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.
Prof Unfortunately all neighbours are like 85 plus and zero interest in me or my toys. Not one person I know in this country has the slightest interest in audio equipment. Now some friends from back in Blighty do but 4000 miles is just a tad excessive.
Exactly Mapman, just the way I did it, by myself with my ears and as some will insist, built in expectation bias. But I perceived a not so subtle difference with black fuses.
I did a lot of a/b testing with the Red Fuse OP sent my way and my Audio Research sp16 pre-amp vendor stock fuse awhile back. Was not blind though. No assistant. I guess I could have dropped both in a bag, pick one out one at a time with gloves on and not look which it was, but the difference I heard, if any consistently, was so subtle, I deemed it insignificant and lost interest after a couple days. The setup was Squeezebox Touch to mhdt Constantine DAC to SP16 to Bel CAnto ref1000M amps to Dynaudio Contour 1.3 mkII speakers. The fuse that came in teh sp16 looked to be of good quality and must have been since it sounded so much like the heralded (at the time) Red Fuse.
I'm in the same position regarding blind testing of some gear I own. (Again, not that I blind test everything...only when I'm curious about or puzzled by something).
I went to town making an isolated platform for my Turntable. I have no idea how I could blind test it with and without the platform in any remotely practical way.
On the other hand, other gear is more amenable to blind testing, and I have an audio buddy who helps me out. He helped me blind test my new music server a while back. Blind testing can actually be a wonderful cure sometimes for "audiophile nervosa" :-)
👨🚀 gdhal geoffkait - ...The only thing that matters is how many you sell. Hel-loo!...
Your quoted reply belies a response of yours in another thread where I mentioned (paraphrasing) that a for profit business is at play. Audioquest comes to mind. In that case you dismissed "selling", "business" and "profitability"entirely.
>>>>>I never said any such thing. I’m sure you’re hallucinating.
My quoted reply belies? Give me a break.
Nothing succeeds like success and failure is no success at all.
uberwaltz - I have no idea how I could even begin to do blind testing in my house.Who would change fuses for me? My wife?....
You're on the right track. By this I mean it certainly does require the assistance of another person whom you trust. Not knowing your particular circumstance, circle of friends, etc. I don’t know what else to suggest. A neighbor?
I have no idea how I could even begin to do blind testing in my house. Who would change fuses for me? My wife? She would blow herself up, or my equipment, not sure which would be more upsetting.....😇😇😇
More a case of logistics in my application of this matter.
Truth pretty much always resides somewhere in the middle between two extreme points of view.
That's the page I choose to be on.
Also yesterday I lobed a big fat softball right down your alley to knock out of the park and impress all and you took it for a called strike. Like you almost always do. You better work on your swing.
Quantum coupling will undoubtedly go down in annuals of audiophile history as one of the greatest strokes of genius, just in terms of coming up with a great name for something. Certainly a name that is both provocative and quite irritating to naysayers. Two for one! You know, what with a bazillion of their products sold that have Quantum Coupling applied. Credit where credit is due.
It doesn’t matter what you call it. The only thing that matters is how many you sell. Hel-loo! You guys seem to think this is some sort of Quantum Physics peer review. Give me a break! You guys can’t even figure out what the heck Graphene is for. Time to hang it up. Quick summary: Synergistic Research 200,000. Naysayers 0.
There is no such thing as bad publicity. - PT Barnum
almarg being on the same page as mapman can’t be a good thing, not from their perspective anyway. Looks like team takes one up the old wazoo. I don’t know what else to say. 😬
Uberwaltz 4-20-2018 TBH that SR blurb sounds more like the sort of nonsense I would expect some other members to come out with than any worthwhile technical info. They would likely be better off saying nothing than some techno babble that has very little meaning.
+1.
@mapman, in response to the query to me in your post earlier today, I can’t really add much to what I’ve said in my lengthy posts in this thread on April 4th, 6th, and 12th. I’ll emphasize one of the thoughts that I expressed in the first of those posts, though, as well as in various other fuse-related threads in the past, that what puzzles me is not the idea that a fuse can make a difference. But rather that a specific fuse would make a positive difference with the high degree of consistency that has been reported, among components that perform completely different functions; that are completely different in design; that are used in completely different systems; that are powered by AC having very different voltage and noise characteristics; that are used in DC, AC, internally regulated, and internally unregulated circuit applications; and that are used in applications in which the fuse conducts current that is essentially constant at all times as well as in applications where the current fluctuates with the dynamics of the music.
Although as I said in my April 4th post it stands to reason, IMO, that **some** of the reported benefits are the result of the various factors I cited that are unrelated to the intrinsic properties of the fuse.
Finally, I have no idea what the phrase "inductive quantum coupling" may mean, if anything.
geoffkait - Oh, my! That’s so deep. If it gets any deeper in here I’ll have to put on my old hip waders.
Well, I guess you didn't pick up on the fact that I instantly recognized a quote of yours earlier in the thread as belonging to the Bob Dylan song "Subterranean Homesick Blues".
