If the Blue fuse isn't in the proper direction, the system will sound somewhat out of phase. In the proper direction, the sound will sound "locked in."
Frank
Frank
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
2,978 responses
| Post removed |
alexberger77 posts01-18-2019 9:45amI exchanged the SR BLUE fuse direction, and yes the sound was "locked in". Now it is musical enough and even mostly better than broken-in SR RED fuse. But I steel have feeling that it is not completely broken-in sound of SR BLUE fuse. >>>>>Would it be a fair statement that one cannot use the so called rule of using the lettering on SR fuses to determine their correct direction? You know, since you initially followed how your SR RED fuse was installed to obtain the SR BLUE fuse direction. |
@geoffkait has @alexberger confirmed, beyond a doubt, that both fuses were in fact aligned the same? (It’s an easy thing to get wrong, even when one is not trying to...I’ve resorted to taking photos prior to, to make sure) And that the Red Fuse was installed using the lettering ’rule’? Maybe the Red Fuse was in the ’wrong’ direction to begin with? @alexberger can you comment? Thanks. |
Yes the "lettering direction" of "right direction" of the Blue fuse is opposite to the "lettering direction" I was using the Red fuse. So, it seems they have opposite "lettering directions". I have used Red fuse more than 2 years. I remember I checked it direction but I don't remember details how exactly I did it. |
@alexberger Thanks! I think it’s best to always try the fuse in both directions, unless what you hear with the first direction sounds absolutely correct to your ears. The opposite direction has always sounded not-quite-right and it is immediately apparent. Further, one would need to also figure out and know the direction of the flow of current through the fuse holder to be absolutely certain about any ’absolute’ directional recommendations. |
There’s no connection between lettering direction and fuse direction. It’s random. One or two fuse companies control directionality during manufacturer but most don’t as it’s a lot of trouble so you have to try them both ways. Audioquest and a few other companies control directionality for cables and power cords during manufacturing, thus the arrows. 🔚 |
I'm rather surprised that the SR Blue fuse didn't sound nearly settled in after placing it in the correct direction within an hour. About a year ago, I blew an amp resistor which took out a blue fuse. After replacing it, it sounded about the same as a broken in fuse. Between replacement, I used my older SR black fuse. The blue was immediately better. |
A nice jump over the RED fuse. But when testing direction I realized I may have been using my old RED fuse backwards for years. When the BLUE was installed backwards it was similar in tonality to my RED (but better), but it was still better when reversed. Which means my listening test to install that RED fuse years ago was sloppy... |
Hello , I recently tried my first after market fuse (SR Blue fuse) in my ARC VSI 75 integrated amp and loved the improvement it made. I mean it was great. My amp is rated at for a 5A fuse and when i first tried a 5A blue, the fuse blew. So, SR sent me a 6.3 A and after about 250 hours of use, it blew as well this past weekend. I re-inserted the stock fuse and all seems to be ok with the amp. Now, has anyone experienced this ? Could it be the SR Blue fuses are just not right for my amp ? Any insight would be greatly appreciated. I should note that although the fuse seemed tight enough in the insertion cap, it was not as firm as the stock fuse was when I inserted it into the cap. Also, my tubes are relatively new and were purchased directly from ARC. thank you, Paul |
| Post removed |
I think most that have used aftermarket fuses ( at least SR fuses) have found that they need to use uprated fuses for whatever reason which I do still find rather odd, after all melting point for a 5a load should be the same design whatever the actual wire is made from, or something is not right. This is one aspect of these fuses I do not like or agree with. However on the flip side just as NB_Dude stated you can hear a difference so.... I am "currently (sic)" using a SR Blue rated at 6.3a in my Ayre AX7E, stock fuse was 5a. I purchased the 6.3a after reading similar stories here but would it have blown a 5a? Who knows, I do have about 500 hours on the 6.3a fuse and in my case it is an extremely tight fit in the fuseholder in the back of the amp, much more so than the standard glass 5a I removed. As an aside before I put the SR Blue fuse in I actually spoke with Ayre customer service by telephone regarding a different matter and mentioned the fact I was thinking of going with an aftermarket fuse and what their thoughts were. The guy I was speaking with was completely for swapping out fuses as he believed they made a big SQ difference. Made me want to ask why they did not fit them from the factory but that my be a commercial sales decision not something customer service may want to deal with... lol. |
