Upgrading Fuses

Way to hold your own Vance. Isn't education sometimes a bitch for those who won't listen.

Krell amps use no fuses. I believe so they don't impact the sound quality.

I own 2 Krell KSA 250s and a pair of MDA 500s and have just double checked the owners manuals and according to the manual Krell has developed circuit topologies without fuses because they impact the sound quality. Instead they developed their own proprietary circuitry that self monitors the amp and will shut the amps down if their is a problem. I would be surprised if they would abandon this technology in more recent amps. Krell amps were developed to power up the legendary Apogee speakers and will play into a dead short. Some have even suggested one could arc weld with them. I would have copied and pasted from the manual directly but was not allowed because it is PDF form.
One might conclude that while the use of fuses is required to protect our expensive audio
equipment, it is not in the best interest of the components sonic potential,
thus the need for higher quality fuses to counter the effects of the fuses.
In fact many audiophiles have wired around the fuses or installed solid pieces of copper in place of the fuses for their systems sonic benefit. Of course this is risky, you could blow the hell out or your equipment! So I'll be safe and have better sound by buying audiophile fuses.
thus a better quality fuse that both protects the circuitry and p

Regarding fuses, I suppose we could be victims of a 'ripoff' by audiophile fuse manufacturers. Maybe they haven't done anything to them at all. I'm sure there are even counterfeit fuses being made as well as power cords, interconnects, and speaker wire. How many people are going to take apart their $5000.00 interconnects to make sure they have really got what they paid for and I might add would kow the difference between the components of their interconnects anyway? I have been both a witness to and victim of "psychoacoustic effects" before and probably will be again. The fact is in this case, two other audiophiles and I, took apart my PS Audio PWD after listening for about a half hour, and changed the fuses and listened again. Changing the fuses took about a half hour as I changed the fuses in the PWT as well. We were all skeptical about hearing a difference and voiced concerns about the PWD cooling off and not sounding as good because of being unplugged. Then we hooked everything up and listened. For the first time in my experience with the PWD there the sonics did not take a hit after being unplugged. The PWT sounded better with the new fuses installed even having cooled off. I have since removed the fuses and replaced them with the stock ones and listened again, and what do you know, the PWD had taken a step backwards, so I replaced the stock fuses with the Supremes again, and the sound came back. Now I'm not saying that these fuses transformed my system into audio Nirvana, but they do bring the quality up a notch by at least 2000%! Just joking! I did make sure I purchased the fuses from a reputable company, (The Cable Company) so hopefully they are comfortable with the legitimacy of their suppliers. The Cable Company does offer a 30 refund by the way, so doubters could try the fuses and send them back if they could not hear a difference. Just ask for Paul Jenkins. By the way, Paul McGowan of PS Audio, still endorses these tweaked up fuses even though they are not selling them anymore.
As for my statements about why Krell used circuit breakers instead of fuses in the KSA 250 I guess I did infer that the reasons had to do with sound quality. There could be other reasons.

Well, I don't recall William Zane Johnson of Audio Research fame providing endless technical documentation of why the famed SP3-1A preamp sounded better than the solid state competition. As I recall, curious, suspicious, and doubting potential buyers auditioned the product at the store, brought it home for the weekend to run it through its paces, counted their gold pieces, and then many brought in their old unit and treasure to make a trade. There was no trumpeting by Audio Research of their "proof" backed up by specifications of why their preamp sounded better (in fact, when compared to the solid state competition of its time, its specs were not as good) it just did. (Not that the SP-3 had bad specs!) People that heard the difference, may have questioned why, but still plunked down their dollars to bring music into their homes. The tube revolution was on. Even today, according to documents I've read, there are theories why tube equipment gets the music right but no exact scientific explanation that all agree on. (Something about electrons buzzing through a vaccuum?) Today solid state and tube equipment both sound excellent, though in general, getting the best from solid state is more expensive then a comparable tube circuit. Ok, my purpose here is not to debate the virtues of tubes vs. solid state, (I own both), but to illustrate that it is possible for an audio component and its included parts to make music without a technical, measured explanation. I might audition a component that makes me curious as to why it sounds so musical, examine the specs, and try to find a reason for the sound, but I'd never even think of auditioning a piece of equipment in my system by examining the specs first.

To me, these stupid little fuses that have caused such a debate, make music happen in my system. It would be interesting to know why, but in the end I don't really care.

So if interested in finding the truth for yourself, order some fuses from a respected retailer with a 30 day return policy, keep an open mind (if you still have one), and see if these expensive (but not unreasonably so when compared to price of your system) little ceramic and metal cylinders help you discover some notes you have not heard before.

Oh, and please honestly report your findings here, especially if you've found a way to measure why they make music.

Wow, Metro04 and Jeff_Jones,
If you want to read about and go crazy over some audiophile tweaks that will really turn you inside out check out the Coconut Audio products. They are way crazier in concept and believability than audiophile fuses. I can't wait to hear your reaction to these products.

Don't know, but it sure would be fun to see if they have any influence on the musicality of one's system. Just curious have you guys ever tried the tweak which I believe involves placing a nickel, dime, and a quarter (I think this is the right combo) on top of your speakers? Maybe someone knows the correct amount? I've heard this before and could of sworn it made a difference and cheap too!