I keep forgetting, you don't actually listen to music. So it's no surprise you wouldn't have known. 😜
I am not a fan of the way SR markets their products, but the results people get from using them, in their own systems, are completely independent of how they are marketed.
uberwaltz - .....It almost makes me embarrassed to have to keep saying they work in my system but they do to my ears....
@uberwaltz
Hi uberwaltz. Despite the fact you and I are on opposite sides of the fence where fuses are concerned, I’m sure I don’t have to remind you we’ve had honest and friendly back-and-forth in this thread. So, it’s with respect that I submit to you I completely understand your position. It works! I can hear a difference! Therefore, everything else is essentially irrelevant.
That said, when I asked if you performed a "blind test", you were candid and forthright to indicate that you did not.
Wouldn’t it behoove you to do so? If your honest (with yourself in this case), I simply cannot understand why you wouldn’t.
Sometimes the best tactic for a tweak manufacturer is provide a lot without providing anything. I always counsel the less said the better. Keep em guessin. No matter what you say there will always be a bunch of knuckleheads and pseudoskeptics lurking around who will attempt to debunk it. Sure as shootin. Besides, loose lips sink 🚢
Uber, perhaps but it comes from the vendor. I’m sure their marketing department worked hard on it.
There is also this:
Frequently asked questions.
Q: Are fuses directional?
A: Yes, fuses are directional. Electricity should flow from the left to the right when you view the fuse. If you do not know
the direction of flow you should listen to the fuse inserted in both directions. One direction will sound more detailed. This
is the correct way.
Q: Do fuses have a burn in period?
A: Yes, most products have a settling in period. The first 200-300 hours of use of the most crucial.
Not to muddy the waters further but for example the "left to right when you view the fuse" answer makes no sense. What if I rotate 180 and look again? Do I have to reverse the fuse for it to sound best again?
My assessment is some marketing quack writes this stuff. Companies do that all the time. SR knows how to market. They always have a lovely lady in their room at shows. Most other rooms miss that trick.
Mapman TBH that SR blurb sounds more like the sort of nonsense I would expect some other members to come out with than any worthwhile technical info. They would likely be better off saying nothing than some techno babble that has very little meaning.
It almost makes me embarrassed to have to keep saying they work in my system but they do to my ears.
My new SR Blue fuse turned up yesterday which when I get home late Saturday will be going into my Goldnote PH-10 phono stage so will see what difference I can hear then on the latest purchase, which will be my first Blue fuse.
we add a Quantum Inductive Surface that includes Graphene to stabilize the electrical wave feeding your system for a dramatic improvement in system performance over standard and audio-grade fuses. ... At Synergistic Research we’ve isolated key factors that affect how electricity propagates by changing the behavior of electrons through Inductive Quantum Coupling methods we collectively call UEF Tech. In fact, UEF Tech is so powerful even an electrical chain several miles long is fundimentally improved with nothing more than a single fuse engineered with our patented UEF Technology.
THis is the extent of the description on the SR site. Blue is version 2 of this and black is version 1 it would appear.
Speculate away. How is this magic done? Almarg, Almarg, where are you? Dude from SR? Appear to us! We command you!
My point is that people have been able to make audible improvements by re-examining, re-thinking, improving and upgrading many other aspects of the signal and power chain, often when they were told it wasn’t possible, so why not the fuse?
Unless you can get Ted Denney at Synergistic Research to reveal proprietary information to you, you may not be able find a satisfactory explanation of how the blue fuse works. Nevertheless, it does work, as testified to by myself and many others.
If you are not willing to try something without an explanation of exactly how it works, that’s fine. You won’t know for sure whether it works, or not, though. There’s an old saying; “Failure has a thousand explanations, but success doesn’t need one.”
@tommylion After a bit of thought (not sarcasm) the fuse wire is designed to handle the maximum amperage load of the unit (amp, server etc). Therefore it would stand to reason that there is no need to enhance it. It has a job to do, over amperage/voltage to protect everything downstream from damage, not to enhance a signal. Am I wrong? Or is my rock kicking/ building/ traffic engineering experience along the wrong stream?
The fuse is between AC plug and transformer, not thereafter. That's where the power is transformed, lost and mixed. Goo on a cable, or a fuse won't after what is after the fuse.
@geoffkait Graphene is no more a superconductor than the 2 metals I stated before. Plus it has modifying glue to form a liquid to paint, bond and dry, thus diluting the graphene mixture or whatever. Putting superconductive materials on the ends of crap wire will still expose what was there before, as is goes through crap wire (assuming this Graphene mixture is better than pure silver or pure copper, which needs to be from end of fuse to end of speaker driver, otherwise the signal is degraded. Correct me if I am wrong, but you cannot put more water through a pipe even if you increase the pressure and put silver taps on the end. The physics just doesn't add up.
