Al ... If I was confused before, now I’m really kerplunked. :-) Mapman ... If I had an extra BLUE fuse, I’d send it to ya. Welcome back. :-) Guyz ... One of the major problems in communicating via keyboard over the Internet is that we cannot see facial expressions, hand gestures or any other indicators of emotion. It makes it easy to misunderstand sometimes. Sorry if I offended anyone. Robert’s coming over tonight for a listening session. He found a mint stereo version of this today at a garage sale and is gifting it to me: http://www.ebay.com/itm/STEPHEN-KATES-Cellist-LP-RCA-Victor-LM-2940-SEALED-Tchaikovsky-Bach-/1227057...I already have two stereo copies, one really good and one really noisy. The artist, Stephen Kates is a wonderful cello player. The pressings are hit and miss with some sounding better than others. The best ones are demo quality. I wouldn’t mind trying a CD of it ... if it were ever released on CD. Be sure to look for the stereo version. Here's a must-have Stephen Kates CD that someone should jump on. Its one of those recordings that will really test your system. Sound is amazing and the asking price is a real bargain: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Stephen-Kates-Carolyn-Pope-Kobler-Rachmaninoff-Sonata-in-G-minor-Op-19-CD-/3...Happy listening ... Frank |
@oregonpapa or anyone else with SR Blue fuse experience:
If I were to replace one of my SR Black fuses with an SR Blue fuse in your opinion which component will give me the most noticeable improvement from the components listed (in general) below?
Dac
Transport
Tube Preamp
Solid state amp
Thanks...
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Hi Lak
When I replaced the fuse in my transport with a red fuse it seemed to make the most difference. However that was a month after I had replaced my amp with a red fuse. So maybe the combination made the conduit better. And then I got another improvement when I replaced the fuse to a black one in my dac. |
I take the lazy approach 😉 Which component makes it easiest to change the fuse? My amp has a fuse holder that screws out, so that was the the first fuse I changed out for the black, and now the blue.
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Lak,
I found it best to start at the preamp with both the Black and the Blue fuses. The source may give more pronounced results from that one source, but the preamp is in the signal path of all sources and these fuses make a substantial difference there (more than the amplifier IME) in order to judge whether or not the change is your preference for all sources before proliferating the change to other components.
Dave |
dlcockrum,
That makes a lot of sense. In my case, my pre is is passive, so no fuse to change.
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How does the blue fuse work? I can only assume it's packed with tiny circuits and minuscule power supply enhancers to provide the results describe here…or is it a tiny wire with astonishing properties? In any case it simply seems to provide unbelievable enhancement far beyond what I expect from the well designed Litelfuses I use (and others who's branding I'm unaware of). I'm sure with results like this pretty much everyone in audio will buy these fuses, and why wouldn't they? |
Riddle me this. The new Audio Magic super Beeswax fuse, you know, the one that’s almost twice the price of the Blue Fuse, has a "push-pull core instead of a single core," according to the blurb on Audiogon currently. I assume that means it has two wires instead of one. Does that mean the signal is directionally correct no matter which way it goes? Or does it mean if one wire blows up accidentally the other wire takes over? Or is it a marketing ploy? You decide. The extra or improved black stuff in the new Beeswax fuse I’m pretty sure everyone understands.
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Last night's listening session included a 10" vinyl recording of vocalist Chris Connor that Robert brought over. Recorded in 1952, and still in near mint condition, Chris Connor's voice and supporting instrumentals were simply amazing. When I hear recordings like that it brings to mind what this hobby is all about. Its the music. Simply a stunning trip back in time.
Frank
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Frank,
Stephen Kates the cellist who’s recording you recommended played a
Domenico Montagnana cello circa 1730. The Montagnana is considered a more powerful cello one with a more dynamic low end than those made by Stradivarius..I made a custom endpin last year for another Montagnana played in a major orchestra here in the mid-west. I was told by others the outcome was fabulous.
