Direction of aftermarket fuses (only for believers!)


It is with reluctance that I start another thread on this topic with the ONLY GOAL for believers to share their experience about aftermarket fuses.
To others: you can call us snobs, emperors w/o clothes,... etc but I hope you refrain posting just your opinion here. If you did not hear any difference, great, maybe there isn’t.

The main driver for this new post is that I am starting a project to mod my NAD M25 7 ch amp for my home theater. It has 19 fuses (2 per channel, 4 on the power supply board, 1 main AC) and I will try a mix of AMR Gold, SR Black and Audio Magic Platinum (anyway that is the plan, I may try out some other brands/models). As it is reasonably difficult to change them, esp the ones on each channel module that requires complete disassembly, I would like to know what the direction is for these models mentioned and of course, others who HAVE HEARD there is a difference please share your experience on any fuse model you have tried.

Fuses are IME directional:
Isoclean is one of the first to indicate the direction (2008/2009) on their fuses. Users of HiFi Tuning (when the awareness rose quite a bit amongst audiophiles) have mostly heard the difference.

As an IEEE engineer, I was highly skeptical of cabling decades ago (I like the speaker design of John Dunlavy but he said on many occasions that cables nor footers matter at all, WRONG!). Luckily, my curiosity proved me wrong as well. I see the same skepticism that I and many others had about the need for aftermarket cables many, many years ago now on fuses and esp on the direction on fuses.

Another example is the direction of capacitors (I do not mean electrolytic types). Even some manufacturers now and certainly many in the past did not believe it can make a difference sonically. Maybe some do but it takes time in the assembly to sort and put them in the right direction/order (esp as some of the cap manufacturers still do not indicate "polarity") so that maybe is one argument why this is not universally implemented.








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Showing 11 responses by nonoise

Great to hear. I did the same thing with my PADIS fuses: put them in and had questionable sound that didn't improve in a couple of days so I turned them around and viola!.

All the best,
Nonoise
Great start here. Isn’t here another thread that’s circling the drain which would be more appropriate for the 1st three posts?

Somewhere else on another thread about fuses someone asked the manufacturer as to the direction of the signal as it goes its way and he was told "from the inside out". I'm assuming it's from the center (somewhat) to an outer edge.

Good luck and all the best,
Nonoise



Thanks Geoff but that does sound daunting. 

If anyone cares to look at my above post there's a link at the beginning of the first sentence that's partially obscured by the blue background. In it, is a short review on about 11 fuses and how they sound to the reviewer.


The fuse I'm curious about is the PADIS fuse. They are UL listed as well as having PSE and SEMKO certification. They're made in Germany and for one purpose only: audio. They also make fuses for another "audio" brand (looks like Furutech) and retail for about $25.
You can get these Padis fuses on ebay.

The price seems very reasonable and they don't garner the hype and ensuing controversy that other fused have endured and seem to meet and exceed all the criteria of the naysayers. Does anyone here have any experience with this brand?

All the best,
Nonoise
 Lots of Fuses reviewed here and some I haven't heard of. Does anyone have any first hand knowledge of the ones not discussed here? 
And, if so, how they compare?

All the best,
Nonoise
Thanks Geoff. Your mention of the XLO Breakin Test CD reminded me that I need to get one of those for regular maintenance. Audio Advisor and Music Direct both have the Ayre Test CD so I think I'll give them a look.

All the best,
Nonoise
Just wanted to say that after ordering the Ayre Enhancement Test CD I poked around and found an old Stereophile CD and played the test tones and pink noise and boy oh boy did it wake up my system. The CD only had a 1Khz test tone and the rest were 200 Hz and down to 20Hz but with that and the pink noise it did something and did it well. It's like it blew all the grunge out of my system. I can't wait for the Ayre Test CD and it's full spectrum sweep and other test tones to see what it does.

I've read where people use it once a week or at least once a month and now I'm a believer in it's efficacy. I can't say whether it negates built up magnetism or whatever but it works. Talk about simple remedies.

All the best,
Nonoise
David, "crispser and fresher" just about sums it up. The clarity took a bit of getting used to. It only goes to show that whatever it is that builds up does so very gradually so as to go unnoticed until it's gone. Then a kind of stark reality sets in. 

I'll take a look at that Fry Corder as well. Thanks.

All the best,
Nonoise
Rotating the fuse in the fuse holder makes for an interesting point.

PADIS fuses don’t imprint on the side of the caps so the contact surface is constant and as complete as possible. Would the imprint on the side of the cap diminish the contact area enough to degrade the sound and could it be that by rotating or reversing the fuse has the potential to align things in the most desirable manner? There is enough space between the lettering on the cap sides to ensure better contact with other fuses.

Also, would this be akin to the "eddy effect" that connectors encounter?

All the best,Nonoise