Oooops! My bad. But you can see the reasons for my confusion. 😛
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
I can understand that not everyone is going to agree with what I hear or believe in this crazy hobby. And I can certainly appreciate those who have tried some of these tweaks, say Black Fuses or after market cables in their system and heard no audible improvements for any number of reasons. The problem arises from folks who are not willing to try (your typical Naysayers), they come into our forum and starts to ridicule folks who are simply sharing their experiences. |
Would you take seriously someone who told you that with a new wiring loom (or whatever) the fuel consumption of your car would suddenly be reduced by half? Would you feel a need to even try?Many years ago with the advent of OBD for cars there were tons of problems that all the experts couldn’t figure out. Turns out that the spark plug wires were acting as an emitter and antenna of sorts, messing with the electronics. No one believed it until some enterprising folk came up with better insulated wires and POOF!, the troubles were lessened. Gas mileage didn’t improve by 50% but it did improve. After that and until they became standard on cars, lots of people went out and bought better cables. All the best, Nonoise |
Fleschler is Yiddish. It’s meaning is bottle maker. Maybe there is a connection to my enjoyment of vacuum tube equipment. I drop names because I can. I have 2 BAs from UCLA. a JD and an MPA with assorted other business credentials. My interest in music began at the age of 2 prior to speaking full sentences. By 13, I began my quest for better sound in acquiring my first mid fi tube equipment. I’m sure I out credential the troll Wolf in every way and some posters on this forum know me as a person of integrity |
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. |
The SR fuses are simply better signal conductors than stock fuses. After all the improvements I have made to AC transmission, including the 240V/120V isolation transformer, OCC, 9-gauge power cords with 20-amp IEC receptacles into ARC mono blocks, Transparent cables with massive, gold plated terminals, not to mention the high-purity copper hook-up wiring in expensive components, you’re telling me the signal and the message modulated upon that signal has to pass through this silly little filament in a glass tube? This tiny hair is what all that pure AC power has to go through upon entering my amps and again, just as the message hits the midrange and tweeter in my Maggies? Not being an EE, I cannot over think this concept, but it does appear likely that the high performance fuse just might reduce the distortion and noise created through the stock fuse that then competes with the signal modulated upon the energy pathway. The better materials in the custom fuse allows more of the information, in a much clearer and dynamic presentation, to be perceived for your enjoyment. This ain’t rocket surgery, folks. |
no reason not to do some valid listening tests if the cost in $$ and time is nil have someone switch them when you aren't in the room & see if you can tell any difference - do it 20 times and post how many you get right or just change from red to blue based on polling data or electron results or.. do something that is known to be important - speaker adjustments, room tmts. and maybe ball bearings under some components (DAC), or star-quad DC cables to the DAC, LPS for the DAC, power isolation transformers lots of things to keep you busy that are grounded in science |
randy-11 ".or.. do something that is known to be important. . ."Do these ’known to be important’ tests require the use of the Spudnik R-11, your ’newly tuber ARC pre-amp’ as stated in the Teo cable thread? And do these tests need to be known only to you? What about the tests that are unknown to you? That could add up pretty quickly. |
One of my qualifications is the fact that I placed third in the NY State Surfing Championships Senior Longboard Division in 2002 at Ditch Plains in Montauk. Got the trophy RIGHT HERE. There were only 2 others in my division, but still…a win's a win. Does a company like Littelfuse use inferior components? If so, somebody should let them know so they can improve those damn things a get the price up to somewhere that audio geeks can respect. During part of my little experiment with the black SR fuses I was being visited by a Real Famous Recording Engineer (name withheld because, well, you know) who used to be a neighbor and he suggested a little test. I leave the room, he ether does or doesn't swap out a black fuse for a Littlefuse (Or whatever fuse was in the components…some may have been other brands of "non special" fuses) and I was supposed to guess which was which. All the fuses were broken-in (supposedly, although maybe they lose their broken-in status when removed), and maybe or not reversed (no stone unturned around). We did this to each other all afternoon (!) and were flummoxed and bewildered and found no differences. Note that AC protection devises like fuses or breakers are NOT part of the "signal chain" technically, although obviously if they're not there when they're supposed to be the signal chain stops. To state that a good "normal" fuse creates distortion and noise is likely news to most component designers who seem to not be worried about it. |