Hint: Everyone is hyper focused on the idea that Graphene is used in some way to improve conductivity of the signal. You guys need to open your minds up to the possibility it has nothing to do with conducting the signal, even though it’s true that Graphene is a super conductor. 😃
Hint 2: Graphene conducts electricity much better than copper. Graphene's current density is 1,000,000 times greater than copper and its intrinsic mobility is 1,000 times more conductive than silicon. Graphene conducts heat better than any other know material in thermal conductivity.
I fiddled with my speaker placements and angles following some prudent advice from the 'Gon and I am hearing new sounds from different angles and no goo or additions. So far, "a rickapoodi an' a fandoogly"; (that's great in non Oz speak).
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.
The passage of a signal, be it electrical (or traffic as in cars), will only be as good as the worst juncture, cable, component as traffic flow is as only as good as the worst intersection. I just cannot understand a change in "performance". Only a change in the travel condition, or as it HiFi, is the sound. It's only as good as the worst point.
I am not an electrical engineer (civil) but I do know the best electrical conductor is pure silver, then pure copper. What is in Graphene to make it change the effect of AC current power cable, fuses, speaker cable etc all of which have different cable and current properties?
I need to have something I can understand. TC sounds like woman's cosmetics. you can put any of the brands on and skin moisture properties change, but does not stop wrinkles. Cosmetics are the worst of the fault "science" perpetrators.
The only reason a fuse may sound better after it’s replaced with either the same standard one or "snake oil one" is because of ageing, too may turn on cycles will age any fuse, a $2 one or $150 one, and cause it to deteriorate. All explained below.
Buyers with little or no technical knowledge should not listen to any "snake oil" reasons here, as they are not backed personally on this thread by Synergistic Research, with the same outlandish claims that are made in this thread by the "awesome foursome" in regards to sound quality and direction-ability of these fuses.
Mapman inadvertently is agreeing with what really happens to a partially melted fuse, it’s called ageing. Good for you.
Funny this should be mentioned as it’s just like what happens to a fuse that’s seen too many turn on cycles, as there’s far more inrush current goes through it at the moment of switch on than any other time, as it has to charge up empty power supply caps ect. that’s why fuses and light globes blow (if nothings wrong) at time of turn on, here are some pics of fuse ageing.
"The only reason a fuse may sound better after it’s replaced with either the same standard one or "snake oil one" is because of ageing, too may turn on cycles will age any fuse and cause it to deteriorate."
George, that cannot be true. I had the whole system outfitted with the SR Red fuses. When the SR Black fuses came out, two of my Red fuses fell within the 30 day trial. The dealer (Highend Electronics) allowed me to return the two fuses and swap for the Black fuses, and I paid the difference in costs. When I installed the Black fuses the improvement in SQ was substantial and readily heard by me and my fellow audiophile friends.
Again George ... you've beat the poor horse to death. Time to throw in the towel and admit that you are wrong and that you've lost the argument. .
Are you forgetting that "micro arcing" occurs where things are connected? Like when the fuse wire is soldered to the "inside" of the end cap? Do you think that the fuse wire just lays against the inside of the end cap? Do you see graphene on the outside of the end cap? If it was, people would have figured it out already, genius.
By the way, I'm talking about the graphene that's used on the SR fuse and not the TC product. Are you**************!!!!
If there were micro arcing on the end caps of mains fuses, you would see burn pits all over them, more "snake oil"
Are you saying you can see inside a fuse's end caps? That's amazing George.
As for noise, if there were any, which I highly doubt
So you're not 100% sure? Nice to know....you're getting there.
The only reason a fuse may sound better after it’s replaced with either the same standard one or "snake oil one" is because of ageing, too may turn on cycles will age any fuse and cause it to deteriorate. All explained below.
Nope. That's been discounted already George. High rupturing fuses (the type that aftermarket fuses are modeled after) are filled with powder to keep them from arcing when specs are exceeded. A side benefit is that it greatly reduces heat and aging (the correct way to spell it) which prolongs the life of the fuse, many times that of a cheap, off the shelf fuse. Google it if you don't believe me.
If there were micro arcing on the end caps of mains fuses, you would see burn pits all over them, more "snake oil"
As for noise, if there were any, which I highly doubt, it couldn’t get through the transformer, rectifiers, smoothing capacitors, regulators, and more smoothing caps that come after the mains fuse, again more "snake oil"
The only reason a fuse may sound better after it’s replaced with either the same standard one or "snake oil one" is because of ageing, too may turn on cycles will age any fuse and cause it to deteriorate. All explained below.
Mapman inadvertently is agreeing with what really happens to a partially melted fuse, it’s called ageing. Good for you.
Funny this should be mentioned as it’s just like what happens to a fuse that’s seen too many turn on cycles, as there’s far more current goes through it at the moment of switch on than any other time, as it has to charge up empty power supply caps ect. that’s why fuses and light globes blow (if nothings wrong) at time of turn on, here are some pics of fuse ageing.
^^^ The effect of Graphene on connections has been covered in the TC thread. It reduces or eliminates micro arcing. Therefore, there is less smear and the noise floor is lowered.
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