The Montagnana owned and played by Stephen Kates was sold by his widow for $6 million.
The Montagnana I made the endpin for only had a value of $2 million..Maybe one cello sounds like the Blue fuse and the other like the Black fuse..I have heard neither one but I must purchase the recording by Kates you suggested. Lynn Harrell and Yo Yo Ma also play a Montagnana. Tom
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I'm looking forward to the comparison between the SR Blue and Audio Magic Super Beeswax, since the common opinion was that the latter was overall better than the Black (as good as the latter is). |
I went to RMAF this weekend and listened to the Synergistic Research Blue fuse equipped system. I thought it was a fabulous sound. The ability to hear improved front to back layers of sound really impressed. Backup vocalist were positioned both left and right but also closer or farther away from the lead vocalist in ways I have not experienced. Bottom line is I have 15 Blue fuses on the way to my house. Tom it is wonderful you are creating improved endpins for cellos. Since I am on the Board of Director's for Grammy winning cellist Zuill Bailey, I do get to experience a lot of cello music. His 1693 "Mateo Gofriller" cello has never been cut down to 7/8 size as so many of the era have ( including Pablo Casals). A fabulous big and rich sounding cello. I have always wondered how Mateo would respond to an audiophile inspired endpin. Maybe someday! David Pritchard |
David,
I have a friend who is very familiar with that particular Gofriller. It has very extended and mature response in both directions beyond what most every other cello can reach. My friend and I share experience on the removal of interfering energy within musical instruments ..for cello that is the wolf note. The wolf is caused by a specific polarity of a wave that we can now remove. The same cello absent the interference of that polarity takes less effort to bow (energy is saved) resulting in a net gain of average output of 1.5 db.. The harmonic of the wolf being removed is absent in the spectrum analysis beyond 15 k. There were over 250 octaves of the fundamental of 68 hz. with no interference on any harmonics. Working on the same with audio components as they all accumulate and re generate interfering energy that is returned to the source to be played on and in the music repeatedly. Remove the interference and energy use is reduced. Tom |
I'm always amazed at what I don't know and appreciate what others do.
It puts perspective in a new perspective. 😁 |
Tom:
I suggested to Zuill that he should consider your endpin upgrade two years ago, but at this point he is still thinking about it. His cello does have a magnificent tone and Zuill has the power to bring this instrument to life.
I did get him to try a set of strings that Synergistic Research Quantum Tunneled ! This was part of an experiment with his graduate students to encourage "thinking outside the box". And yes all could hear a difference with the treated strings.
I would love to hear a before and after with your endpin some day.
David Pritchard |
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Just wanted to add some more comments now I have a good week on my Blue fuses. Further to my first impressions I wanted to expand on what I think the Blues do that is quite distinct and unexpected. This is in the context of using 3 Blues in my pre-amp and power amps, all other fuses are SR Blacks
As I previously noted the Blues at first listen seem more reserved, more polite, more laid back then the Blacks. Bass seems less dynamic and treble less crisp. But spend some time and listen in and what you realize is that the frequency range is still there and what is really happening is that the individual notes and sounds are not leaping out and drawing attention to one another as they were before but are much more part of the whole. The Blues seem to excel in an area of reproduction that is getting very important to me — that of “continousness” by which I mean the natural ease in which a vocal line, or violin passage, flows from one note, from one breath, from one bow movement, to the next without interruption or glitch. I’m hearing the same profound change in introducing a step up into my LP system and once you start listening to it it’s something that’s very addictive. As the Blues are the only change on my digital side I have to think they are playing to this aspect of reproduction.
Now I’m not able to know why a fuse might do this — maybe it’s removing some minute chokes in the ebb and flow of power — whatever, I just wouldn’t go back. To some extent it’s the antithesis of “hi-fi” (i.e. flashy, attention getting etc) but if this sort of flow (which seems very Csikszentmihalyi) is appealing to you then give the Blues a try — you might learn to love them |
^^^
Agreed.