wolf_garcia OP thread I appreciate all of this...although I think my comprehension capabilities are being woefully overestimated.He seems to acknowledge the results of tube rolling. But, not much else. I'm using them (they're stock with a new JD502P), and switched the Tung Sol 12ax7s to a matched pair of Thetubestore's "preferred" ones (select Chinese it would seem) and I love 'em...they provide a little more sparkle, tonal accuracy, and aren't expensive. |
Wolf, you say a fuse is not in the signal path--how so? Isn't the signal really the electrical energy that entered your system and came out in your speakers---with a message modulated upon that signal? A pure, quiet signal allows us to hear more of the message. That a component won't turn on if the fuse is missing should be considered important to its part in the signal. The history of Magnepan users who have removed the fuse banks is long and well documented; they sound a lot better, and they sound a lot better even by keeping the fuse banks and just replacing the Buss variety with SR's, and that's a fact, a certainty, formed by myself from my experience that I stand by. We're all sorry you didn't hear a difference with the SR Blacks. We don't tell you that you are mistaken or just not listening correctly, do we? But you are telling us we suffer from mass delusion and are easily led around by our noses because, if YOU don't hear a difference, no one else can, either. That perspective is far more troubling than anything you are coming up with and aiming toward us. I respect your audio experience, and I like your humor, though---great stuff. |
dbarger .... The original RED fuses were paid for by me at full retail. I even paid state sales tax and shipping because of the excellent service I've gotten from Highend Electronics. (oh damn, there he goes again being a shill for Highend Electronics!). Could have ordered the fuses from out of state and saved the sales tax and shipping charges, but I didn't. The Black fuses were paid for by me at full retail including sales tax and shipping. HIghend Electronics has earned my loyalty. I was a beta tester for the Blue fuses and extremely grateful for the opportunity. I reported what I heard IN MY SYSTEM ... nothing more and nothing less. Sometimes opportunity knocks at the door and its up to us to take advantage of it or not. One more thing dbarger .... I am also beta testing the "secret and elusive super tweak." We're almost done and approaching a release date. Has nothing to do with SR .... and its fantastic. I'm on my third version of it and each version is better than the last. Looks like the third time is charm. Now, will the fact that I'm not paying for it influence your decision to buy it or to not buy it? Would my upcoming review, which will be extremely positive, be any more believable if I had paid for the tweak? Think about it .... This tweak has an eight-week break-in period. Three trials x eight weeks ... that's a lot of listening and evaluating. That's going way beyond "free," my friend. How good is the super tweak? Even though there are those who will Poo-Poo it right from the get-go, they have no idea what they are talking about. My take will be ... if one is a dedicated audiophile trying to get the most out of his/her system, they would be absolutely nuts not to use it. And I mean bat-crap crazy. Finally, I've said it many times on these fuse forums ... I spent over 50 years in commissioned sales. I've also said many times ... "Don't sell the steak, sell the sizzle." Take that for what its worth and work that into what you read in my reviews. You use the Blue fuses, right dbarger? Did I tell the truth and nothing but the truth, or did I not????? Frank |
@oregonpapa I am looking forward to your review on ‘secret and super elusive’ tweak. Your recommendation to try the Herbie’s tube dampers in my ARC components worked out nicely. The improvements were far from subtle. With Herbie’s timbres are more natural, instruments sounds very lifelike and clearly delineated. Thank you! |
Hey Ozzy! Still waiting for your review. I'm very interested in finding out what YOU think about the new blues. Also, Imgoodwithtools - hope your problem gets fixed. I'll also be interested in reading about your findings. Getting a couple of quality opinions about the different fuse types would be well worth the effort to wade through all the, "Your opinion sucks" / "Yeah, well you're an idiot", posts that permeate this thread. |
