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.
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.
Nonoise, Yes, that was my point, a very poor premise. Components audibly changed by different fuses implies poor quality components. Illogical conclusion. Wire,caps, resistors,tubes , fuses etc. All are capable of affecting the sound quality of an audio component. This rationally does not suggest or imply poor design/implementation. Charles
+1 csmgolf. Good to see that others are wise to his know-it-all/know-nothing nonsense.
shadorne has spent the whole year pissing on others’ equipment and ridiculing everything he has never heard. Let’s all hope the new year brings some humility and enlightenment his way. One Julian Hirsch was more than enough.
I tried sr blue in my ARC 5se and after 2 weeks the sound is more detailed but it is a still a bit peaky at certain higher frequencies. Does anyone have similar results?
Greetings from the UK. My first post on here after a long time lurking, but the subject of fuses drew me in!
I'm the owner of quite a few blue and black SRs, with the blues in my more frequently used components.
My own opinion is that blues add more of "something" than the blacks. Personally I wouldn't call the effect of either night and day different, but there definitely seems to be deeper bass and more depth overall. Since I've owned them I've wanted to listen to more music because of the perceived improvements, and that's ultimately the sign of a worthwhile tweak to my mind and ear.
One question comes to mind though. Why do the fuses have a little "window" to see the graphene? Is that just to convince consumers that they're getting something tangibly different? Does it serve any useful purpose?
My first Blue fuse arrived today. A 1A(T) for my active speaker EQ that sits between my Dac and active speakers. This EQ has a universal power supply, so while I waited on the 1A Blue fuse, I used a 500mA Black fuse from my old Dac which works perfectly as I’m on a 230v supply.
So, although not an exact comparison due to different fuse ratings, I have roughly been able to compare Black and Blue fuses.
Everything mentioned by the Op is true. The Blues are a definite step up from the Black fuses. Imaging is better. Reverb tails go on forever. Bass is much more textured and faster. Clarity and detail are much improved, as is timing, making leading edges of notes better focused and even bringing out extra details and notes that weren’t present before.
Ill be changing the Hifi Tuning supremes in my speakers amps next, then I’ll replace the Blacks in my Dac and power regenerator with Blues.
^^^ Its nice to see that so many are enjoying the SR fuses.
For those interested, the Total Contact will be available through Audiogon starting tomorrow morning according to the developer Tim Mrock. Like the Blue fuses, the TC is a real game changer, only even more so.
when i had the Audio Horizon fuses in my Analog based system,i thought this would be my last fuse. Then came the S R Black and after trying those i thought they will be my last fuse. Then came the Blue ,i tried them for over a month .and they did Sound better than the black in many respects ,but somehow i just was not happy. Why? They do not Boogie. I sent them back and am waiting for a refund.
My motto is whatever techs say do the opposite. You’ll be much better off in the end. There is nothing terribly wrong with living in the 80s but you miss out on a lot that way.
" More audio snake oil, forget paying $300!!!! for what is basically contact cleaner .."
^^^ That gets the award for the most uninformed, ignorant and stupid comment about the Total Contact to date. Georgehifi hasn’t seen the product in person, touched the product, smelled the product, used the product, nor has he ever heard what the product can to to enhance the SQ of a stereo system.
So Georgehifi, how about stating your intent in making such a stupid statement? Are you just another shill for a competitor? Jealous that its not YOUR product? Envy much, George? Are you an arsonist like a few others on the site, hell bent on destroying a small businessman’s business? Here’s a knife George ... go ahead, stab Tim Mrock in the back with it. Slice deep cuts in his wrists and take your perverted glee in watching him bleed out.
State your intent George .... I dare you ...
Frank
PS: For the reasonable minds on the site: For the price of two SR Blue fuses, you can buy a new product that will make a MAJOR improvement in your audio and video systems. Once again, here’s the link to get started:
“So Georgehifi, how about stating your intent in making such a stupid statement? Are you just another shill for a competitor? Jealous that its not YOUR product? Envy much, George? Are you an arsonist like a few others on the site, hell bent on destroying a small businessman’s business? Here’s a knife George ... go ahead, stab Tim Mrock in the back with it. Slice deep cuts in his wrists and take your perverted glee in watching him bleed out.”
