Audio Grade Fuse, Anyone?


With all the money that most of us spend on upgrading power cords, is there any left for the fuse that is omnipresent in all the components, that little piece of necessary evil that all current flows through? Is it worth researching into? Care to share your experience?
opusone
Colesey, perhaps these are the fuses being imported to the US by Lotus Group.
I've just returned from a trip to the Far East, where a dealer friend of mine gave me an audition of the latest power house fuses against both the original and latest HFT fuses in a cd transport. The magnitude of improvement given by the platinum plated version was in line with Gonzalo's posting. Distribution appears somewhat elusive however they're well worth checking out if you get the chance
I should also mention that, I am not sure if the reason that the Infinity Power has not been introduced to the US market has anything to do with meeting the safety standards. As I remember it, the packaging of these fuses does not accompany specifications other than fuse value and length.
Hi Rodman

I actually posted where to get the infinity power when they first come out. Here is a reprint of my original post:

“Some audiogon members have contacted myself for details of the "Power Matrix" that I mentioned in this thread sometime ago. The Power Matrix has now been discontinued and replaced by a new series "Infinity Power", selling for a high price of something like US 50 per piece. The only dealer that I could trace who carry these is a distributor located in the Far East. Audiophiles are known for their craziness but I am not sure if anyone would go the distance to get a fuse from overseas. I am including the details for information anyway:

Audio Link (H.K.) Ltd.
Email : [email protected]
Contact : Philip

The limited information on the promotional materials refers that these use precious metals as conductor and housed in a quartz tube for micro-vibration and EMF absorption, etc.

Available rating is 0.25A, 0.5A, 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A, 5A, 6A, 8A, 10A, 15A, 20A.
Standard fuse size is 20 mm , 25 mm or 30 mm.

There will probably some overseas shipping and remittance / paypal surcharge. Remember to remind the dealer to package it well to avoid breaking these during shipment.”

What I understand is, the infinity power has extended to more expensive premium models since my original post. My samples on hand are the originals and sound very good. Still I found the Hi-Fi Tuning silver filament fuse a little livelier.

I shall be around Hong Kong after mid October. If you cannot get hold of these through the dealer I may be able to help.
Mr G- Any chance you could provide a clearer addy or URL for the source of those fuses?
Got a hold a few samples of mystery audio grade fuse fomr HK called infinity @ Power from Power-House, completely unknown.
I cna tell you the difference is just staggering it is like going form a cheap OEM power cord (yes the ones the manufacturer wil include with the component) to a super duper power cords like the $2,000 mighty SHunyata Anaconda or the Kimber PK10silver, or the Acrolink PC4030 with Oyaide plugs, . . you get teh picture.
YES !!! They're that good like changing form inexpensive reissue tubed to goint to teh originals NOS.
Gang I'm teling you they're wirth every penny you put into it.
revoice my components completely for the better.
I have en extremely revealinbg system and can tel teh difference in spades.

Hope this helps;

Spend a few bucks don't upgrade yuour components untill you know what it can do witha good AC power filter and good fuses!!1

Take care;

