marantz had to be complicit in all of this as he's heard the very same drivers sound better, so it had to be in the application. He's been at my place and heard them and likes them very much but the highs were always a tad recessed.
Thinking it through, I drew down on the only possibility and finally took out and opened up the SACD player. Unlike the integrated, which had a fuse only in line with the AC, the SACD player had four fuses. Looking at the circuit board, I seemed that at least one of them was in the signal path: maybe two. I knew that there were dedicated power traces to the different DACs and clock. but having all four serving some kind of AC distribution didn't make any sense.
I had originally oriented all of them to face the same way, using the logo as orientation. What I did was to flip the fuses the other way and give it a listen.
Case closed.
I'm not interested in getting a new pair of speakers anymore. The highs are back, in spades. The soundstage is now permanently wider than my speakers. The center stage is now up, where it used to sag. The upper mid bass emphasis is reduced and tighter. I no longer use the treble boost as it adds too much. Flat is where it's at. Over two days I've spent about 12 hours listening to familiar recordings and all I can do is shake my leg and head in disbelief to the music.
I could care less to those naysayers who've yet to hear it for themselves. I care not to respond to them as well so go ahead and troll all you want. I am content. Now I can splurge on that new LG OLED on Black Friday for the same money as a new set of speakers. God, I love this hobby.
After many years of enjoyment, and tons of hours on the unit, the optical pickup lens in my ARC CD-7 -SE is finally giving up the ghost. I found a brand new replacement part here:
With the advent of digital downloads, and red book CD's falling out of favor, if you have a CD player that fills your musical needs, it may be prudent to buy a new lens now and just keep it for that inevitable day.
^^^ Thanks Allan. I'm drinking 3 chocolate Ensures a day as a supplement to put on weight. That's 660 extra calories per day. Tastes great too ... as long as its cold.
Sorry to hear that you have to go through hell on your recovery:( Really hope you can get well soon. Take care and eat well. You should try something like this even though you don't feel like eating.
The fuse box is an often overlooked source of improvements. I'm thinking about having an electrician replacing the one I have .... built in 1975 .... with one of higher quality and more modern trip switches. Can you imagine over 50 years of corrosion and how that affects the sound?
No price has been determined at this point, but it will be relatively inexpensive, especially considering the results attained. There is nothing else like it. As I said, it addresses a previously unthought of detriment to sound reproduction.
And no, I haven't tried the iQSE's in the system. I've been concentrating on recovering from complications surrounding the recent heart surgery. I've been to Hell and back due to a complete shut-down of the urinary system and then a total lack of any desire for food. 6 feet tall tipping the scale at a whopping 130 pounds. Not good. I look like a kid's stick person.
As soon as I feel better I'll order a couple of the iQSE's. I'm especially interested to see what effect they have by putting them inside the fuse box.
tommylion Yes the older version, maybe the new one is different, sticky tape, and a fourth letter to the name IMO that's the upgrade. The reason I say that is the active ingredient is carbon 13, and from what I have read from others experimenting with it is the right amount is critical. The older version works well in gear as well. Regardless its a great product, I am sure anyone who tries one will end up with at least a few more. Happy your enjoying it!
I can't wait for you to reveal the device that you are testing. Can you tell us what's the price point that we are looking at for this device? Also, have you tried the iQSE on your system?
I've been emailing about the iQSE with Chris Johnson, president of The Parts Connexion. They are now stocking the new, final version of the iQSE. I ordered three of them an hour ago. I'm planning one each for my disc player, preamp and amp. Should be fun...
I gather you are talking about the original Quantum Signal Enhancer, which is intended for external use in one’s system? The iQSE came out pretty recently, and is intended for use inside components. It has double-sided tape on one side to fix it to an internal service. I was planning on putting it inside my DAC, but found it worked great placed on top of my Tara Labs Powerscreen power strip. Apparently, the iQSE has a greater effect than the the QSE:
I tried one when they first came out, I think it was 3 years ago, with in a couple of months, I went to 15 of them. There is a old thread about these which I found helpful. Consensus was the best placement was across terminals in the back of gear. I found that to be the case as well. I also have the room neutralizers as well, and they are a even bigger effect.
I'm one who doesn't care how something works, only that it does. With that said, earlier on in this thread I mentioned that I'm a "tester" for a product that in my opinion will be a real game changer in the Audio industry. I can't say much at this point other than we can forget all of the usual catch words like clarity, focus, tonal balance and replace them all with one word .... REAL. It addresses a previously unthought of detriment to sound reproduction. That's about all I can say at this point, other than when you hear what it does you're going to have to have it. Even the naysayers will be left in awe. No joke..
I've never tried or heard any of these fuses. The analytical part of my brain questions why they would work, and is attracted by those who would say it's all expectation bias, voodoo, etc. However, I also recognize that there are plenty of things in this world I can't explain and that even small changes in the signal effect sound.
For instance I wouldn't have thought a preamp bypass switch on the ATLP120 turntable would color the sound. However this video shows that the small change to the signal path from the preamp bypass (if I remember correctly it went through an extra capacitor for some strange reason) changed the waveform and the high frequency outputs. When he took out the preamp section the waveform is visibly different, and the sound changes perceptibly. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NT67ii04uQ
I wish someone with the equipment would do this for these fuses on a pre-amp to see if it does change the waveform. Since this occurs before the speaker path it seems like this would be easy to measure. That would be convincing.
For now I have plenty of other items that I think would make a bigger difference to my sound (room, etc.) to even consider a fuse.
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