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What's going on with Synergistic Research fuses?

I live in California and a couple of weeks ago we had strange lightning storms that started the many fires burning in the State.  It also fried the fuse in my Pass XA30.5.  I got the amp second hand and it came with a SR Blue fuse.  I called Pass and they recommended a very cheap fuse which I ordered and installed.  Because I was curious, I took the SR sticker off the old burnt out fuse and found that it was a very cheap SIBA brand fuse underneath.  It is clear that SR is either not making the ceramic casing for this fuse or using the SIBA fuse and then doing stuff to it.  At the very worst, it's just slapping a sticker on it and charging a ton more

The thing is, I'm pretty sure I could hear a difference for the worse when I installed the cheap glass fuse post lightning storm.  Could it be that SR is modifying an existing fuse to make it sound better?  Maybe some more technically minded folks here on the forum could help me understand

thanks!
adam8179
marqmike
838 posts
 
oldhvymec  made my day. Thanks
wsrrsw's avatar
wsrrsw
908 posts
 
How many fuse doubters have tried them?

How many who have fused up have thought the “upgrade” did nothing?

I have tried on two Amps. One was a yes the other a no. Yo.
spenav
416 posts
 
@adam8179

While I don’t have the answer to any of your questions, I can tell you that in my Nuprime amplifier, the Synergistic Orange fuse was nothing short of unbelievable. This is the best tweak I have ever tried and I have absolutely no regret. If you have $160 on a credit card, give it a try. If it doesn’t work for you just return it, no question asked for a full refund. 
wsrrsw's avatar
wsrrsw
908 posts
 
Gents,

This is how I'm wired and what I thought about in going from from Blue to Orange. Color stuff is in my wheelhouse but not as high up a dog walking....hang on..let me finish this post first. 

In subtractive colors the two make black. "I want my baby back."

If additive colors you get a deep purple...."smoke on the water". 

I would like to get in Millercarbon's room and I'm scheming of building a purpose built out budding too. I may never get there but the dream is alive.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,640 posts
 
 I guess I'm just interested in what they are doing to that cheap SIBA fuse to make it sound so good?
They are probably polishing the contacts, if the fuse is made by someone else. They might even be sending them out after that for silver plating.
Fuses don't act fast enough for surges, by the way. That's not their purpose. They are there to protect against shorts in the equipment, and as such they are kind of slow.
This statement is false. Having repaired many bits of consumer gear hit by surges caused by lightning strikes on the power grid, I've seen many blown fuses. When lightning strikes the AC power line, it can easily vaporize the fuse.

As to why the fuse makes a difference, its easy to measure. Its the AC voltage drop across the fuse. Because fuses have to heat up in order to blow. as the amp is playing peaks, the voltage drop increases. The contacts on the end of the fuse make a difference too- which has led to the idea that fuses are directional (they aren't). Its just that sometimes the fuse sits better in its holder if you turn it around (although by simply rotating the fuse you can get the same effect, which can be seen by a reduced voltage drop across the fuseholder).

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