Yay! I'll get it today. Impatiently waiting for the mail. Fortunately, they get to my house fairly early.
The new Synergistic Research BLUE fuses ....
New SR BLUE fuse thread ...
I’ve replaced all 5 of the SR BLACK fuses in my system with the new SR BLUE fuses. Cold, out of the box, the BLUE fuses stomped the fully broken-in SR BLACKS in a big way. As good as the SR BLACK fuses were/are, especially in comparison with the SR RED fuses, SR has found another break-through in fuses.
1. Musicality ... The system is totally seamless at this point. Its as if there is no system in the room, only a wall to wall, front to back and floor to ceiling music presentation with true to life tonality from the various instruments.
2. Extension ... I’ve seemed to gain about an octave in low bass response. This has the effect of putting more meat on the bones of the instruments. Highs are very extended, breathing new life into my magic percussion recordings. Vibes, chimes, bells, and triangles positioned in the rear of the orchestra all have improved. I’ve experienced no roll-off of the highs what so ever with the new BLUE fuses. Just a more relaxed natural presentation.
3. Dynamics ... This is a huge improvement over the BLACK fuses. Piano and vibes fans ... this is fantastic.
I have a Japanese audiophile CD of Flamenco music ... the foot stomps on the stage, the hand clapping and the castanets are present like never before. Want to hear natural sounding castanets? Get the BLUE fuses.
4. Mid range ... Ha! Put on your favorite Ben Webster album ... and a pair of adult diapers. Play Chris Connor singing "All About Ronnie," its to die for.
Quick .... someone here HAS to buy this double album. Its a bargain at this price. Audiophile sound, excellent performance by the one and only Chris Connor. Yes, its mono ... but so what? Its so good you won’t miss the stereo effects. If you’re the lucky person who scores this album, please post your results here.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ULTRASONIC-CLEAN-The-Finest-Of-CHRIS-CONNOR-Bethlehem-Jazz-1975-NM-UNPLAYED-...
Overall impressions:
Where the RED fuses took about 20 hours to sound their best, and the BLACK fuses took upwards of 200 hours of total break-in, the BLUE fuses sounded really good right out of the box ... and that’s without doing anything about proper directional positioning. Not that the BLUE fuses don’t need breaking in, they do. The improvement continues through week three. Its a gradual break-in thing where each listening session is better than the last.
Everything I described above continues to break new ground in my system as the fuses continue breaking in. Quite honestly, I find it difficult to tear myself away from the system in order to get things done. Its truly been transformed into a magical music machine. With the expenditure of $150.00 and a 30 day return policy there’s really nothing to lose. In my system, its like upgrading to a better pre amp, amp, CD player or phono stage. Highly recommended.
Kudos to Ted Denney and the entire staff at SR. Amazing stuff, guys. :-)
Frank
PS: If you try the SR BLUE fuses, please post your results here. Seems the naysayers, the Debbie Downers and Negative Nellie’s have hijacked the original RED fuse thread. A pox on their houses and their Pioneer receivers.
Frank
I’ve replaced all 5 of the SR BLACK fuses in my system with the new SR BLUE fuses. Cold, out of the box, the BLUE fuses stomped the fully broken-in SR BLACKS in a big way. As good as the SR BLACK fuses were/are, especially in comparison with the SR RED fuses, SR has found another break-through in fuses.
1. Musicality ... The system is totally seamless at this point. Its as if there is no system in the room, only a wall to wall, front to back and floor to ceiling music presentation with true to life tonality from the various instruments.
2. Extension ... I’ve seemed to gain about an octave in low bass response. This has the effect of putting more meat on the bones of the instruments. Highs are very extended, breathing new life into my magic percussion recordings. Vibes, chimes, bells, and triangles positioned in the rear of the orchestra all have improved. I’ve experienced no roll-off of the highs what so ever with the new BLUE fuses. Just a more relaxed natural presentation.
