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In Reply to: RE: Synergistic Research Red Fuse posted by Mossback on January 08, 2016 at 18:41:24
20 hours now clearly better sound this darn fuse is a big deal.
I'll be ordering a fuse for my Modwright Oppo power supply. No doubt Dan will roll his eyes if ever he finds out.
Follow Ups:
would you be willing to go back and re-install the original fuse, once you're quite sure you know how the Red fuse sounds? For further kicks, you might listen to the original fuse in each of the 2 possible orientations. Thanks, either way.
I have done that exact experiment in my amp and CD players. Synergisic Research fuse in for 10 days and then changed direction. Small change after changing direction, and I picked the direction I liked best. Put the original fuse back in- soundstage smaller and more shallow, less grain heard, more of a sense of live music. A significant improvement.
Not a big deal to change a fuse and so it is a fun experiment in listening.
you wrote, "Put the original fuse back in- soundstage smaller and more shallow, less grain heard, more of a sense of live music. A significant improvement."
By this do you really mean to say that despite the smaller and more shallow soundstage with the stock fuse, you on balance preferred the stock fuse to the Synergistic Red? Perhaps you miswrote or I misread, but that's the way it reads to me.
Lew:
Thank you for seeing that I left out key words. I will try again.
Original fuse was replaced with Synergistic Research RED fuse - a big improvement.
After a week of playing using the RED fuse, I changed its direction- a small change. One direction slightly better than the other.
Put the original fuse back in. The sound was noticeably worse using the stock fuse. I tried the stock fuse in both directions.
Synergistic Research RED fuse put back in and sound again improved. The sonic changes were better detail, better imaging, less grain to the sound, and the music conveyed more emotion.
The Synergistic Research RED fuse stayed in the system.
I guess you've done about as well as one can do, working alone, to remove bias from your judgement of the fuse. I am beginning to believe the hoopla, but not entirely until I try it myself.
I'm with you, Lew.
Part of what causes me to balk is paying $130 (Synergistic Research Quantum Black) for something as "disposable" as a fuse.
Some of my doubt comes from tweaks posted here some years ago, where several posters suggested wrapping the glass body of a fuse with Teflon plumbers tape. The theory was that this would reduce vibration. It was cheap and easy, so I tried it, but didn't hear any of the improvement that the posters suggested.
My questions would be:
(1) What could be happening in the fuse to make it sound any different from a "normal" fuse, and does the mechanism violate UL standards for the function of a fuse.
(2) If this has something to do with conductance, then placing an expensive fuse into a standard fuseholder would seem to negate at least some of the improvement one might expect (but that doesn't mean that one couldn't hear the fuse at all, I admit).
It should cause some pause for thought that a manufacturer with a devoted following keeps upping the ante, e.g., Red was great, but now Black is even better. However, I have heard some unexpected results from changes I make to my own audio system, so I am by no means about to dismiss this fuse stuff out of hand. As mentioned elsewhere, I do use Acme silver cryo fuses (because the last time I needed some, they cost only $16 each), and I install them in Acme cryo silver fuseholders which replace the stock fuseholders in my gear, where I think a boutique fuse is appropriate.
I wouldn't call it contempt, but more like skepticism prior to investigation in my case.
I will admit to having had the same healthy dose of skepticism regarding power cords. Then I bought one on a thirty day trial, fulling expecting to send it back. I figured the cost of postage would be worth it to prove to myself that power cords can't make a difference. I'm sure you've already figured out that I kept the power cord.
My main concern is in regards to the level of protection these fuses offer. Perhaps, because they're made in small batches, their QC might actually exceed that of Buss, Littlefuse, etc. or maybe not. I'm hesitant to risk a $2000 amp in the quest for better sound.
You're a step ahead of me in that you're using the Acme fuses. Have you switched back to a generic type fuse and listened for any differences?
Lew:
I certainly hope you will try one of the Synergistic Research fuses. I do like the fact you get a 30 trial evaluation period. Synergistic Research is very good about this and their dealers understand this policy.
I found it to be an educational and fun project. Quote from a Synergistic Research dealer at this years Rocky Mountain Audiofest
" This stuff is expensive. If you do not hear a significant change send it back."
I use three tube amps and I wish I could tube roll with a 30 day tube return policy !
Good music listening to all.
David Pritchard
Dan is a cool dude, is reasonably tweak, and well knows about such stuff.
Besides, he's been putting up with me for about a decade, as I own two of his players, and so he's been exposed to the HiFi Tuning fuse madness for a long, long time. And trust me, that is the least of the weird-ass tweaks he's been exposed to, at least by me.
(He commented once, upon seeing my massive mound of amethyst crystals covering the dual trafos in the Sony XA-5400ES ModWright player, "Hey, Winston, looks like your trafos have got a nasty case of purple fungus!")
Yeah, he's a cool tweak. Have fun (and say "hi" to him for me.... )
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