lalitk ... Thanks for the kind words. I couldn’t be without my Herbie’s tube dampeners. A very worthwhile tweak and highly recommended. lak ... Thanks to you also. Being retired brings the advantage of more time being afforded toward the hobby. _____________________________________________________________________________________ I’ve learned over the years that the more successful one is, the more one comes under attack from the "lookers on." Selling for me was like a sport. The more I practiced and the more I applied myself, the more successful I became. I just out-worked and out-learned the other guy. Money wasn’t an issue. I began to look at the money earned as nothing more than a scoreboard reflection of my effort and service to others. Even though I was a 100% commissioned independent contractor, I never thought about the money. I just knew that if I did the right thing for other people the money would come. And it did. The "lookers on" never grab hold of that concept. There are people who look at successful people through gauze covered eyes who would LOVE to see the successful fail. It justifies their own failure. We can apply that thought to a couple of individuals who have posted in this, and also the RED fuse thread in the past. They love to tear at the seams of the dreams and efforts of others. It takes a degree of maturity to be genuinely happy for the successes attained by others. Hopefully, this will give us a little insight into the stale thinking of those who refer to someone like Ted Denney, chief designer at SR, as a "snake oil salesman," or myself as a "shill" for any manufacturer. It is THEY who have a serious problem, not the likes of Ted Denney or myself. Frank |
Tear at the seams and dreams of others? The poor, fragile, audiophile…*sniff*...Hmmm...And the shill thing came from the "hard sell" AND GET YER MONEY BACK IF NOT 100% SATISFIED thing that was mentioned ad nauseum in previous posts…tawdry! I'm, of course, fine with the success of others having great sounding systems that provide enjoyment, and hell, I'm always amazed that more people with a refined esthetic aren't into active listening to great audio. My beef with Denney comes mostly from what I perceive as nonsensical "quantum tunneling" descriptions of faux scientific component treatments, the inaccurate use of actual audio terms like "transducer," and currently his convenient inability to answer even the most basic questions about how he arrived at the design of his "special" fuses, even though it's clear he reads this thread. If I started a thread that claimed astonishing sonic benefits from something others thought was illogical and silly (like "I had my knob polished leading to a wider soundstage"), I wouldn't be surprised if somebody objected in a post. Clearly I can take it. Note that by saying the fuse is "out of the signal path" I mean not part of the signal processing meat of any active component, and somebody should tell the Magnapan people they're design sucks…I'm sure they'd like to know. So worry not fragile Fusers, plenty will offer support to your preposterous claims of the tonal superiority of magic fuses, but steel yourself for some differing opinions…or get a therapist. |
Now...for a lighter side to an electrical enhancement...enjoy! One night, when his charge was pretty high, Micro-Farad decided to seek out a cute coil to let him discharge. He picked up Milli-Amp and took her for a ride on his Megacycle. They rode across the Wheatstone Bridge, around the Sine Waves, and stopped in the Magnetic Field by a flowing current. Micro-Farad, attracted by Milli-Amp's characteristic curves, soon had her fully charged and excited her resistance to a minimum. He laid her on the ground potential, raised her frequency, and lowered her reluctance. He pulled out his high voltage probe and inserted it in her socket, connecting them in parallel and began short circuiting her resistance shunt. Fully excited, Milli-Amp mumbled "OHM-OHM-OHM". With his tube operating at maximum and her field vibrating with his current flow, her shunt overheated, and Micro-Farad was rapidly discharged and drained of every electron. They fluxed all night trying various connections and sockets until his magnet had a soft core and had lost all it's field strength. Afterwards, Milli-Amp tried self-induction and damaged her solenoids. And with his battery fully discharged, Micro-Farad was unable to excite his field, so they spent the rest of the night reversing polarity and blowing each other's fuses. |
Wolfie sez: "somebody should tell the Magnapan people they're design sucks…I'm sure they'd like to know." Yeah, right. One of the most successful speaker manufacturers on the planet and (( "THEY'RE" )) design sucks. What next Wolfie? Are you going to tell us about your perfect command of the English language and how you have it right and everyone else has it wrong? *LMAO* Frank |
