Synergistic Red Fuse ...


I installed a SR RED Quantum fuse in my ARC REF-3 preamp a few days ago, replacing an older high end fuse. Uhh ... for a hundred bucks, this little baby is well worth the cost. There was an immediate improvement upon installation, but now that its broken in (yes, no kidding), its quite remarkable. A tightening of the focus, a more solid image, and most important of all for my tastes, a deeper appreciation for the organic sound of the instruments. Damn! ... cellos sound great! Much improved attack on pianos. More humanistic on vocals. Bowed bass goes down forever. Next move? .... I'm doing the entire system with these fuses. One at a time though just to gauge the improvement in each piece of equipment. The REF-75se comes next. I'll report the results as the progression takes place. Stay tuned ...

Any comments from anyone else who has tried these fuses?
128x128oregonpapa
Fascinating thread.  

I'm not a trained physicist, but instead an "armchair amateur" who has read books by Stephen Hawking and Brian Greene, and while some cosmological concepts are still a bit difficult for me to grasp (even after several readings of Greene's last one on the multiverse and the hidden reality), it seems one possibility is that our minds are shaping realities, such that it is cosmologically plausible that, if anyone here hears a difference, no matter the tweak, then it is indeed real to that person, and in that reality, directionality of fuses is an unequivocal and experienced truth.

Fuse directionality or quality just doesn't work in my reality; and as Al Franken once said, that's, okay.
stevecham: "In Search of the Multiverse" by John Gribbin is excellent. Very accessible, and mind-bending. One of the best science books I’ve ever read.
georgelofi: I agree. I’ve been following this thread on and off and I think these guys would get better results by having a tech bypass the fuses in their amps. The perceived difference would just be placebo, but I can’t help thinking it might bring their systems to a jaw-dropping new level, with better presence, dynamics and micro detail that would, in short, sound more like live music.


Since directionality can be heard in standard fuses, not just audiophile ones, it doesn't cost anything but time to test it in your own system. Simply flip a fuse. If you can hear a difference, better or worse, then you've proven to yourself that at least that part of what people are saying here is true. Unless, of course, you don't trust your own ears...
Yeah…or actually…no…fuse directionality can’t be heard because it's not an actual thing…it simply isn't. Ever. You can claim you hear it, but you do not. See? Wasn’t that easy? You’re welcome.
There are tests on the Harbeth website that suggest once you match any given SS power amp to its speakers within its power limitations, the difference in sound to an equivalent SS brand once you match volume levels to within 0.2 dB is minimal. There are differences, thanks to frequency response anomalies (and input sensitivity), but next to zero compared to the differences you get with cartridges or speakers. So like, fuses, and fuse direction? No offence, but you guys are tripping.