Yup, fire for sure if you have not oriented your copper rods in the proper direction😎
Determining current flow to install "audiophile" fuses.
There are 4 fuses in my Odyssey Stratos amp. I recently returned some AMR fuses because they rolled off the highs and lows a little too much for me. Mids were excellent though. Anyway, I'm getting ready to try the Hi-Fi Tuning Classic Gold fuses, as they are on clearance now for $10/ea. Are they any good? However, I have read that they are a directional fuse? Can anyone confirm this? If that is the case, does anyone know the current flow for the Odyssey Stratos? Or, does anyone know how figure out current flow by opening up the top and looking at the circuitry?Â
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@oddiofyl Don't do it- that sort of thing leads to fire. |
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Reading all these INSANE claims about audiophile fuses / directional fuses has convinced me that I'm in the wrong business. I could literally be getting fused knocked-up in some Chinese factory for a few cents each and sell them to the gullible "audiophiles" for $30 each. And you know what, while it would be a complete bunch of snake oil, the crazy audiophiles would be happy with their black & gold colored fuses, their brains would somehow hear a difference, and we'd all be happy. So, I COULD actually live with myself/sleep at night! |
Note the quotation marks around "many." How telling. There isn't even any actual evidence that SR "quantum tunnels" (man…nice choice of terms there SR, as not only does it not make sense, it sounds great!) anything with their silly claims of having their Chinese factory treat this tiny wire with "2,000,000 volts" of unobtainable juice, any rational explanation of why they would do this, or why the ratings on the fuses is apparently dangerously incorrect ("buy the higher rating just to be sure it works" has actually been suggested by the promoters of what is essentially a safety device). People's imagined claims that these fuses do something and then do it better reversed should be regarded as the weirdly imagined nonsense that it is, and the rabid promotion of these products by a few zealots is a shameful fraud. Buy a reliable Littlefuse and save the 100 bucks for some sandwiches…you'll feel like everything sounds much better... |
Tbg  you're right, there are numerous observable phenomenon yet to be explained by our current knowledge of physics.This is true, but if you've not tried to correlate that voltage drop across the fuse and its holder, you don't know if a simple explanation is the cause. IOW assuming that what you hear is due to some sort of woo factor without trying a simple measurement is likely going to result in an incorrect conclusion. This statement seems self-contradictory. Is this really what you meant to say?? |
That 112 dollar sandwich may or may not taste good (for that price I hope it does). Taste good or not it won't improve the sound of an audio component. The good news is the SR Black fuses have improved sound quality for "many" experienced music lovers on this forum. Tbg  you're right, there are numerous observable phenomenon yet to be explained by our current knowledge of physics. Charles, |
Wolf_Garcia, you are wasting your time. I took EE cources and took enough more physics courses to get a major. I know physics has not totally mastered natures laws, so you cannot say there is no physical explanation in EE for why fuses would differ. But the expensive SR Black fuse are both expensive and work quite well. Today I'm going to change the direction of the five of them in my line stage and amp. I am going to go with the best sounding direction. |
Cleaning the fuse contacts might make your fuse do its job a little better, and the otherwise magical effect a 4000% profit margin tiny wire (an SR black fuse for example) is certainly El Placebo a Mundo. Putting a $112 sandwich on your gear would likely do the same, but at least later you can eat the sandwich. |
 atmasphere 4,835 posts 06-03-2016 12:39pm Geoffkait: Uh, problem is its not his experience,. Its just the old ivory tower academic type thing in action. to which Atmasphere replied, "No- its the willingness to acknowledge that people hear something (the 'ivory tower' type would have written it off as expectation bias or swamp gas), and then find out why." Ah, so you've heard the difference in fuse contacts? Maybe you mean someone you know.  ;-) |
vicweast68 posts05-29-2016 4:50pmWell, this thread is a test. But wait, isn't thief genius? |