I have custom amps with two huge storage caps. SR told me to use 8 amp fuses in place of the 5 amp fuse it is rated for. This is because the on turn on, those huge 7" X 3" pair of caps draw tremendous amount compared to my EAR 890 which has itty bitty storage caps (not updated yet). So, it depends on the current draw of your storage caps to determine what size fuse you require. Ask SR based on your current draw if an 8 amp fuse would be a better match. |
| Post removed |
| Post removed |
My amp manufacturer told me that it was safe to use an 8 amp fuse. He also did one thing better by installing a 5 amp circuit breaker in place of the fuses. Sounds about the same as my amps now. I had a tube and resistor blow about six months ago. The fuse went as well to protect the amp. So, the fuse worked. Used a SR black fuse while waiting for the blue fuse replacement. Not bad but not as colorful or open sounding as the blue. The blue is worth the few dollars more. If I only blow a fuse due to tube failure once every three years, that's fine with me. I am using six 6BG6 output tubes per amp. They tend to last about 1500 to 2000 hours, then glow red and blow. They only cost about $7 a tube so it's the fuse that costs the most. |
"There’s no connection between lettering direction and fuse direction. It’s random. One or two fuse companies control directionality during manufacturer but most don’t as it’s a lot of trouble so you have to try them both ways." I hope to soon patent a fuse with two filaments. The filaments will each be in a different direction, therefore audiophiles using the fuses will not need to spent time flipping the fuses around. They will, of course, then need to figure out what to do with the time saved. |
MEM2112 Please try inserting fuses in the opposite direction to what you had initially. Yes sounds crazy but no more crazy than the fact that a fuse can have an effect on sq to begin with! And by your post you can at least concur it did indeed effect the sq big time, just not how you hoped! So while you have them please just try again as I had EXACTLY the same experience in a DAC a couple of years back. Good luck |
Thanks for the suggestion. I tried that during the A/B process. One direct is a little better but not significantly. Once I settled on a direction, I put 5 hours on them and as I stated earlier, fatigueing was the best way to describe the listening. Maybe you have to earn the burn in process and deal with it. next time I open the amp up, I will get my DVM out and test fuse holder to the line on the plug to confirm true direction. Regards |
There are many perfectly valid reasons why some people don’t have any luck with certain tweaks. It’s been that way even since audiophiles chimed first in on power cords, Mpingo discs, Shakti Stones, the Green Pen, the Tice Clock, Silver Rainbow Foil and Schumann frequency generators, to name a few. However, by and large most of the testimony is positive, so I suggest we call the negative results OUTLIERS. And throw them away. The preponderance of the evidence, folks, you know, with more than 80,000 aftermarket fuses sold since they were first introduced, most of which these days are Synergistic Blue Fuses, is that the SR Blue Fuse is both effective and directional. Oh, by the way, when multiple fuses are involved the only rational way to determine that all fuses are in the correct direction is to change the fuses one at a time, listen and evaluate as you go. There is no way to tell by looking at the fuses which way they should go. We can review the reasons why some people don’t get the results they were expecting for fuses or anything else any time anyone wishes. |
Ben Piazza came over and could not get better sound out of his Shakti Stones in my system. They are system dependent. But two pairs of his Hallographs are more important than SR fuses and HFTs. My speakers really need the Hallographs. Another big loser for my system were the Magico Qpods under five pieces of my equipment. Awful effect of loss of PRAT and dulling the sound. Supposedly excellent for Magico speakers. The kept all my Stillpoints instead. |
@fleschler - New Dark Matter NDM improves SNR. If you consider that “harm” this product is definitely not for you. Why would you even make such a statement? In fact, I will not sell to you. Too much angst and trepidation and drama. And you already gave us your Shakti Stone sob story. 😥 No matter how great a product is you don’t have to look too far to find somebody somewhere who swears he can’t hear it or that it hurts the sound. |
I did not mean harm the operation of the equipment. I meant lessening the audio sound quality, just as the Shakti Stones did. The NDM is certainly inexpensive to try. Unfortunately, the Shakti Stones also did no favors to my friends Robert or Grovers systems. Robert and Frank are on the same page as to the fantastic benefit the Hallographs make. |
