Hi guys,
After reading the SR Black fuse thread and based on your recommendations, I had decided to jump into the SR fuse pool too and try the blacks. I bought them a couple of months ago without any expectations other than pure curiosity. My system is composed of an ARC Ref5SE preamp, ARC Ref75 amp, Classe SSP-800 processor, Modwright modded Oppo 105 + PS9.9 power supply and full loom of Shunyata power conditioners, power cables and interconnects. I put a black fuse in each of my units and they roughly have 100H on them now. I did notice a change in sound due to the fuses and some improvements but at the same time I cannot say that the overall sound was "really" better than with the stock fuses all the time. I did notice more presence but at the same time the system became more analytic and less relaxed on a few records which contradicts some observations shared on these threads. My explanation is that I was going through the breakin process and that things would settle at some point. Unfortunately I'm one of the many audiophiles who have purchased the blacks a few weeks before they introduced the blue ones. Since it seems the blue fuses were taking less time to show their potential, I decided to try them in one equipment at a time. I choose to start with the source and replaced the black fuse in my Modwright PS with a blue fuse. Wow, what a change! I cannot explain it since I only changed one single fuse but the blue fuse is definitely making a drastic improvement on the sound of my system. Much more obvious than the black fuses... I'm an engineer and honestly I'm having a hard time explaining what's going on. Cannot really believe that a small fuse can have such important impact on the performance of my system (more bass, better mid-range, lower noise floor and better timbres). On the other hand, like many here I've said, we have to trust our ears :-). BTW, no placebo effect happening here. Difference is night and day and was confirmed by wife and friends too... Can't wait to test more blue fuses on the rest of the system.
Thanks for sharing your discoveries with the rest of us Audiogoners!
Guy
After reading the SR Black fuse thread and based on your recommendations, I had decided to jump into the SR fuse pool too and try the blacks. I bought them a couple of months ago without any expectations other than pure curiosity. My system is composed of an ARC Ref5SE preamp, ARC Ref75 amp, Classe SSP-800 processor, Modwright modded Oppo 105 + PS9.9 power supply and full loom of Shunyata power conditioners, power cables and interconnects. I put a black fuse in each of my units and they roughly have 100H on them now. I did notice a change in sound due to the fuses and some improvements but at the same time I cannot say that the overall sound was "really" better than with the stock fuses all the time. I did notice more presence but at the same time the system became more analytic and less relaxed on a few records which contradicts some observations shared on these threads. My explanation is that I was going through the breakin process and that things would settle at some point. Unfortunately I'm one of the many audiophiles who have purchased the blacks a few weeks before they introduced the blue ones. Since it seems the blue fuses were taking less time to show their potential, I decided to try them in one equipment at a time. I choose to start with the source and replaced the black fuse in my Modwright PS with a blue fuse. Wow, what a change! I cannot explain it since I only changed one single fuse but the blue fuse is definitely making a drastic improvement on the sound of my system. Much more obvious than the black fuses... I'm an engineer and honestly I'm having a hard time explaining what's going on. Cannot really believe that a small fuse can have such important impact on the performance of my system (more bass, better mid-range, lower noise floor and better timbres). On the other hand, like many here I've said, we have to trust our ears :-). BTW, no placebo effect happening here. Difference is night and day and was confirmed by wife and friends too... Can't wait to test more blue fuses on the rest of the system.
Thanks for sharing your discoveries with the rest of us Audiogoners!
Guy