I also need 7 fuses in each of my amps, two in my preamp and at least one in my CD player. This totals 17 fuses. $2700.00 This is more than my original system cost back in the day.
I am frantically searching a previous post in hopes to find what I think I read, that someone bypassed the fuses and then tried a Blue fuse. He found that he liked the sound of the Blue fuse over bypassing. So, hence the question.... What did the fuse do other than be a great fuse?
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Millercarbon, One can only be didactic when one knows what they are talking about!
Yes, 7 in each amp. One ceramic and the rest cheapies. I just had all of them replaced with ceramic. NAD 2600's if you care. I also had the old 16 gauge power cords replaced with receptacles so I can get real power cords. Thinking Audioquest Monsoons.
Also doing the Schroeder Method, with combo AQ earths and waters from the Cambridge 851c into the NAD1700. AQ Oak speaker wires, Bi-wire, Bi-amp to Acoustic Research AR 910's completes the picture. Each addition sweetens the sound. So, no trolling here.
Power cords, maybe a AQ 1200 soon to come.
My highest value fuses are 10 amp. Are you saying I should order 20 amp??
Thanks! Michael
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Lots of comments, but no answers! Does Hot wiring/bypassing/direct-connecting/ or using a copper or silver wire Instead of a fuse, make the sound better?
I may be in the near future buying copper tubing and installing it in place of a fuse, just to hear the differences. And, just for fun I might just flip a few to hear if there are any sound differences.... with proper burn-in of course! |
Ok, what I meant by No Fuse, was bypassing the fuse with copper or silver wire. Is the Blue or now the Orange fuse doing something other than just making a great connection? Is it actually enhancing the sound somehow making the sound even better than a direct connection?
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Hey George, so far there hasn't been much toxicity. It will be over soon enough. I am asking an honest question. For the amount of $$$ it would take to install Blue or Orange Fuses, I could replace both of my old amps. I have been running them trouble free for 30 years and am not really overly concerned if I fry one.
Even though it would only be my set of ears against the world, I just may try using solid copper wire and then trying out the Blue's.
Fortunately, the smoke detector is only a few feet away!
Cheers Michael |
Well, just for the record, I have replaced all of my fuses to ceramic. Out of the 7 in each of my amps only one in each amp was originally ceramic. The manufacturer, NAD chose as the first fuse inline to be ceramic. All the rest were the even cheaper fuses. One has to ask themselves Why would NAD do this? My conclusion is that upgrading this one fuse made a significant difference in the sound, at a very low cost. Why wouldn't a manufacturer upgrade every single component to make it sound as good as it possibly could? It had to meet a price point.
I have just started playing my system with 16 new ceramic fuses and so far it sounded better before. I will play it non stop for the next few days. I am currently playing The CD recommended by the book Get Better Sound. I think the CD is called Effacious. Spelled incorrectly I'm sure. I will post back once it all has a chance to burn in.
Who knows? Maybe George is right! But at least I am trying to find out for myself.
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Thank you Again! That is what I originally thought you said! |
Thanks Marqmike! I knew there was someone who tried silver wire. I thought you meant that you had bypassed the fuse but I think what you just said is that you used fuses with a silver wire.
Thank you for your input!
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Elizabeth
Thanks to you in part I am experimenting with wood. I formally stacked my components and now have my 2 amps and Preamp sitting side-by-side on a nifty wife approved 2" thick walnut table. Sure looks better! Still sitting on stock feet tho, need to correct that!
I ran the stereo all night playing the Irrational but Effacious CD in an attempt to burn in the new ceramic fuses. The music has smoothed out, but has not reached it's former glory.
This game would be much easier to play if not for burn in.
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ieales, I am guessing no easy answer to how long does burn in nirvana takes. In my quest to upgrade my NAD stuff, I took all three units in and had my guy replace all the caps, wires and whatever else he could to upgrade the units. $850 in parts. I was deeply depressed when I got it all back. All the warmth and richness was gone. It sounded horrid. I ran it 24/7 for a few weeks with all sorts of music plus the Effacious CD. Finally, it started to sound musical again... and then better than before.