Whoa! Hey! What! What’s up with all the name calling and graphic violent imagery? This can’t be good for anybody. I hate to be the prognosticator of doom but it appears this thread is headed for Palookaville faster than you can say Pee-wee Herman.
" Whoa! Hey! What! What’s up with all the name calling and graphic violent imagery?"
For God’s sake Geoff, did you read George’s post?
Tim Mrock, the developer of Constant Contact, has dedicated his life and monetary resources into developing a great product, and George blatantly tells people, without knowing anything about the product, NOT TO BUY IT.
What can anyone glean from George’s statement other than some type of criminal mentality at work here? At the very least, George is revealing a character flaw, most likely an infantile ego that needs to be massaged by the destruction of others. I suspect that these bullying tactics are carried by George throughout his everyday life. It must be a real pleasure being married to the guy.
George ... you owe Tim Mrock an apology. Are you man enough to step up to the plate??
Here’s an honest testimonial from A’gon member Steve Fleschler who is benefiting from the Total Contact:
"I’ve reached the 4 week point in application of TC to only my interconnects (it’ll be another 3 weeks for the rest of the system). All of a sudden there is an abundance of micro-details in the music, voices are more legible and the entire sound became more dynamic. My 5 way dynamic speakers remind me of when I had electrostatics in terms of quiet detailed musical sounds (my wife hated the Monolith IIIs 20 years ago when we first met because of the limited sound stage, dynamics, beaming highs and limited bass at the time).
With the addition of more details and air, there is a greater dynamic range which can be disconcerting. I set the volume for the loudest peak sound now rather than the quieter sounds because I got rudely blasted on two recordings by fortissimos. I also hear a lot more chatter by musicians in jazz recordings. The significantly increased intelligibility of singers has me concentrating and enjoying the lyrics more.
This is my third post on the benefits of TC. It keeps getting more interesting and musically better.
I have a suggestion. Buy it, use only enough to treat your main audio system (which should be under 10% of a syringe). If you don’t like it, clean your contacts off and resell the remaining 90% on Audiogon or Ebay for half price. You’ll only be out about $150, or have a friend try it, or try it on your video equipment. The only way to know how good it is in your audio system is to try it based on this forum’s positive experiences. Don’t post negative comments unless you’ve tried it."
And I will guarantee that the full benefits have not been reached yet by Steve. While there is a nice jump in clarity at the four week period, its nothing compared with what happens at eight weeks.
Once again, for the open and fair minded among us, here’s the link to the product:
^^^ Nonsense, George. Total Contact is NOT a "contact cleaner."
"Just get a $10 spray can of well researched can of contact cleaner instead, for basically the same results."
Okay George ... state your case. What EXACTLY were your results when you pasted your entire system with Total Contact? Spell it out George. Unless you can tell us what YOUR results were, you owe Tim Mrock an apology, assuming of course that you are man enough to come forward with an apology.
Frank, don’t be such a drama queen. This is not supposed to be a game of whack a mole. Trying to defend/promote controversial tweaks is a lot like trying to extract oneself out of quicksand.
No, I did not read George’s post. They are all pretty much the same, aren’t they? He was baiting you. And you took the bait. Perhaps one shouldn’t take trolls’ comments too seriously.
^^^ So, you want to toss around terms like "drama queen" without investigating why my response to George was as it was? That makes no sense at all.
Nope, he wasn’t baiting me. He’s attempting to destroy a lot of hard work and monetary investment by the producer of Total Contact. That’s my take until such time that George either explains what is intent is, or he apologizes to Tim Mrock for attempting to burn his business down.
Frank
PS: Again, for those interested in ordering Total Contact, here’s the link:
Seeing one of my last links to a great contact cleaner and conditioner was removed, here it is again with more careful wording around the link.
Save some money, a $10 can of this is just good for cleaning and conditioning all your contacts, do it once a year using an old tooth brush or similar, the can will last years. It’s researched and developed by huge electronic supply company that all audio techs world wide I know of use and trust. And their specs are very creditable. https://www.electrolube.com/products/contact-lubricants/eml/contact_cleaner_lubricants/
This new TC sounds interesting. What does it look like when applied? Does it leave any mess on contacts if you choose to remove it? If it improves greatly at the 8 week point, is this because it cures and dries fully at this stage?