Gonzalo
I have these IsoClean fuses in my TV, stereo receiver, DVD player. You will not believe what $25.00 gets you in performance! A must try product!
IsoClean audio grade fuses http://aaudioimports.com/store/ProductDetail.asp?catID=38&subCatID=28&productID=71 ..These fuses will amaze you!
Dusted, I also thought the wiring in my Exemplar 3910 was obvious as the ac came into the board beside one of the snap-ins of the fuse holder. My meter proved this to be wrong. Meters are cheap at Radio Shack. Make sure the unit is unplugged and the fuse removed before testing.
I didn't realise that Alternating Current travelled in only one direction! Kind of makes the direction of the fuse very important, if that is the case!
I don't have a meter-I guess I can get one.But on my board the transformer and wiring is on the right.Below the fuse currently in place there is writing:Jp 03 on the right,Jp 04 on the left so I would think direction of the fuse should be pointed going right to left-do you think this is correct?
I think it is about 3/4 inch. The direction is from the ac IEC connector toward the power supply. With the unit not plugged in use a meter to find which side of the open fuse holder shows conductivity to the IEC. The other end must be to the power supply. Run the arrow from the ac to the power supply.
20MM is that 3 quarters of an inch?I just measured the one visable fuse in my Marantz DV8300 2AMP/125 volt.Also the directional thing is puzzling because the fuse is mounted sideways (not pointing towards the front or rear of the unit)
Edesilva,
I don't think I quite follow you. Are you saying that we should not try to replace the fuse with another fuse (similar current rating) because it might blow up the amp? Or putting the fuse in in the wrong direction might disable the fusing function?
I seem to recall that Mission, the UK audio mfr, didn't want to "corrupt" the signal from its amps and built one without a fuse. Since the little thing would put out 60 amps, I believe they also demonstrated, at one point, use of their amp to weld with the speaker cables.

I, personally, would not go this route. ;)
Opusone, I have not tried the opposite direction. I did have some difficulty in establishing which was the direction going from the wall to the Exemplar. If you trace the path from the power cord to the fuse holder, it appears that the fuse holder's side near the wire from the IEC would be the one from which the arrow should point, but that is not the case. When I removed the fuse and checked with a meter, I had continuity with the other side.

I have since been told that indeed the arrow is to point from the wall to the unit.

The fuse actually does break-in??? It has been better each of the last two nights. I don't understand this phenomenon.
Thanks for all the response. I just had the fuses in my Sonic Frontiers Power 3 pair replaced with the Isoclean gold 7A slow blow and I have to agree with Tbg that the results were rather amazing. Background is quieter and images become clearer. If you don't mind a cliche here, it is really "veil lifting". I am going to replace the fuse in my front end equipments next.

Tbg,
The funny thing is I was just as confused as you in terms of the direction and I made the same assumption the the arrow should be pointing from the PC to the equipment. Did you try the opposite direction to comprae the sound?
I got one IsoClean gold 1 amp 20mm fuse today. It fits my Exemplar 3910 universal player. It has a directional arrow on it and the instructions warn you to align it properly. I don't know which direction the arrow is supposed to go so I assume it was from the wall to the board being fed by the ac.

It does not take any time to hear the difference over ordinary fuses. Noise is lower and there is extension in both the bass and top end. What is most striking is the sense that you are at the recording even. This has got to be the best $25 tweak I have found.
Having been influenced a long time ago by Lloyd Walker to try checking which direction of the fuse sounds better, as well as to try SST on the fuse, I firmly believe in both tweaks.

After look for silver fuses, I did learn of the gold IsoClean fuses at CES. I ordered what I need, but there was so much demand on these that I was only able to get one fuse. It should be here this week. After treating it with AudioTop, I will replace the existing fuse in my Exemplar 3910. I do expect a substantial improvement, but time will tell.
Srajan at 6 Moons showed a photo and talked about some new gold audio fuses from "Isoclean Power" in his CES report, pages 6-8: http://www.sixmoons.com/industryfeatures/ces05/ces_8.html
Perhaps applying Silclear or Walker SST to the contacts of the fuse may generate similar results. The theory here as I understand is to enhance current flow of the fuse. Have anyone tried this?
There was a thread on this a few years ago, you might want to check the archives, it was pretty interesting. If you really want to go nuts, Lloyd Walker insists (and puts it in the instructions for his motor drive, so I'd imagine it's in the instructions for other electrical equipment he sells) that changing the direction of the fuse in the fuse holder changes the sound, and that it will sound better one way over the other. I myself heard no difference, probably because my wife's laughter over what I was doing drowned out the music.
I changed from the glass and wire type fuses to ceramamic, same value. I went the a electronics wholesale store, asked for 6, 3 for my equip plus a spare. They just gave them to me.

Subtle improvement...like contact cleaning on one cable in your system...