Most of these tweaks, Do make a difference. But one has to enjoy the journey.
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roxy54
I know it was 10 years ago, but how did the sound change after you silver wired your McIntosh? |
jburidan. Nice comment! First off, I have a whole house surge protector, secondly, I have all stuff plugged into a second surge protector.
The question here isn't should I hardwire everything, the question is " if one hardwires components does it improve the quality of the sound over a boutique fuse??? Only two people have responded the question.
George, while I appreciate your concern for me and others, Running to Daddy? This is less about safety and more about your refusal to even consider that the changing of fuses could possibly alter the sound. But, have Never tried any of these things. So, for the record, I wasn't seeking your opinion, nor the other nay-sayers. I was asking people who had experimented with direct wiring the fuse.
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roxy54
Sorry if I wasn't clear. Yes, I knew you substituted silver wire instead of the fuse. I was just wondering how the sound changed when you did that. Bypassing the fuses is exactly what I am thinking of doing instead of using Boutique fuses. |
I have told no one to do such a thing. I asked a question. Can you not read? |
Thanks Ozzy, I thought so too!
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Ok, I am gonna try to summarize and wrap up this dangerous and provoking thread.
The original question that got bent out of shape is " Does bypassing the fuse sound better than even the best fuse, even the Orange?
The reason for the question was to determine whether the fuse is actually adding some sound quality to the system. Somehow actually enhancing the sound quality versus just being a higher quality "wire" that also has fuse protection.
The only way to test this theory would to compare/contrast hard-wired versus the best fuse. So I then asked the question had anyone done this and what were their findings?
I received two answers. One, had bypassed with silver wire and then used a "boutique" fuse and found that he liked the fuse sound better. That's one for the fuse actually improving the sound over bypass. The second answer was inconclusive. Someone silver-wired their McIntosh 10 years ago with no problems. But, didn't say whether or not it improved the sound over a Boutique fuse.
We had people chiming in with age-old opinions on both sides of the fence. Some were very concerned for my safety and the safety of others. Thank you for that!
However, we are still left with the question "Do quality fuses enhance the sound over direct wiring past the fuses"?
So, someones gotta do it! Call me Wacko but unless someone takes the chance to test one's questions where would we be in life? So, after ensuring that my whole house surge protector is functioning, my power strip surge protector also functioning, the batteries in the smoke detector changed, my fire insurance increased to lofty heights, all loved ones evacuated and only casual audiophile friends of which I don't give a whit about their safety that are each equipped with fire extinguishers, I may TEMPORARILY bypass the fuses just to hear whether or not fuses help or hinder the sound. Why Temporarily??? Well what fool would leave a fire hazard like that installed I ask you? My goodness! But. then I suppose to complete the test I will have to pony up to at least some Blue's to hear the difference.
So far, the new ceramics are still burning in and George could be right? Maybe I should have just left the stock fuses in there? Time will tell!
Unless someone has something constructive to add, I consider this thread to be closed!
Signed,
Going where No One has Gone Before
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Han_n,
I was just like you for 30 years. I bought a nice system and loved it. But, it got old, the speakers needed re-foaming and my amps and preamp needed work. The stereo sat for a few years unplayed. I fired it up again and the CD player died. Decision time. Keep or fix. I decided to fix.
While in repair, I hunted for a new CD player. I listened to many. I finally commented that I wish I could bring my system in and hear the different players on my system. He said I could! And since all my equipment was going to be in my vehicle all at the same time, I brought it in.
Long story short, my old stuff sounded just as good as a 50K system. I was very happy. I was using old RCA connectors. While I was there the owner asked me if I wanted to try changing just one set of RCA cables from my new CD player into the preamp. We changed only that one thing and the music changed Dramatically for the better. Imaging, depth, sweetness of sound. I couldn't believe it. I tried a total of 4 different RCA's and without knowing which one he was changing, I was able to after hearing all 4, tell him which one was which.
That is how I got into tweaking. That first set of RCA's was the biggest leap. This stuff does make a difference.
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