What is the science behind audiophile fuses?

Is it too early to bring up double-blind testing?

Cans have been opened, worms are out, let the games begin…

@noromance 

Visiting Chuck Miller's Millercarbon room at PAF gave me the opportunity to check in on Townshend Audio, a quirky British manufacturer of audio gear best known for its well-engineered and very effective isolation products.

Not entirely clear whether MC had a room with his personal kit that happens to use Townshend products, or whether his was actually a room representing Townshend. 
It seems Townshend would want to have a say in the gear used to display their products since the resulting SQ would represent the brand - maybe they did?

BTW, back to fuses, I have done the Teflon tape thing, and also used small orthodontic rubber bands across the tops of the fuse holder tynes to insure a secure connection, after first treating the end caps with a conductive material (i.e., ProGold, etc.).

Doesn’t the power supply include capacitors that store electrical power used by the device, including the capability to supply power for peak demands?  Shouldn’t the power supply be designed so that the current draw through the fuse should never exceed the rated value under normal use?  Otherwise, it would seem the power supply is under designed.  I believe some may be putting too much emphasis on the role of the fuse in the power supply chain.  Obviously, it is essential but, as long as it works properly, perhaps not a direct influence on the sonic end result?

@curiousjim

Ok, here goes:

How can a fuse have an audible influence on the signal, when the signal does not even pass through it?

I don’t believe that a fuse does have an audible influence on an audio signal, for the reasons presented in my previous post, among others.

How can a fuse be "directional" when it deals with alternate current?

I don’t believe that an input fuse subject to alternating current would display any different properties or sonic signature regardless of which way it is oriented. While electric current flows from higher electric potential to lower electric potential, in the case of alternating current, the flow of electrons is bidirectional, i.e. electrons flow in both forward and backward direction.

In case of direct current, flow of electrons takes place in only the forward direction so the flow of electrons is unidirectional. Therefore, if there were directional differences in fuses, they would likely only show up when used in a direct current application, IMO.

@reimarc also asked about our experiences. Although I hear differences in a variety of different equipment, all speakers, and, to a lesser extent, cables, I have yet to hear what I consider a meaningful sonic difference between fuses after trying many including SR, Furutech, ACME, several from HiFi Tuning, and others.

Also, I have yet to read a comprehensive explanation of how a power line fuse should change the sound of an audio component given that regardless of the materials used, it’s job is to pass current up to a given amperage to a power supply consisting of a variety of other parts. I have also never read about any listening tests where the listener reliably identified different fuses without knowing which they were listening to.

Finally, you asked for opinions and I gave you mine. My system is posted (but not quite up-to-date) so you can see the gear I am using to develop my opinions. I do not care what others here believe or how they spend their money, so for those here like @rodman99999 who want to turn this into a contest or dispute of one side against another, I simply don’t care.

"And even that is necked down just at one end."

Maybe from the heat of the solder used to connect that end of the wire to the end cap?  The other end was probably connected prior to installing the heat shrink tubing.