" Uh, problem is its not his experience,. Its just the old ivory tower academic type thing in action. "Look who’s talking! Atmasphere actually designs and makes highly regarded amplifiers using fuses. What is your experience exactly that puts you in a position to question his? Theoretical physics? That’s fine but the problem is its well, just all theory.  You know, just the old ivory tower academic type thing in action. You do get points for Chutzpah though. |
I think the argument is not so much about being possible or not, more so how much whatever might be reliably discerned about fuse direction to whatever extent it might exist matters. Some say it does and some say it does not. My personal opinion is if it does matter its way down on the list of things that I know for a fact matter. Below things like even the robustness of the contacts/fit of the fuse as Atmasphere has pointed out based on his experience. Everyone is entitled to an opinion. Including discounting the opinions of others even I suppose. The question is always how much water does any one opinion carry. |
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Well, this thread is a test. I read the whole thing in one sitting. ...This means I failed the test. I am starting a web site with the sole intention of fleecing gullible people into sending me their money to pay for magic rocks. Seriously, I will be a genius and a thief all at the same time. Actually, wait... only a thief. |
The cables of Van den Hul are by far not the best in the market. That is why they are not good enough. Even I like him as a person, I don’t think his cabels are that convincing I was one of the first who tested his powercables back in 2003. He send them to me to test. They were not good enoug, this was what I said to him. It is as it is! |
The Maxiimus sell itself. You put it on and off, and even during listening. The differences are this huge, that you don't want to go back. I had it with me last week to a client, he directly orderd one. After this we visited another client to deliver his Lumin player. After the demo with the Maxximus he said; I will buy one next month. One of my best friends often lgoes with me to clients was amazed as well. He will buy one as well. At the end convincing results only will work. |
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Did you guys read Bo's post on the maxiimus??!!  If this thread wasn't ridiculous enough that takes it to a whole new level. And I can just hear the believers already "if you haven't heard it you don't have an opinion". Well I don't have to hit my thumb with a hammer to know that it's going to hurt. It's called common sense and apparently is not that common. |
Thank you Georgelofi. Bo bo and geoffkait - the fool-ers - may reconsider? Doubtful though for "fools rush in; but seldom change their 'stance' (we can't refer to minds that don't exist-can we?? Maybe we can in this fantasyland )" . I feel you referenced a most appropriate article--but I'm sure rebuts will follow. Nice work. |
Doesn’t matter Wolf, as the flow changes direction 60 x a second in the USA (60hz). And 50 x times a second here in Australia (50hz). That’s why it’s called AC (alternating current) this is why "fuse direction" is all a load of voodoo BS. http://www.school-for-champions.com/science/ac.htm#.VyMcFLlJm70 Cheers George |
I recently removed my power amp fuse (cleaned the contact area) and when I put it back I forgot which direction it had been in, thus ruining my shot at trying to hear a difference…I will not remove it again soon as I don't like to move my 50 lb tube amp around…I just have to sit there and listen and wonder…are the electrons moving properly? Is the recent rabid promotion of SR fuses reasonable and/or logical? They are simply neither and play like they're commercially funded. 30 day refund or not, the heavy handed hype is simply too damn off-putting to get on board…illogical magical hifi tweaks come and go, and most seem like a sadly lame waste of time and (some people's) money. |
And you will have absolutely no credibility papa, if you keep promoting that there’s a undeniable difference in sound quality with directionality of fuses here on this thread. I suggest you go back to the other SR thread you started where your credibility is only half shot, instead of aligning yourself to the full blown voodoo wackos here. Cheers George |
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 georgelofi sez: "i hate to judge before all the facts are in ...." Really George? You seem to have no problem judging SR Black fuses without listening to them. And  you seem to have no problem judging your fellow audiophiles and putting them into a negative light by suggesting that something nefarious is going on and that shilling is taking place either.  At what point in time will you put your prejudices aside and order some fuses to try for yourself?  30 day return policy, remember? Until you take the leap and try the fuses for yourself, your credibility is shot ... null and void ... Nada ... Bull. Over and out ... |