And some of the "better" equipment I’ve owned doesn’t "do" the "continuousness" thing, which can also explain why it IS doing something exquisite for some of us, and not for others. If that’s its strong point, then it’s not going to show up in equipment that can’t do "continuousness." (Fortunately, I have CJ electronics, and they do it exceedingly well). It makes me a little crazy that all the expensive things I bought, including the Brystons, Hegels, Simaudios, and quite a few other expensive electronics, never equalled my Versa/Convergent/Jadis/Avalon setup, circa 1992, in the sense of it sounding like a live broadcast from the Met Opera (even on an inexpensive tuner, you could tell it was being broadcast live, aka "continuous").
The most "continuous" equipment I’ve ever owned were the Jadis electronics, the Avalons, and then the we’re-not-related-but-I-can-fool-some-of-the-people-some-of-the-time Avalon sound-alines, the Sound Dynamics RTS-3s, which do continuousness in a way that eludes nearly everything I ever reviewed with the exception of the Manger speakers (they were genuinely breathtaking).
It is audio’s shame that they (Mangers) never got a foothold in the US of A. There is an ancient review I did of the Genesis 6.1s on ultraaudio.com, and I remember thinking that the Genesis were great speakers, but still did not do what the Avalons, Sound Dynamics - or even the barely-functioning Mangers did: continuousness. The Mangers did this phenomenally well - better than even the Avalons, and I would have written a review of them except that, since the speaker had a cracked edge, I had to listen to see if it was broken before I could contact Manger to tell them to file a claim with UPS. I carefully hooked them up, although I could hear something rattling around, and with whatever luck Heaven was providing, I got to hear them, and they were to die for. But not for long: the moment I went to move the damaged speaker (the one that had arrived in the crushed box), the entire upper frequency disappeared, and that was the end of my listening. I called Manger and told them the bad news. They weren’t willing to send a second pair for me to review. I would have LOVED to have owned this speaker. It surpassed Avalons and pretty much everything else I’d heard. I forget the technology, but I think it was a type of ribbon speaker. And continuous as HELL!! Even my brother, far from being remotely interested in equipment, said that this was the first speaker he heard in the house that sounded like someone was actually playing a live instrument in the room.
The whole "continuous" thing is also something that Conrad Johnson electronics do extremely well. As I recall, Jonathan Valin mentioned once, upon reviewing CJ after many years of not listening to them, that the CJs had NO grain and exceeded any equipment he had heard. The less grain, the more - other issues aside - it sounds like the Real Thing. Continuousness.
The Blues do this better than previous SR generations of fuses, but I have found it depends on what they are installed in, as you yourself have found. I can see why fuses make for disagreements on these forums : they are not a one-size-fits-all (equipment) scenario. And that could make anyone wonder if we’ve been drinking or snorting or inhaling something. This used to happen even in TAS, when one reviewer would like something less than another. It was less apparent when it was just HP, Donleycott, Coolidge and Art Dudley doing the reviewing, but once a host of other reviewers arrived (around ’82) , one had only to read the magazine regularly to see that with the wider array of equipment in use in say, 10 reviewers’ systems, instead of just the 4 original reviewers, the OBJECTIVE conclusions were similar, but the reactions (the "subjective" part)? THAT was what varied.
I think Synergistic is being VERY smart with their 30-day guarantee: nobody gets burned. It does up the ante in your system? Return it. You’re out the postage, but that’s it. And there are VERY few companies willing to allow the buyer that luxury. It’s smart business. Very smart. I’d wonder why nobody else does it, except it’s clear: SR has more resources than smaller companies and they can take the hit if someone returns the fuse (although I don’t think they do this for ALL their products (also smart)). I do, however, understand that if one bought the Blacks and SR hadn’t bothered to announce - 2 or 3 months ahead of the new release - that they WERE releasing a new fuse, some people being rightfully pissed. But then, don’t their distributors know this? It gets complicated at that point, unless SR is willing to take back the old inventory and supply the distributor with new inventory without financial loss. That part? Not so good for the distributor, unless their profit margin is high.
