Well thought it time to report back. Tried the fuses in the pre and phono pre amps. No lightening bolts from Zoltan nor balls of fire upon start up. On the other hand really didn’t hear any night and day improvements in the sound either. Despite this I felt it was a worthwhile experiment with little financial risk. On the plus side am coming to the realization that my system as it stands is pretty darn good. Not to say that it’s perfect and a tweak here or there won’t yield benefits. I’m, however, coming to understand that attainment of aural Nirvana is a subjective personal quest, bought at increasing cost with quickly diminishing returns. Most importantly a rather unpleasant truth has come to the fore. IMHO the greatest limitation to wonderful sound is not our playback equipment, but rather the choices made in the recording studio. There are far too many mediocre recordings out there (both digital and analogue). With this realization I’m putting upgrades on the back burner. Instead I’m going spend time reading more record reviews, and best of all, sitting in the concert hall.
Audio Research and Acme Audio Labs fuse
I’m toying with the idea of going down the rabbit hole of upgraded fuses. Looking over the usual contenders I stumbled across Acme Audio Labs. Their philosophy of best bang for the buck certainly appeals to my wallet (@$20 a fuse). One caveat, however, is they warn that their fuses aren’t for all components. Specifically gear with “no inrush protection“ will cause their fuse to blow prematurely. So my question to those reading this: 1) Any experience with Acme Audio Lab fuses, 2) do they “play well” with ARC, and 3) does ARC gear typically have inrush protection? I’ll be experimenting with the fuses of a LS 27, PH 7, and a pair of VT 150 mono amps.