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So much more detail coming out now, more separation of instruments, more definition---richer, fuller, sweeter, more listenable all around with the addition of the SR Blues to AC mains of ARC amps, REL subs and Wadia 861SE GNSC all-out mod. Interestingly, I found a HiFi Tuning fuse in my Wadia AC input as part of Steve Huntley's reference mod. The SR's 20, Red, Black and Blue each took it to successively higher levels, of course. The Wadia is treated to its own Richard Gray 1200C, a high-current power conditioner with 1400 watts available to the front end. The 1200C is backed by the RGPC 240V/120V isolation transformer with 4000 watts into my DIY, 9-gauge, OCC power cords with Furutech Alpha copper and rhodium plugs. Isolating the gear and speakers are my own footers of automotive-grade wool felt and walnut 3" x 3" square and 1 1/2" thick. These are some of the additions I have made to take my older system to around ten plateaus higher all told, and the SR Blues are right up there with anything I have done. |
@gtaphile, Both of these components rated for Large (1.25”) 5A SLOW BLOW. My dealer recommended to purchase the next Amperage value on after market fuses. I end up blowing 5A fuse in my ARC amp so I went with 6.3A value. Frank or anyone else using SR fuses with their ARC gear may chime in with their recommendation as well. |
Another well thought of amp brand that responds beautifully to the Synergistic Research Blue fuse is Pass Labs. I have now had the Blue fuses in the two different Pass amps and both have experienced the sonic changes that Jafreeman so well described. Improved detail with greater texture and harmonics, a greater sense of alive music, and more emotionally involving. That is the response I get with the fuses in place. The Synergistic Research Blue fuse is such a fun and great experiment to do to ones audio system. If you do not like them send them back and get your money refunded. David Pritchard |
"Their" instead of "they're"…oops…I hate it when that happens, but thanks to oregonpapa for helping me out...and here is the point I was somewhat sarcastically (!) responding to which oregonpapa missed: From jafreeman, "The history of Magnepan users who have removed the fuse banks is long and well documented; they sound a lot better, and they sound a lot better even by keeping the fuse banks and just replacing the Buss variety with SR's, and that's a fact, a certainty, formed by myself from my experience that I stand by." See? It's a fact and a certainty formed by himself. And Magnapan should know better…somebody please bring it up at THEIR next tech meeting….also does Pass Labs know their amps are improved by Special Fuses? And exactly how does the teeny fuse do all that? There's that question again… |
The Naysayers Creedo "I shall not allow some charlatans and scoundrels to take advantage of young naive and gullible audiophiles. I shall not allow these pseudo scientists and tweakaphiles to besmirch and sully the good names of Ohm, Watt, Faraday, and the other Icons of Science and Electricity. Finally, I shall not allow any of the Laws of Science to be broken or otherwise injured." - your humble scribe |
These fuses do work to a point transform a system hardly . unless your system is lacking a lot to begin with . recordings by far dictate even the finest system in the world. 8 have heard systems approaching $300k and like Live on many records or cd ,but get an average recording imaging,as well as soundstaging collapses. The more complete or refined your system is the less impact a fuse will have .in some parts of your system you may want a very detailed but less rich . The Bees wax Audio magic some swear by them also.for a bit more richness. And only $200 each !! The pricing on fuses is getting a bit out of control in my opinion . With your money you decide what is best .personally I found a real good power cord on the Digital makes a much more Substantial improvement ,I hav3 tried a bunch .the new Verastarr Audio cords are exceptional to me that is $$ well spent. |
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. |
I certainly like to thank the OP Frank for sharing his findings with these SR fuses. After reading his post I remembered that my son had Christmas presented me few years back a Red SR for my PS Audio P10. Out of laziness I installed the Red T5 small fuse and sure enough the Red fuse alone improved my listening pleasure. Replaced my Pre, PS P10s and Subs with Blacks and yes Mr Frank is truly correct about the SR fuses, really made a difference. Never thought a fuse can create this large improvement. Now I am feeling and hearing things like never before. Thank you again Mr Frank and I still have 15 fuses more to be upgraded. |
