Hi-Fi Fuses - SNAKE OIL? - or something in it?

I can only draw from my personal experience and from the positive experiences of others who have heard my system and their own systems after they replaced the stock fuses with upgraded fuses.

I have a couple others who have yet to receive their fuses and report back on the results.
One fellow is a sceptic who seldom hears a difference in power cords etc, or at least convinces himself that he should not hear any difference.

It works both ways.
Some say that those who say they hear differences are biased towards hearing an improvement to justify their expense.
I'll counter that some will say they hear no difference because they are biased to believe that such things just can't make any difference.Especially if they are costly.

As I stated it's a mind set.
As such no one side can lay claim to being completely without bias.

I can only state my experience and whether it was a positive or negative one.

I can see where some systems may not need an upgraded fuse to make them sound better, because their design maybe such that another type of thermal protection is used.

What I can state is that every component that I used a Diy bypass or upgraded fuse made for a positive improvement to my sound.
It was never worse.

A solid chunk of copper wire always sounded better than a stock fuse, and you could tell a difference if you used a stranded copper wire as a fuse substitute in place of the solid core copper.

The differences were audible in several different amps be they tube or solid state and if a fuse was bypassed in a fuse protected speaker.

This goes way back to the late 70's or 80's thanks to an old Audio Critic article about the sonic degradation of fuses.That's when I started bypassing fuses.

Aczel said fuses degraded the sound and he was right.But I had to do the experiment to find out for myself.
I found that he was correct.

If I felt that I knew it all and that this is just nonsense,afterall, a fuse is just a fuse and has no sonic impact,I would perhaps be on the side of the sceptics as I write this.

So for years I bypassed the fuse or made DIY ones.

I tried the upgraded fuses because they offered the protection the DIY subs do not.
I found that the Iso Cleans , then HiFi Supreme and now AMR fuses all were a sonic improvement to a stock fuse.

They have been an improvemnt over the stock fuses in my old but upgraded Acoustat tube servo amps,my Manley Steelhead, Esoteric X03,Maggie centre channel,and before that when used with a DecWare Zen amp,CLS 11Z,Classe DR 8 monos,to name a few items.

Not once did any of these fuses have a negative impact on the gear they were used in.

Not once did I feel that something was amiss.

What I did notice was a common trait to what these better fuses added to the sound, which was the same type of difference that the fuse bypass or DIY subs did.
The improvements were of a similar nature in whatever component they were used in, irregardless if it was a solid state or tubed item, or if it was at the speaker or source.

The sound of the component become more focused,more solid sounding, less edgy, with more clarity.
But it never transformed the component into something it never was.
It never made a $600.00 amp sound like a $60,000.00 one.
It just made a $600.00 amp with an upgraded fuse sound like a better $600.00 amp.

There's better and then there's nite and day differences.
If you are looking for the latter then you could feel that an upgraded fuse fails the test and is in fact just snake oil.

But, you expect too mush for your $20.00 investment.

If you want the sound of that $6000.00 amp, be prepared to spend a lot more than the cost of an upgraded fuse.

The DIY fuses cost me nothing, so there was no trying to convince myself of an improvemnt to justify the expense of the purchase.
And $20.00 for the AMR fuse I feel isn't a big investment either,so I'm not fooling myself to justify that expense either.

The IsoCleans and Supreme fuses were more costly,but I felt the improvemnt was worth the expense.Yes even putting a hundred dollar fuse in a $600.00 amp was worth the expense because of the improvement.

I can say the same for the improvemnt in sound I get when I use my tape head bulk demagnetizer on lp's and cd's.
It just sounds better,I've impressed some of my friends with this parlor trick.

They bring over a recording and if it has a scattered diffuse sound, I simply ask if I can give the recording a demag, and afterwards they agree, there was a noticeable improvement in the sound on the second listen,even the sceptics hear the difference.

I can't say that an upgraded fuse or any other tweak that some feel is nothing but snake oil, will make a believer out of a sceptic.

It's that mind set again.