Be that as it may, the fuse is WORTH trying, and that’s the only point I care to make. Myself, I’m noticing a SLIGHT loss of liquidity since I put the Audio Horizon into the PS Audio (which I didn’t notice initially, dazzled as I was with the richer tone (well, richer than the SR Red in the PS Audio, anyway), and part of me dreads buying another Blue fuse to see if that liquidity - AND, I think, some low level detail as well - will return (since liquidity usually goes hand-in-hand with continuousness, logically speaking, that SHOULD happen. But it’s not a guarantee, no matter how good the Blue is elsewhere). And then I have to actually say to myself, "You dummy: if it doesn’t improve the performance, you can return the fuse." It’s a "Duh" moment, but as I get older, I’m finding I have more of those. So, guarantee: Good. Fear: Bad.
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Excellent comments.
By "Continuous" do you mean "seamless?"
Frank.
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+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.
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@oregonpapa yes “seamlessness” could equally well describe it
@tommylion my system is primarily tubes but while this may help 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
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“...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.
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Maggie 3.6R update: The SR Blacks are out, the SR Blues are in. As Frank initially observed, the Blues sound better new than the Blacks sound burned in. In first listening to the 1995 Lee Ritenour and Larry Carleton collaboration "Larry and Lee", more inner detail is heard, there is extended decay to reverberant instruments. Lower midrange stands out as better defined. Short percussion fills/sweeteners, such as chimes and congas are now heard in clearer relief. The presentation on Mark Knopfler's "Sailing To Philadelphia" is more liquid, more listenable, more articulate. Please correct me if I am mistaken in saying the SR Blues are a part of the signal path in the Magnepan fuse banks serving the midrange and tweeters. As such, these SR fuses are the most important upgrade over stock than has been achieved in any component in my system, with other fuses being replaced in the AC main inputs of amps, subs, CDP. My listening evaluations of fuses in the 3.6R's have been consistent and progressive through many fuses now. Both the HiFi Tuning Gold and Supremes actually showed arcing/burning on the end caps as blue/black discolorations. In retrospect, they were not that good. The Furutechs with rhodium end caps sounded much more coherent. The SR 20's brought again a slight improvement, as did the SR Reds over the 20's. The SR Blacks were the giant leap forward, of course---until, that is, these SR Blues. Only after two hours in, I can say they are clearly the best yet--and not by a small margin. I would like to hear more reports on these Blues in all applications. |
.I installed a blue sr on my amp and I find that the medium is forward, I put back the black which is more balanced on my system. |
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gigaset,
I found that the Blues shifted into a decidedly "relaxed" mode after 7 days undisturbed. If you judged them before the 7 days, you might consider trying them again.
Dave |
I installed my Blues into my amps. Initially it was similar in effect of using the Blacks after they were broken in times 25%+. I liked the flow of the music better with the Blacks for the first 45 minutes. Then I listened for another 3 hours. The Blues became so much better than the Blacks. It wasn't just the increase in resolution, spaciousness, openness, it became like the Blacks, more intimate sounding. The tone of instruments are now fuller than the Blacks. This change was similar to my change from my IC cables which were the same except for the reduction in capacitance by 50% by adding a teflon sleeve over the positive wiring. See http://www.groverhuffman.com/home for details (his cable already incorporates a tri-metal powder based shield with a copper mesh outer shield). It was a major improvement resulting in extended frequency definition, spaciousness and dynamics. The result of using the Blues is so much more information and enjoyable listening. Not just for me but for my wife and visitors who can sit five feet from the sweet spot on either side and enjoy nearly the same sonic features as the sweet spot. (My wife had me get rid of my large electrostats 18 years ago after we married due to their limited dynamics, bass and listening space-center only). I'm so glad that SR listened to my suggestion (if they did) that audiophiles would pay extra for broken-in fuses rather than burn up 72 hours of tubes to break them in. That the price is only $20 more than the Blacks is greatly appreciated. |
dlcockrum1,905 posts10-15-2017 8:28pmgigaset,
I found that the Blues shifted into a decidedly "relaxed" mode after 7 days undisturbed. If you judged them before the 7 days, you might consider trying them again.
