Hi-Fi Fuses - SNAKE OIL? - or something in it?


There's a lot of chatter about the benefits of those high prices gold plated fuses with silver conductor etc. etc. all over the web and the consensus ranges from FANTASTIC!!! to much more subtle observations.

It makes sense to me, epseically in light of spending lots of $$$ on good power cables, that having a skinny piece of aluminum conductor in a glass tube (i.e. a cheap fuse), in the power loop would be detrimental to the performance of the components.

I decided to revamp my DIY power supply I'd built for the Cambridge Audio 640p phono stage and DACmagic in order to test this out - and since it's a DIY project there is no UL Certification to void.

First, I bypassed the fuse link completely to confirm there would be an improvement and give me the best benchmark to compare against - YEP - BIG DIFFERENCE - much more this, that and the other :-)

So then I started looking for hi-fi fuses - WOW!!! - talk about pricey.

Two fuses for the power supply was going to cost $120+ AND I thought I'd probably have to buy a better quality fuse block to make the most of those fuses.

Then a moment of enlightenment - most power supplies and conditioners are protected by pushbutton breakers and not fuses.

I found breakers of the required current rating and installed them into the power supply. I imediately noticed that there was no deteriation in fidelity when compared to the same unit with the fuse link bypassed - GREAT!.

On reflection, the fuses I had in place were rated at 3 amps - so they use a pretty thin fuse wire in them. If I had used a fuse of a higher rating, i.e. it uses a thicker conductor, then I believe that there would be less of a difference between the fused and bypassed implementations

SO - do the expensive fuses work?

Well the empirical evidence out there would suggest they do
- I do know the cheap fuses are not good!

I know bypassing them does improve the sound - a lot in my case
- BUT THAT'S NOT SAFE FOR ONGOING USE

I know breakers work as good as bypassing the fuse
- BUT MESSING WITH A POWER SUPPLY VOIDS UL CERTIFICATION - NOT GOOD!
- FYI a couple of licensed technicians I know WILL NOT change the design of a power supply at all.

I believe the amount of benefit is related to the fuse rating
- but don't go replacing 3 amp fuses with a 20 amp fuse - that's not safe either.

Whilst looking for fuses I discovered AMR Gold fuses priced at $20/fuse.

Now that's definately more affordable than most others at 3-4 times their price.

One supplier I know of in the US is Avatar Aacoustics

If you have had experience with quality fuses please share - especially if they are "modestly priced" i.e. $20-$30 per fuse. And please provide a source :-)

Also, can anypne confirm that Slow blow fuses are better than regular?

And Remember - IF YOU AIN'T LICENCED - GET A TECHNICIAN!

Many Thanks
williewonka
Value wise I would say the AMR fuses are hard to beat,of course not compared to the cost of stock fuses.
Soundwise they are also close to the sound of the HiFi Supremes in my system,it was only after I replaced the Supremes that I noticed more slam and body to the sound of my system.
I should add, I used the same WA chips on both fuse types and felt they improved the sound of whatever fuse they were on, even the stock fuses.
Amazingly the WA chips still have enough stickiness to be moved from fuse to fuse, but I think that's pushing things a tad too far.Better to just buy more new chips from here on.
Perhaps in the future I'll experiment with some other fuses.

The fuse debates have settled it seems,but I also haven't read about any fuse being the top dog.

It would be very much system dependant anyway,but it would be nice if aftermarket fuses could have some sort of descriptors assigned to them.

For example-the HiFi Supremes, to me, would be the 3ooB of fuses.
The AMR would be EL 84.
So depending on how your system is voiced you could(a taboo?)voice your sound accordingly.

I personally find nothing wrong by fine tuning a system using tubes or wires or fuses to achieve the type of sound that the owner desires.
Which seems to be shunned by most in this hobby.

Yet some folks cry about how the new gear tends to be too sterile for them, so they seek out gear which has colourations more to their liking, or they seek out vintage gear with tone controls.Using interconnect as tone controls is frowned upon ,it's better to buy another amp or pre amp.Yeah, that makes way more sense!

As I grow older, I don't like that over laid back sound ,but that's because my old ears need as much detail as they can get to make things sound right.My ears have built in high frequency filters.
Younger ears perhaps,tend to go for a more polite sound.

So I can't see any harm dome if anyone states that they use interconnects, speaker wires, NOS tubes or fuses to build a sound that they and they alone find solace with.

We should all be thankful that we have so many choices.
Geoffkait:
I have tried stock, Isoclean, and Synergistic Research fuses in the same location. I preferred the Synergistic Research improvement. I believe both the Synergistic Research and Audio Magic have a money back trial policy. I would try those two in both directions. I did not find the WA chips to be a Quantum improvement on fuses.
Well I own the AMR, HIFI Supremes, Audio Magic, and the Synergistic fuses.
And my choice is...

It depends on the equipment.

The Supremes seem to add larger stage presence but on some equipment they sound bass shy, but on other equipment not so.

SR fuses really sound better with the WA Sticker and have more dynamics with a little more slam in the lower bass and on some equipment its nice and on some its overkill.

Strangely the Audio Magic goes through a mini break in process and at this point (2 days)its hard to tell just how far things can improve. Its a little darker sounding which again sounds good with some equipment and not so with other.

I have the AMR fuses but I have not tried them yet.
No offense boys, but do you really think that if the quality of a fuse was a factor in the sound and performance of a high end amp that the designer of that amp would have addressed it ? Did I hear ....BONEHEADS!!..............