Covincing oneself for years and re-inforcing those beliefs with references to blind listening tests and opinions of how the ears can't be trusted added to a firm belief that everything needs to be scientifically proven(even if the science hasn't caught up yet)is a mindset that may never be up for change.
It's just too deep rooted.

These folks will always view everything that is beyond their realm of acceptable knowledge as snake oil.

Fear of the great unknown.

Thankfully for mankind, some folks ventured out from their caves and discovered new lands.

You know the ones that were all riddiculed as they sailed into the sunset and off the edge of the world.

I've posted before that way back when Peter Aczel when he was an Audio Critic, first enlightened me that fuses can degrade the sound.
I bypassed fuses in all my gear or used chunks of wire,mostly solid core copper and enjoyed better sound,but... it was walking on thin ice.

I was lucky , I had no disasters.
I bypassed or used fuse replacements in speakers and power amps,just about anywhere.

So when news of the newe fuses came out I decided to try them.

First up was the IsoCleans.
Yes they were an improvement over a stock fuse sonically and still did the job that a fuse was made to do.

I posted my findings in another forum and it got quite nasty.
Definitely that was a place where the evalgelists against audio shamans definitely ruled the roost.
The Iso Cleans were branded as snake oil and I branded as a fool with more money than brains.
I was no longer welcomed there so I moved on.

And I moved on to the next set of fuses , the HiFi Supremes which are quite costly close to $100.00 for the ones I need and from where I live.

They were great as well.
Never was able to do a direct comparison, as I sold the IsoCleans with the gear they were in.

Somewhere there is a denier who is listening to the Iso Cleans work their magic and he doesn't know it.

Next I read about the AMR fuses on this great site, which is not so sensitive to silencing those whose opinions are different from the mainstream.

The AMR's are what I am using right now, the HiFi fuses are my spares.
The price to performance ratio of the AMR is hard to beat, except of course bypassing a fuse.

The company in North amarica, Avatar have been great to deal with.

The sound of the AMR fuses and the cost of ownership has made beleivers in this snake oil out of some of my more reluctant friends.

I am on my second order of fuses,for a total of 18 AMR fuses in my system and my audio friends who decided to join in.

I should add that I feel the QA chips enhanced the sound of the Supremes and the AMRs, but they've been a tougher sell to my friends.
Oh well, it's their loss.

The low cost of the AMR and the professionalism of the distributor makes these fuses a no brainer for anyone looking for ways to improve their sound without resorting to "mods" that can be costly and become a drawback when reselling gear.
Plus anyone can make a fuse change,not many skills required.

In fact the only skill sets required is an open mind, a few extra bucks, and a desire to improve the sound of what you have.

Some folks on other forums are way behind the curve.
In fact most do not own anything remotely close to a decent hifi.
Most on that forum were glorified dumpster divers,and it was/is still a place where anything found under 100bucks is glorified and anything over that is vilified.

So, to purchase a fuse for more than $1.50,and then say it sounded better just ticked off a lot of the folks with limited exposure to decent gear.

Really it was like going back in time, when folks balked at spending good money on fancy speaker wires, when zip cord is all you need.
Sounds quaint doesn't it?
Saddly, for many of those folks, zip cord still rules the roost.

But enough of that nonsense.

It's a mind set.
Some folks refuse to believe any thing they hear about, refuse to believe what others have said and are just "too smart" and know better than to try any of this voodoo stuff or as they called it up there-fairy dust.

I was the great fairy dust man.

I trumpeted the virtues of de-magging cd's, dvd's and lp's.

I could hear the benefits, and all who I've demonstrated it too also have heard improvements.

I was told point blank that it just can't work.

I invited the sceptical to come and listen,but no takers.

I offered to give away some Iso Clean fuses or take up a collection amongst members and ship them out.

No deal.

No one wanted anything to do with this "snake oil".

I liked what Shunyata power cords and conditioners did.
I was called a shill for shunyata, a fan boy.