Dave
OK Dave,thanks. |
I found that after a 1 or 2 hours, they were eminently listenable and certainly relaxed sounding. They're a great addition to my primary sound system. I rarely use my secondary system and still haven't broken in the amp's Black fuse after 25 hours use. I may purchase a Blue fuse just so I don't have to wait any longer. |
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fleschler ... Your analysis of what you heard at 3 hours prompted me to look at my notes. Here is what I jotted down: At three hours ... 1. Much lower noise floor.. 2. Better bass extention. 3. Improved inner detail - no loss of tonality. 4. Articulation in voices much improved - more human. 6. Excellent tonal balance. 7. Improved dynamics. Looks like were on the same page with these new Blue fuses. I went digging through the CD archive this morning for something to play with the morning coffee. I found this gem ... and I have to say, someone here has to jump on this CD. Its just a plain old Red book CD, but man ’O man, is it ever a sonic delight and great music. Its a demo disc. I found one on Ebay and its just sitting there waiting for your credit card number. At the asking price, its a bargain too: http://www.ebay.com/itm/SHELLY-MANNE-Bells-Are-Ringing-CD-1996-Original-Jazz-Classics-/162704656209?...Frank |
Hi Frank,
Do your notes show any significant improvement/change later, say around 1 week?
Dave
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That Bells Are Ringing CD is equivalent to a hot stamper LP. Robert introduced me to that CD over 15 years ago. It's one of many great Contemporary CDs. The best ones were remastered by Joe Tarantino, the least successful can be attributed to Phil de Lancie, but the latter has done some fine work as well. The worst transfers were the early mono set of the Firehouse Five and two early mono Kid Ory. The LPs smoke those CD transfers. Almost all the Barney Kessel CDs are fantastic, especially with Previn and Manne. |
I just added an SR Blue fuse to my Conrad Johnson Classic SE preamp in my secondary system. A Very nice improvement as soon as I added it.
I'm sure it will improve with time as others have mentioned.
I'm not saying that I'm going to run out and replace my Red or Black fuses but if I should need to replace a fuse it would be with a Blue.
Good job oregonpapa...
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Hi,
I ordered a blue fuse to replace my black one for my playback designs digital player.
Are people finding that fuse direction for the blue is same as black? |
I have replaced 6 Blacks with Blues so far and all sounded best in the same direction as the Blacks did.
Dave
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Same direction for me as well.
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Has anyone tried applying a WA Quantum fuse chip on one of these SR Blues ? |
The sound of my system has taken a nice step forward in the past couple of days. It would seem the Blue fuse in my amp has fully? broken in. I've ordered another for my CD transport, it'll be here Monday. Only one more needed for my DAC, and then I'll really be singing (the praises of) the Blues 😉
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Tommylion,
I have replaced all Blacks with Blues and, as folkfreak predicted, the Blues are not better than the Blacks in some components IME. Can be too laid back in the highs depending on the component, or just that mixing them gives a better overall result. Try replacing one at a time as you are doing, listen, and be objective before deciding on a victor.
Dave
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Do you find the overall presentation more laidback in all region, normally this is associated with less vocal presence, more open soundstage with more extension in highs and lows.
Thanks for your much appreciated and valued opinion on the different soumding characteristics of the blue fuse. |
@justubes2
To your point, I did find SR blacks lean towards more extension in high’s and low’s. That’s one of the reason I end up splitting my fuse upgrade between SR Blacks and HiFi Supreme Tuning Fuses which, IMHO are the most neutral fuses. Some of you may not agree but with above assessment but with any tweaks, the level of improvements we hear can be quite subjective and component dependent.