Czarivey wrote, OK here’s the thread specifically dedicated to believers so all believers can "transfer" your thoughts there: https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/direction-of-aftermarket-fuses-only-for-believers Wouldn’t it make more sense if you said, "OK here’s the thread specifically dedicated to believers so all trolls can transfer your "thoughts" there? |
OK here's the thread specifically dedicated to believers so all believers can "transfer" your thoughts there: https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/direction-of-aftermarket-fuses-only-for-believers |
Bo wrote, "Van den Hul is a very nice person. For a couple of years he was always waiting for me at an audio show which was kept every year. He always wanted to make a round with me during this show. I owned and tested his best cables. But these days he is not the best anymore. In my world only the best products count, the rest doesn't make sense." i hate to judge before all the facts are in but I suspect you probably missed the whole point of my mentioning Van den Hul's carbon cables. Â You know, the ones with the amorphous conductor which, unlike metal conductors, is not directional. g. kait |
Bo wrote, "When you use the chips wrong you will loose a lot of details and even in dynamics. It is easy to change the sound but it needs to be an improvement." if you ever get a chance try wrapping a WA Quantum Chip for Cables around the House AC wire, the one for the audio circuit, coming into the circuit breaker box. You’ll think you died and went to heaven. Now, you might say, they now have a WA Quantum Chip for Power so just use that. But I say it’s more cost effective to use the Cable chip, since you know, the Power Chip costs five times as much. There should be products for every budget, no? Lol cheerios |
Van den Hul is a very nice person. For a couple of years he was always waiting for me at an audio show which was kept every year. He always wanted to make a round with me during this show. I owned and tested his best cables. But these days he is not the best anymore. In my world only the best products count, the rest doesn't make sense. When you use the chips wrong you will loose a lot of details and even in dynamics. It is easy to change the sound but it needs to be an improvement. When they work well, you get a higher blacklevel and a sharper individual focus of instruments and voices. And the low freq. become more tight with even more layers. In many situations it also didn't improve the sound, you even went to a lower quality in sound. You cannot use and buy them blind!! |
Georgelofi wrote, "It’s resistance wire, end of story and 1/2" long at that!!!!" Yes, it’s resistance wire. Resistance wire that measures better in one direction than the other, in terms of resistance. And it’s only 1/2" long at that!!! Would it be a fair statement to say that if the teeny little wire was say ten feet long the difference in measured resistance would be something to write home about? See where I’m going with this? Recall the Carbon One conductor cables of yore? Was that Van den Hul? They would not be directional of course, nor would the current line of Stealth Audio pure carbon (nano fibers) conductor cables, no? News Flash! Van den Hul currently produced pure carbon conductor cables, maybe with carbon nanotubes. The plot thickens. PS - I’m still trying to decode what Thom posted with respect to melting and directionality. PPS - Say, does anyone happen to know if Jack Bybee is using carbon nanotubes in his new Bybee Bullets? |
This kind of thinking would intimate that it’s a diode one way but not the other!!! And it’s not like linear crystal wire that for memory Vandenhul or someone bought out in the 80’s, that can’t be bent at all either. It’s not a diode, or linear crystal to have such an effect. It’s resistance wire, end of story and 1/2" long at that!!!! Cheers George |
I wrote: Another consideration regarding directionality. A fuse which is properly specified for the circuit is half way toward melting. To which geofkait asked: How so, Thom? If that’s actually true, what is the relationship of being "half way toward melting" to directionality? Just curious.  I don't have an answer as to the effect based on a fuse's operating environment, but think about how directionality is explained - by the drawing of wire through a die inducing some sort of molecular alignment or orientation. If this wire (fuse) is then heated to near its melting point (and it remains so in its normal operating environment), couldn't this possibly have an influence on said orientation? Perhaps this has already been covered since you asked the question. This thread has taken off beyond my time constraints to follow it. ... Thom |