3. Dynamics ... This is a huge improvement over the BLACK fuses. Piano and vibes fans ... this is fantastic.
I have a Japanese audiophile CD of Flamenco music ... the foot stomps on the stage, the hand clapping and the castanets are present like never before. Want to hear natural sounding castanets? Get the BLUE fuses.
4. Mid range ... Ha! Put on your favorite Ben Webster album ... and a pair of adult diapers. Play Chris Connor singing "All About Ronnie," its to die for.
Quick .... someone here HAS to buy this double album. Its a bargain at this price. Audiophile sound, excellent performance by the one and only Chris Connor. Yes, its mono ... but so what? Its so good you won’t miss the stereo effects. If you’re the lucky person who scores this album, please post your results here.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ULTRASONIC-CLEAN-The-Finest-Of-CHRIS-CONNOR-Bethlehem-Jazz-1975-NM-UNPLAYED-...
Overall impressions:
Where the RED fuses took about 20 hours to sound their best, and the BLACK fuses took upwards of 200 hours of total break-in, the BLUE fuses sounded really good right out of the box ... and that’s without doing anything about proper directional positioning. Not that the BLUE fuses don’t need breaking in, they do. The improvement continues through week three. Its a gradual break-in thing where each listening session is better than the last.
Everything I described above continues to break new ground in my system as the fuses continue breaking in. Quite honestly, I find it difficult to tear myself away from the system in order to get things done. Its truly been transformed into a magical music machine. With the expenditure of $150.00 and a 30 day return policy there’s really nothing to lose. In my system, its like upgrading to a better pre amp, amp, CD player or phono stage. Highly recommended.
Kudos to Ted Denney and the entire staff at SR. Amazing stuff, guys. :-)
Frank
PS: If you try the SR BLUE fuses, please post your results here. Seems the naysayers, the Debbie Downers and Negative Nellie’s have hijacked the original RED fuse thread. A pox on their houses and their Pioneer receivers.
Frank
Showing 50 responses by tommylion
A couple days ago I told a friend that what my system has excelled at lately is projecting a life, energy and feel that is very similar to what I experience with live music. Switching out the black fuse in my amp for a blue one today, it has taken a big leap further in that direction. Unless the sound takes an unexpected turn for the worse over the next week or two, I'll be getting two more blues for my CD Transport and DAC. |
+1 on the flow/seamlessness/continuousness. I am hearing a nice improvement in this area after changing out the black for a blue in my amp. Interestingly, I also hear improvements in this area when I get the absolute polarity right for a particular recording. Question for those hearing improvements in this area, is your system tube, SS, or a combo of both? Mine is tube. |
“...I suspect achieving this level of overall continuity may be less down to one component and more down to removing smear and micro dynamic limitations at every stage of the system” I agree with you, and have taken many other steps, besides changing fuses, to do just that in my system. I think the more you do this this, the easier it is to hear changes (that are hopefully improvements), when you try something new. |
My system is now all Blue. I changed Black for Blue in my CD transport early this week, and just did the same with my DAC. So far, I’m really happy with the results. For me, the priority is how well does my system extract low level musical information from the medium (CD in my case) and pass it on through to my ears. The Blue fuses are a clearly audible improvement over the Blacks in this area. |
As I said previously, for me, it’s mostly about getting more low level musical information out of my system. Things like tone, PRAT, and dynamics are all dependent on this information, and are better when there’s more of it. Characteristics like brightness, darkness, hardness, sterility etc. are more dependent on the individual recordings, than the system they are played back through, IMO. My system can go from one to the other, and back, depending on which recordings I put on. Although I've tried to make my system as neutral as possible, I'm sure it does have some character. That character, though, is much less audible than the differences between various recordings. |
“If I could describe the Blue fuses in a few words, I’d say they *put a lot more meat on the bones.* The *textures are much more of what I hear in live music*." +1 Although the break in process with the Blues is much smoother than with the Blacks, the waiting is still hard. If you persist, though, you will be rewarded. You'll know it when you hear it. |
