Fuses


I’ve read of views on whether amp fuses impart any sound quality or coloring. I had a recent experience that has made me re-think my views (fuses do not affect sound) and wondered if others had a similar experience. 
I have a Line Magnetic integrated amp. After heavy regular use for over 5 years, one day it just wouldn’t power up. After checking the power supply, I assumed it must be a blown fuse. I recalled that Line Magnetic sent with the amp two replacement fuses of the same type/quality that was pre-installed. I dug out one of them from storage, replaced the fuse and the amp powered up normally. 

What surprised and delighted me was the change in sound with the replacement fuse. Fuller bass, more detail and more warmth. I have rolled the tubes several times in the amp, and am attuned to the subtle changes that can make. Popping in a fresh fuse seems to have had a similar affect. And these appear to be cheap fuses, available for a few dollars at most. I don’t think I understand any of this. 
bmcbrad

The .01uf Tinned copper has been an absolute revelation.

I was up till 7 in the morning listening to album after album, non stop.

Everything sounded like I was hearing it for the very first time..... I am dumbfounded by how much of a difference these little capacitors made in my setup.....just dumbfounded.

Burn in has been especially crazy, at one point the sound lost all color, I have never experienced that before...and it came back after a while, and the sound became so incredibly liquid, and the soundstage became the most holographic I have heard on a speaker as of yet. Sadly that phase only lasted for a few hours, and I am hoping maybe they settle in eventually something close to that.

But either way, the clarity, coherency, and timbre are just exceptional.

This experience has convinced me, when I get my Magnepan 20.7s, I am building my whole crossover with just Duelund capacitors. Not settling for anything else. 

Yuviarora, found you over here on this thread.  I am in the planning stage of a crossover upgrade (sorry to be off-topic from fuses; mine are all Synergistic Orange).  My largest cap is 220 uF and next largest is 13 uF.  You sound very pleased with a .01 uF value bypassing a 115.8 uF cap, correct?  You mentioned having initially tried them in the wrong position, which I didn’t follow.  When you tried a higher value bypass cap, was it in the ideal position?  As I understand it, a good value bypass cap for a 115.8 uF cap is in the 1% range or 1 uF.  I have several .01 uF Duelund silver foil caps, but hesitate to try them with much larger value caps until hearing the experience you described.

 

 

@gererick the 115.8uf capacitors are parallel capacitors installed as (3x)33uf+(1)10uf+(1)6.8uf Mundorf Supreme evo oils, all adding up to 115.8uf.

I first installed the .01uf foils at the furthest point away from signal output, and they completely muddled up the sound, they just sounded bad.

After taking them out I reinstalled them on a whim, but this time around I moved them to the front position, so they were in the closest position to the signal output, and my audio image just instantly snapped into focus.

It was like going from 1080p to 4k. (I am still going through burn-in, and they haven’t settled in completely as of yet).

I don’t know how a value as small as .01uf can have such a difference in my application, but it did, and they are staying in for good.

 

If you have the bypass capacitors on hand, try them out, you can find out for yourself if they work for you. They are pretty easy to take back out if you do not like what you are hearing.

I am bypassing both my tweeter caps 10uf, and mids 115.8ufs.

Also to add:

I can’t tell you if 1uf would be a better value to use in my case either, I haven’t tried a capacitor that big, but I am sure others can guide you in that regard.

 

I wonder if anyone has bypassed the bypass? :) Tinned Copper and Silver foil together?