Having spend substantial amount of money on fuses recently, I am not quite ready to take a leap towards the Blues. May be in near future..but for now the combination of SR Blacks and HiFi Supremes sounds pretty magical in my Man Cave :-) |
Hi,
I replaced SR Black with SR Blue fuse for digital player and right away notice more.musical more foot tapping.
It is.midrange improvement but dont think highs or lows are.negatively impacted.in my resolving system. Perhaps tad less.bass but gain midrange far greater than slight bass loss and overall enuf bass (and I am bass picky)....perhaps better still after break in but pleased already
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The Blue did not work well at all in my ModWright 9.9 power supply. Lost all sparkle in the highs with a reduction in dynamics in the upper mids compared to the Black.
HiFi Tuning Supreme Copper (Cu) is an amazing fuse as lalitk has stated. Ridiculously good in the MW power supply and better than the Blacks in my Aurender. Higher energy fuse that adds real-life rhythm, pace, and dynamics and moves the soundstage forward without losing depth and layering when used in combination with the Blacks and/or Blues.
The Blues are the clear victor over the Blacks in my SS DAC, pre, and amp. Have not yet tried the HFT Copper there.
Mixing and matching baby, that’s where it’s at!
Dave |
About three weeks ago, I received my one and only SR Blue fuse to try in an Audio Research Reference 6 preamp. This new fuse would displace my SR Black fuse, should the system sound better with it. I swapped the Blue fuse orientation twice and settled on the position that provided the greater image focus. At that time, my first impression was that the Blue fuse tended to roll off the high frequencies. I decided to investigate more. The Blue fuse probably has about 60 hours of play time on it now.
To make a long story short, my judgement hasn't changed from my first impressions. The Blue fuse, in my system and to my ears, tends to roll off the high frequencies. With this change, the midrange tends to sound slightly richer. The bass does seem slightly more impactful and focused using the Blue vs. the Black.
To try to quantify the extent of the reduction in high frequency energy, I had some experience fine tuning the tweeter level of my Wilson Alexia's by swapping resistors. The reduction of HF seems to be on the order of 1dB using the blue fuse. If I install the resistors that give me 1dB increased tweeter output with the Blue fuse in place, the sound is almost identical to using the Black fuse with the 1dB lesser resistors.
I then compared the sound of my Berkeley Alpha Reference 2 DAC directly driving my amp, vs. the Audio Research with either the Blue or Black fuse. The sound in the high frequencies of the DAC directly driving the amp sounds much closer to the Black fuse, while the Blue sounds muted in the highs.
To put another description in play, I have a headphone rig highlighting Focal Utopia's. Sound in my main system with the Black fuse in place sounds a lot like my headphone rig running Moon Audio Silver Dragon Headphone cable. Sound with the Blue fuse in place sounds much like my headphone rig using Moon Audio Black Dragon cable.
Your mileage may vary.
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Thanks for all the insighful observations.
I reported previously that i expwriences a slight reduction in HF sparkle or brillance with the black fuses.
Great to hear more trials.
I may try 1 blue to see how it meshes up. Synergy can be most important. |
No roll off in the highs here at all. In fact, just the opposite. Very extended and very sweet. Everything makes a difference, so I'm thinking maybe a good combination is the Blue fuses with a compliment of Herbie's tube dampeners.
Frank |
Frank,
Since you own ARC, did you remove the OEM rubber dampeners and installed Herbie’s dampeners?
My 6H30’s already came with rubber dampeners and KT-120’s are currently installed without any dampeners.
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I'm very surprised at the difference in sound in my system with the SR Bkue vs.the Black. Its Not Subtle. I'm amazed the magnitude of change by just a fuse.
This has my curiosity up. I ordered both a. HiFi Tuning Supreme and an Audio Magic Ultimate Beeswax fuse this morning... |
