Where has been your most effective placement for an aftermarket fuse?
Not looking for a debate with anybody on whether aftermarket fuses work or not, this thread is for those fortunate members with the hearing to know that they do indeed work. I am very interested in your thoughts and opinions as to where they work the best, the biggest bang for your buck if you like. For myself I am going to say it is in my Metrum Onyx DAC. And not just my present DAC, all of my last 3 DAC,s showed a very nice easily audible improvement with an aftermarket fuse. Next I would say is in my Gold Note phono stage and lastly in my BAT integrated amp.
So what or where would you say has been the most noticeable piece of equipment that has benefited from a fuse change in your system?
Here you’ll find 36pages, 900 Littlefuse even colored ones Black, Blues, Oranges maybe even Green as well that look like they could be un-badged $160 boutique fuses. All for a fraction of the price.
Interesting Steakster I too have spent a fair few dollars on cleaning up the power on a few fronts and not sure as I would say the fuses have taken away from any of that but..... They were all in place before I cleaned up the power and I have not tried anytime since without them in place.
I put a Blue in an integrated Amp. Thought I heard a difference. But did I? If you like to tweak, then why not. Can’t hurt. It’s all part of the fun as we scout around to make improvement$.
Why do all people who don't believe fuse directionality bring up the old AC flows in both directions the current does but that's just the medium not what your equipment actually consumes. your electric energy would be free if this was true.
@testpilot This is getting close, since I never, for the last 15 years, had the need for any equipment fuses, aftermarket or otherwise. Must be ever so 🍀?
My PassLabs power-amp uses a circuit breaker, and all my other equipment uses some electronic means of protection... at least that's my best guess. 🤔 😉 M. 🇿🇦
I must admit there are a few things I have done regarding audio besides just fuses that have made a clearly audible change without an easily explained rationale.
Sweet SGordon. I had one of those Black Ice Sound Expander units and thought it was great for the price. I rolled a few tubes in it to boot. But then change of configuration meant it was surplus. I assume from your statement that it utilised an internal fuse soldered in place which was what they replaced.
I bought a Jolida (Black Ice) Sound Expander (between cdp and amp) a few years ago. I had to send it back to them, to install a SR blue fuse. When I got it back, all the techs agreed that it sounded better with the new fuse, right out of the box
Seriously Slaw. I would love someone I know and trust to try them as I know we would receive a honest report. But.... $225? Do they have the same return policy as SR?
I must admit there are a few things I have done regarding audio besides just fuses that have made a clearly audible change without an easily explained rationale.
I just take it as a win and enjoy.
Looks like my Esoteric may be next for fuse surgery!
I swapped the standard fuses (2) in my CD player with SR blue fuses. The improvement was very noticeable and immediate. I don't understand why it made a difference but it made a happy difference.
The description for Audio Magic Beeswax fuse says it all,
This fuse will give you tighter bass and yet sound relaxed - very natural sounding. The sound stage will become bigger and deeper, more detailed, better layering, better micro detail but with a relaxed musical presentation. For people that have to have the best this is it!
Looks like they took a page out of millercarbon tales....the mighty upgrade that is as good as upgrading a power cord or component 😊
I would say fuses are a little different. After all there is NOT a huge market on used fuses that I know of...lol.
Other pieces of equipment, sure I can see where some glitz and hype might help your chance of selling the same used item. Fuses though are predominantly new items from dealers and unless there truly are some schills on this site it's not quite the same scenario.
That’s high hopes for any thread. After all this site is here for people to sell things and make money. Hype kinda goes with the turf in high end audio. I’m sure those not looking to profit might be able to behave themselves though.
Agreed. And hopefully this fuse thread can leave some of the hype at the door. Not really seen any over gushing posts yet, just more ones relating to the results I was asking for. Which is a good thing.
Makes these at $240 seem like a genuine bargain. They will only be appreciated, though, in @uberwaltz’s immortal words, by "those fortunate members with the hearing to know that they do indeed work".
That is a very good sales pitch for a tiny fuse that costs $240, the price of a fairly decent pair of headphones.
BTW on the Furutech site, a fuse only cost $54!!!! Getting closer......
Makes these at $240 seem like a genuine bargain. They will only be appreciated, though, in @uberwaltz's immortal words, by "those fortunate members with the hearing to know that they do indeed work".
@clearthinkder- "The best cost $500 a pop,....." Interesting! What fuse is priced at $500.00, specifically? Certainly: nothing that’s been mentioned here. Have I overlooked one?
I have never heard of using a fuse? Aren't there fuses built in to each component? How could a fuse cause any audible difference. Maybe it is like the Emperors New Cloths?
Sorry Larry but I have to ask, where have you been over the last few years? Aftermarket fuses have been one of the most contentious topics in these forums with some quite spectacular histrionics on display.
I have never heard of using a fuse? Aren't there fuses built in to each component? How could a fuse cause any audible difference. Maybe it is like the Emperors New Cloths?
To my ears, the biggest improvement I’ve heard on my source components...streamer and CD players. The preamp and amp fuse swap resulted in very subtle improvement.
I have tested Furutech, SR Black, Hi-Fi Supreme Supreme Au/Ag and Cu. I end up preferring the HiFi Tuning Supreme Cu‘s in digital components as they slightly pushed the sound towards organic and warmer presentation.
To those with SMc Audio gear, Steve and Patrick seem to have done extensive fuse auditions during their equipment burn-in processes and do provide different recommendations for different gear and even recommendations to shade the presentation differently for the sonic preferences of different clients. They did indeed recommend Furutech fuses when they built my preamp some years ago but I just received my amplifiers back from them early this year and at that time they offered me the choice between either SR Blue or Orange fuses.
No doubt it is possible to engineer a fuse that would retail at $1,000 but only millercarbon would buy them. I would be interested to know what is the maximum miller will pay for a wholly passive component; fuse or power cable. And the max he would recommend a very rich audiophile to pay, money no object.
And to be honest I am really not that interested in that at all. Thanks and stay safe.
Thanks rodman. My math is well up to snuff. No point in messing around with cheap uber-fuses. The best cost $500 a pop, so six would be $3,000.
No doubt it is possible to engineer a fuse that would retail at $1,000 but only millercarbon would buy them. I would be interested to know what is the maximum miller will pay for a wholly passive component; fuse or power cable. And the max he would recommend a very rich audiophile to pay, money no object.
IME, DAC was the biggest improvement, followed by the preamp, then the transport. Like auxinput, the improvement in the power amps was less than the rest. Still haven't tried the VPI ADS.
Try wrapping PTFE around the glass part of a normal fuse. Ensure it doesn’t touch the metal endcaps. I have found a significant improvement in blackness and image solidity at no cost. Phono amp then amps.
In my scenarios, fuse upgrades almost always made more improvement/change in the sound when placed in a preamp / source device. In amplifiers, fuse upgrade still makes an improvement, but the amount of difference is not as much as a fuse upgrade in preamp / source.
About 5 years ago I bought my first external dac, Exogal Comet Plus. It so happened a long standing member had exactly same DAC. He had just upgraded from SR black to SR blue fuse and offered to send me the SR black to try out and see what I thought. Well nothing to lose so I did,I fitted it and sat back and..... nothing...maybe less than nothing. I reported this back and his response was did I try flipping it for direction. Say freaking what now?? But he was deadly serious so WTH, why not. Sat back and slowly a big smile crept across my face as I could hear improvement in every area. My first introduction to aftermarket fuse veracity and directionality all in one fell swoop. My deep scepticism was washed away in minutes. And that is the area I have found after maybe 4 more DAC to still have the most noticeable impact. To my ears. In my system. Ymmv.
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