I was told I had more money than brains to spend close to 10, 000 dollars on power cords for my system.My intellignece was questionable.
They said I surely must listen to the same 10 lp's over and over,because I most likely had spent all my money on gear and not music.
That coming from chaps who didn't have $1000.00 invested in a system.

So I was called an elitist snob,and when I would defend myself,I ruffled a few too many feathers,bruised a few gentle egos and was told if I didn't follow the rules(one sided) that I would be asked to leave.I was more than ready to go.
I asked that my last parting shots be printed,but censorship prevailed.

I am not bitter,I've been vindicated by a few who have in the last couple of years, discovered some of the things I talked about.
Some of that fairy dust that I sprinkled took root,so all was not in vain.

I always contended that everyone has a right to an opinion and should be able to defend it,yet most debates were shut down when the good ol boys were gettin a woopin and made to look like they just weren't up to the task.

Thankfully this is still the land of the free.
Censorship and political correctness have not tipped the scales that far to the right.
"I may not agree with what you say but I will defend it to the end"-wise words from a wise man,sadly not the vision of all men.

The whole business of denial and scepticism about anything in audio that has been said to make improvements runs rampant in all forums.

There's always the camps,those who can hear, those who can't or don't want to and those who will never bother to try any of this stuff because they just know it can't work, so why bother spending any money and wasting time?

Time and money should be spent listening to music, not the gear is their mantra.
Shun anything made by the evil empire of the High End.

Yes, how many times is that thrust at us?

But, it's MY money, My time, and My system, so I'll do what I want.
At least for as long as I still have the right to do so.

If this is all snake oil stuff to those who haven't tried any of it then I have a suggestion.

Spend 20 bucks on a fuse and give one a try.

It will either be an improvement or it won't.
You shouldn't feel ripped off, it's only 20 bucks, think of the poor sucker who spent 2000 bucks for a power cord
and consider yourself lucky and be forever convinced that everything in this hobby that costs more than a buck is snake oil.

I wouldn't have an isuue with that at all.
It's your experience, which is in a completely different environment than mine.

Where I draw the line is when someone who has no experience with the snake oil tells me it's just fairy dust.
When someone asks for scientific proof that something works but is reluctant to do the experiement and draw conclusions for themselves I have to ask"where's the science in that?"

My sound wouldn't be as pleasing to my ears and garner the favour of my friends if all the snake oil and fairy dust were absent.

But I can't provide any science to back that up.

All very good responses.

All that matters is what makes a difference to my ears.

But sometimes one feels like spreading the good news.

Something that should be seen in a positive light,but seldom is.

I could understand the nasty comments if I would advocate a device or practises that would either harm the audiophile or damage his gear or home.

The only damage or threat I can see would be to someone's pocket book or ego if a long held belief is put to rest by a new device or practise.

Had my singing the praises of using an old Hammond bulk tape eraser as a device which enhanced the sound of my cd's and lp's was also found to destroy the disc or be a health threat, then I could understand the apprehension and avoidance of demagnetizing lp's and cd's.

Yet from all the venom that was spilled, you'd have been inclined to think it was a malevolent act on my part to wreak havoc and ruin.

In fact, the intent of the folks who post about certain tweaks making improvements has only one motive as far as I can tell, and that's to give a heads up to others who may be willing to try something new that just may be a whole lot cheaper way to get to nirvana than chasing after a new amp every two weeks.

I don't think very many posters are shills for any company or product that they are fans of.

For all the avid snake oilers of the new inquisition, I have seldom seen any mention of what products to stay away from.
What companies to avoid.

And most importantly what products "they have tried"that proved to be snake oil.

If I have to prove that something works, isn't it fair to ask for proof that it can't?

I agree about no two ears hearing the same thing, and about aging effects.I've lost some of the top end that I used to have, but I can still make distinctions between wires, fuses etc.

I think that there are a lot of physical factors and the level of concentration that some people are capable of and that others aren't.

Some folks listen to the whole score, others fixate on certain movements or instruments.
Some don't concentrate on anything about the music except if it makes their toes tap.