I now have 300+ hours on the 3 Blue fuses that replaced Blacks in my CD transport, DAC and amp (pre is passive). The improvement in sound quality, and increase in musical enjoyment, over the already excellent Blacks, is remarkable, and not at all subtle. Listening to my system, the experience is quite similar to that I have at live musical events (minus the visual, of course). Isn’t that what this hobby is (supposed to be) all about? That these little fuses make this kind of difference is rather mind boggling. Would I like to know more about how they do it? Yes, of course. Fortunately for me, I am able to enjoy their benefits without this knowledge. |
I have found that the Blue fuses raise the level of enjoyment I get from all the music I listen to, whether the recording is good, or not-so-much. Yes, some recordings are much better than others, but a good system should bring out the best in whatever music you want to listen to, regardless of the recording quality. One should be able to say “This is not a great recording”, and then proceed to thoroughly enjoy the music. |
Would I like to get what these fuses give me for a lower price? Yes, of course, I’m just not into complaining about the price of non-essential entertainment related items. If I think it’s worth it to me, I pay the price. If not, I go without it. In the case of these fuses, I even had the option of getting a refund if they didn’t live up to my expectations. |
As someone who likes to know how things work, I would be delighted to read anything Mr. Denney wishes to share. Having said that, I can think of a number of perfectly valid reasons why he might choose not to. The obvious fact that the skeptics and detractors try to gloss over for their own purposes is that the performance of SR products is completely independent of his willingness, or unwillingness, to explain how they work. |
+1 The combination of SR Blue fuses and Herbie’s UltraSonic Rx tube dampers is amazing in my system also. I’m glad I can enjoy the benefits of both, and don’t have to choose between them. Another product that has provided similar complementary benefits is the Bybee Technologies internal Quantum Signal Enhancer. These three relatively inexpensive tweaks, have raised the level of emotional involvement and musical enjoyment in my system very significantly. I wouldn't want to give up any of them. |
lalitk, the iQSEs are made to put inside components, they have a magnet on the back side. That’s where I put them, near the power transformer, when possible. They also work well on top (again, near the power transformer), if they won’t fit inside, or you don’t feel comfortable opening the component up. The effect they have, not being in the signal (or power) path, is a little mind boggling, even when you hear it with your own ears. Gives the trolls even more fits than fuses 😉 |
However you perceive claims made about the product, the crucial question remains; does it deliver on them, or not? I totally respect someone who says they choose not to try a product, for whatever reasons they elaborate. However, what more can they say about its effectiveness, or lack thereof, after that? If they continue to speak about the product, especially in a highly derogatory manner, their credibility falls rapidly, and their motives come into question. We don't know what we don't know, and most reasonable people here will readily admit that. |
Interesting article by Herb Reichert: https://www.audiostream.com/content/audio-without-numbers One of the points he makes is that both observation and experimentation are equally valid in the scientific method. |
Is there anything more subjective than one's personal perception of, response to, and enjoyment of music? Given that, it makes perfect sense to evaluate the equipment used to reproduce music for one's own enjoyment in a subjective manner. Is there any kind of meter that you can use to measure your own musical enjoyment? Our ears are the only thing we have, or need, for that. It is patently ridiculous to say that I can't trust my own ears to tell me whether or not a particular change in my system makes a positive difference in my enjoyment of music. |
You cannot know for certain whether or not something will make a positive audible difference for you personally until you actually try it, PERIOD. You CAN assess the probability of a positive result in many different ways. Results reported by others is one legitimate way to do that. If you decide, by whatever means, that the probability is too low to be worth your trying it personally, that’s fine. Feel free to say that, and state your reasons why. Persistently making absolute statements that it doesn’t work, badgering, ridiculing and personally attacking those who have tried it, and find it does make a positive difference, is not decent or acceptable behavior, and should not be tolerated. |
Adrian, That's what got me interested in upgraded fuses. It made sense to me that the thin wire in a fuse would be a bottleneck, or weak link. We upgrade power cords, interconnects, speaker cables, connectors, internal wiring etc. but there's still this chintzy little wire in the path, pretty much required for safety reasons. I don't know how SR does it, but they have certainly found a way to make that link less weak. |