Audiophile Fuses

[TheAttorney]

1 hour ago, rodrigaj said:

A well respected dealer told me never to install anything but the factory specs (amp, fast or slow blow) fuse.

 

A customer of his put one of these audiophile fuses into his LFD Integrated. He had spade ends on his speaker cable and after moving the Integrated around on the shelf the spades touched and wiped out the half of the driver board.

 

It's not clear from this post if the audiophile fuse was exactly the required spec, or whether the customer had chosen a higher rating? Also not clear if the original fuse would have fared any better in this scenario. Of course it is asking for trouble to choose a fuse rating that is different to the manufacturers recommendations.

 

Back to the question of is the SR fuse worth it? Based on my own experience of the SR Red (compared to HiFi Tuning, AMR and stock fuses), then I would say that yes it is worth it. If you're the type that can hear differences with audiophile power cords, then you should also hear differences with audiophile fuses - and the fuse will give better bang for buck than a power cord. I.e. you'll typically get greater sound improvement with a $100 fuse than by upgrading your existing audiophile power cord with one costing $100 more.

 

However, if you're the type that doesn't hear differences with audiophile power cords, then you probably won't hear any differences with fuses either.

 

PS. I agree with @auricgoldfinger that fuses can be directional. Yes it doesn't make sense in an AC circuit, but audiophile life is full of things that don't make sense on first glance, but still we choose things that sound best to us even if we can't always explain it.

[davide256]

2 minutes ago, TheAttorney said:

It's not clear from this post if the audiophile fuse was exactly the required spec, or whether the customer had chosen a higher rating? Also not clear if the original fuse would have fared any better in this scenario. Of course it is asking for trouble to choose a fuse rating that is different to the manufacturers recommendations.

 

Back to the question of is the SR fuse worth it? Based on my own experience of the SR Red (compared to HiFi Tuning, AMR and stock fuses), then I would say that yes it is worth it. If you're the type that can hear differences with audiophile power cords, then you should also hear differences with audiophile fuses - and the fuse will give better bang for buck than a power cord. I.e. you'll typically get greater sound improvement with a $100 fuse than by upgrading your existing audiophile power cord with one costing $100 more.

 

However, if you're the type that doesn't hear differences with audiophile power cords, then you probably won't hear any differences with fuses either.

 

PS. I agree with @auricgoldfinger that fuses can be directional. Yes it doesn't make sense in an AC circuit, but audiophile life is full of things that don't make sense on first glance, but still we choose things that sound best to us even if we can't always explain it.

You should  look at the internal wiring quality of your speaker before investing in "special fuses". In general audiophile fuses are a waste for less expensive speakers because they are half an inch of high quality wire in a wiring run that includes  at least 24" of lower quality wiring between binding posts to crossover/drivers.

[JoeWhip]

4 hours ago, mansr said:

If that's true, the device was faulty.

 

There's a good chance they were actually made in the same factory from the same materials.

 

If fuses make a difference, the system is highly faulty.

 

Regardless, using a non-certified fuse is simply asking for your house to burn down.

 If you do replace a fuse with a non certified fuse and the product catches fire and damages your home, good luck with that insurance claim as you won’t be covered.

[GUTB]

When I had my Gustard X20 I used copper foil to over the fuse to bypass it. Nothing caught fire...mind you the current in a DAC is nothing compared to that in a power amp. My unreliable listening test seemed to suggest no obvious difference.

 

My only experience with fuses are replacing blown ones picked up from Radio Shack.

 

Here’s my thing with fuses — I may be wrong because it seems counter-intuitive from a layman’s perspective — that tiny wire is supposed to result in a significant improvement? How much extra conductivity, or less capacitance, is that little wire responsible for and how much could you possibly improve on it? Again, I’m looking at it from a standpoint of a LITTLE knowledge which often means a LOT of ignorance.

 

Also, this seems hard to test due to the significant mount of time you have to spend switching out fuses; if the difference is small it will absolutely get lost in audio memory.

[jabbr]

1 hour ago, TheAttorney said:

PS. I agree with @auricgoldfinger that fuses can be directional. Yes it doesn't make sense in an AC circuit, but audiophile life is full of things that don't make sense on first glance, but still we choose things that sound best to us even if we can't always explain it.

The directional sensitivity of fuses can be explained very easily, just not by physics. 

[davide256]

27 minutes ago, GUTB said:

When I had my Gustard X20 I used copper foil to over the fuse to bypass it. Nothing caught fire...mind you the current in a DAC is nothing compared to that in a power amp. My unreliable listening test seemed to suggest no obvious difference.

 

My only experience with fuses are replacing blown ones picked up from Radio Shack.

 

Here’s my thing with fuses — I may be wrong because it seems counter-intuitive from a layman’s perspective — that tiny wire is supposed to result in a significant improvement? How much extra conductivity, or less capacitance, is that little wire responsible for and how much could you possibly improve on it? Again, I’m looking at it from a standpoint of a LITTLE knowledge which often means a LOT of ignorance.

 

Also, this seems hard to test due to the significant mount of time you have to spend switching out fuses; if the difference is small it will absolutely get lost in audio memory.

It only takes a few blown audiophile (cost$$) fuses in an evening to sour you on the idea.

[rodrigaj]

1 hour ago, TheAttorney said:

It's not clear from this post if the audiophile fuse was exactly the required spec, or whether the customer had chosen a higher rating? Also not clear if the original fuse would have fared any better in this scenario. Of course it is asking for trouble to choose a fuse rating that is different to the manufacturers recommendations.

It was the same amperage but the fuse did not blow fast enough. I have no other information since this happened to a customer and the dealer was advising me as I was purchasing the same model.

 

The LFD integrated is shipped with 2 fuses as spares and 2 fuses in the circuit. The customer chose to remove the fuses in the case and install the audiophile fuses.

[Ralf11]

1 hour ago, jabbr said:

The directional sensitivity of fuses can be explained very easily, just not by physics. 

 

there is an underlying physical cause to perceptual states, of course

[Ralf11]

7 hours ago, mansr said:

The direction of the alternating current flow, of course.

 

 

 

[jabbr]

35 minutes ago, Ralf11 said:

 

there is an underlying physical cause to perceptual states, of course

Perceptual states as derived from Maxwells equations => Nobel prize in ... physics, biology or literature?

[Ralf11]

there are always problems with trying to make mechanistic explanations jump several levels of organization... hence the need to study emergent properties at the higher levels

 

might be headed for a No Bell prize on that one

[Jimlad]

The idea that electricity which passes from a power station to your home through miles and miles of aluminium transmission lines, yet more miles of solid copper conductors under the street from the sub-station, the electricity company main fuse, metering equipment and ceramic fuse carriers or MCBs in your porch and the contractors' bulk-buy quality twin and earth buried in your walls, can then be made to make your hi-fi sound better than it otherwise would by being passed through half-an-inch of "audiophile" fusewire costing a hundred quid is just utter snake oil bullshit!