Just on the SR Blue fuses again, mine has about 100hrs on it as it’s left powered up all the time. Did a bit of listening today and my system sounds great. Addictive.
1. It looks as though you’ve coated the surface of a contact with a thin layer of pencil lead.
2. It leaves no mess. Easily removable at any stage with alcohol and a cotton swab like a Q-tip.
3. Actually there is improvement beyond the 8 week period. True, there’s a huge jump in SQ at 4, and especially at 8 weeks, but it seems to continue to improve beyond that point Can’t say if it ever dries "fully."
Same addictive quality as the fuses ... but I honestly believe that Total Contact is more of an improvement than the Blue fuses were ... and as you already know, that's saying something.
^^^ Total Contact isn't a "cleaner" like Deoxit. I've used Deoxit for years along with ProGold to clean and enhance my connections. Total Contact serves a different purpose altogether. Apples and oranges.
It's rather interesting; I wanted to understand "Quantum Inductive Coupling" the "science" behind the SR blue fuses so I did a google search for the term. Has anyone here searched that term? Nothing comes up. Ok so then I thought, maybe this is proprietary to SR so I emailed them and asked if they could explain this term as I was interested in the science. I haven't heard from them.
I don't wish to argue the validity of SR blue fuses nor do I want to take away from anyone's experience with this product but can anyone tell me what
"Quantum Inductive Coupling"
is?
Appreciate the links koskot but what does this have to do with Quantum Inductive Coupling? I see this.....
"Coupling between two or more qubits is essential to implement many-qubit gates. The two basic coupling mechanisms are the direct inductive coupling and coupling via a microwave resonator."
Again, using Google scholar, if you enter the term "quantum inductive coupling".......there is no such thing. Your flux qubit is defined as....
"micrometer sized loops of superconducting metal interrupted by a number of Josephson junctions."
So how is this relevant to a fuse when they are micrometer sized and used for quantum computing? I'm just not making the connection.
I'm not sure whether this thread is now a Synergistic Research Blue fuse thread or a Total Contact thread. But on the topic of Total Contact, many potential buyers, myself included, will have been deterred by their experience with other "pastes", in my case Walker SST. As many on these pages have said, it seems to improve things marginally at first, but after a few months is actually detrimental, and then you have to go to the hassle of wiping the stuff off all your contacts, of course always knowing that the inside of your sockets will never be completely free of it again.
That said, I would never be closed mind to a new product. Technology marches on, new materials come into play. To what extent graphene is being used just because it's grabbing headlines rather than offering anything genuinely new I don't know, but maybe there's something in it.
What I *do* have a problem with, however, is the apparent one way street of good news. The miracle application. No downsides whatsoever. I'm sorry, but I'm too long in the tooth to buy that any more. Roll forward a year, and there will be, there absolutely WILL be, a more balanced evaluation of Total Contact. The pros and the cons. Give me that now, and I'll pay more attention. Please just don't expect me to believe it is a miracle treatment with no downsides. Hi-Fi manufacturers with R&D budgets multiple times greater than Mr Mrock would have brought this to market if it was the no-brainer we're being led to believe it is.
I've been testing the TC for about a year now. The ONLY downside so far has been the effort to apply the paste to the connections. Its a bit time consuming.
So far there has been no degradation to the sound over time. Quite the contrary actually. It seems to be the contact enhancer that just keeps on giving.
While there is an initial improvement in SQ, as stated before, there are major break-throughs at 4 weeks and again at 8 weeks, both of which have to be heard to be believed.
Try to keep an open mind. The reviews from A'gon members are just starting to come in.
For more details, go to the "member reviews" forum and check it out.
For any audiophiles like me, who’s always changing something, breaking in new electronics, new power cords, cables, adding or trying new tweaks, it is quite impossible to keep track of what cause is producing what effect. I’m not not even talking about other external variables that affect sound like weather conditions, time of day, day of week, variability of quality and quantity of house power, and things that are not generally known to affect the sound. You know what I’m talking about, unmentionable things, things the mere mention of which causes instant post deletions. 😛
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