THE LATEST---Gold plated fuses?

Rather than replace one's fuses with something that costs quite a bit of money ( for what it is ), why not try doing something to simply optimize what one already has? That is, remove the existing fuses and thoroughly clean ALL of the mating surfaces on the fuse & fuse holder. I will GUARANTEE that if the fuse has been installed for more than a few months of time, oxidation of the contact surface has taken place. Just pulling and re-inserting a fuse can increase conductivity and lower distortion.

A place that i used to work at some 20+ years ago was having problems with a machine. They called in a serviceman to check it out and he diagnosed the problem as low voltage coming into the machine from the wall. As such, the company invested in a "buck-boost" transformer and was going to have an electrician install it.

Before they called an electrician to have the transformer installed, i pulled the machine apart and cleaned all of the fuse contacts. I used a small brass bristled "toothbrush" that i brought in from home. After doing so, there was a reduction in current draw of appr 8 amps after cleaning.

Needless to say, this was a HUGE difference in power consumption and voltage sag. On top of that, the machine ran much cooler and more efficiently. We never had a problem with the machine ever again, so the buck-boost transformer sat in the corner for a couple of years collecting dust.

As such, do yourselves a favour and perform some basic system maintenance before investing in the latest tweaks and gadgets. I'm not saying that some of them don't work. What i am saying is that what you have can probably work a LOT better if you simply took the time to properly set it up and maintain it. A bit of elbow grease and some common sense can go a LONG way in most any situation. Sean
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Uppermidfi: Yes, i do believe that cleaning contacts, especially in critical areas, can make an audible difference. As such, simply pulling a fuse, cleaning all of the associated contacts and then re-inserting that same fuse could quite possibly improve signal transfer / lower distortion.

I will also add that using materials that are more conducive to better signal flow / higher levels of conductivity could improve the sonics of a system. As such, the use of gold, silver, copper, etc... where a lower grade of material was previously being used could improve the situation.

Given that most connections become resistive over time due to oxidation, and that resistance / conductivity can vary as frequency is altered, i would first worry about having clean connections and then worry about what those connections were made with. I'm guessing that most people will notice more of a difference from having clean connections than they will from having a different type of conductor used for the connection itself. Think of the improved conductivity of silver, copper, gold, etc.. being more icing on the cake i.e. the clean connection makes for the good tasting cake to begin with. Sean
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PS... Fuses are designed to make / break a connection and are ALWAYS inferior to a direct path. The direct connection approach may sound best, but offers no form of protection should something go wrong.