Nothing wrong with toe tapping.
But, I can get my toes tapping with some pretty inexpensive stuff,so I don't rate that aspect of the music listening experience too highly.

I could be wrong, but I suspect the music lovers are also those who don't go searching for fairy dust in the first place, and feel everything is as good as it's ever going to be in their world.

Then there are others who are always looking for the next "fix", the next new thing that will make the listening experience better than it is at the moment.

I think the last group, the audio junkies as my friend Matt called them,are also music lovers.

I count myself as belonging to the last group.

I'm still on a journey of discovery.
Which makes me happy.

Perhaps those who aren't happy with the hobby anymore, should get back on the road and pick up where they left off.

For me the trip has always been the fun part.

The destination is just a momentary pause,and always somewhere out there beyond the horizon.
Out there , following that trail of fairy dust.


What is irksome is when someone tells you that your ears are lying to you and that

Most definitely ,I agree,not everything will work exactly the same.

Too many variables,and a lot of folks just don't dot all i's and cross all the t's when they evaluate things.

Putting an upgraded fuse into a system that is mostly just a source of background music won't reveal much of anything about how much better it is over the stock one.

One reason why I feel a lot of folks fail to distinguish the better fuses.
If the interconnects don't cost $20.00 how will the fuse help?

It's all about the level of resolve of the system that the snake oil tweaks are used with.

And the ability of the user in identifying chnges in his system.

This takes critical listening, not casual listening.
Which I believe is what the music lovers just aren't interested in.

So you need to be of a different mindset.

You also need to know the "sound" of your system, and have a few recordings that you know inside and out.

You need to be able to distinguish different sounds,before and after a tweak.

Does the new tube, fuse, interconnect, make the cymbal sound fuller, or thinner?
Does it sound more metallic or do the cymbal"s splash sound just like the splash of rain on a tin roof and nothing at all like metal being struck with wood?

Do the handclapss in a live recording sound like real hands clapping or again does it sound like rain in the background?

You need to be able to listen for these things.

Only then will things stop sounding all the same or make no difference.

I feel that even the worst snake oil products would have some effect on the sound.
If not better, then at least worse.

But to impart no sound at all is not what I can accept.

Newton's Law , every action has a reaction still applies to audio.

It's more about the ability to distinguish changes as much as it is about the ability of the tweak to make a change.

I am left to wonder what brand of upgraded fuses did you have the problems with?

Blowing fuses could mean several things- a problem with the amp(unlikely as the original stock fuses didn't blow) or that the wrong value of fuse was used or the fuses were defective.

I once blew a couple of expensive HiFi Supremes when I mistook the .5 amp for the 5 amp.

In my case, the sound was worse when I went back to the old stock fuses,my spares.
All was good again with the replaced upgraded fuses,of the right value in the right location.

The amps are Acoustat servo tube amps which take a .5 amp and a 5 amp fuse in each amp.

If you suspect the fuses were sub standard, send them back,maybe the company will replace them.

At least let us know what brand they were.
Maybe others have had similar bad experiences with them.

I've used AMR, Iso Clean,and HiFi Supreme,no problems with the fuses,just my bad eyesight.

At least I can say that the fuses did the job they were intended to do, they will blow if used in the wrong application.
Some folks have expressed concern that they may be too robust and not "fail" when called upon to self destruct and save the gear.

My problem was that I was new to my Acoustat amps and the stock .5amp fuse looked to be the more robust fuse, with a thicker filiment and spring like make up, the other fuse was a simple thin thread for a filament.

There were no markings on the amp to designate what value of fuse on either of the two fuse holders.

So what I thought was the 5 amp fuse( the thick spring stock fuse) was actually the .5amp fuse.

Of course the 5 amp fuses were OK,and no damage was done when they were in the .5 amp fuse holders.
But the .5 just went pop,and no damage to the amps , just the wallet and my pride.

I can hear the improvemnt of an upgraded fuse even with the original fuse holders.

An upgraded fuse holder and an upgraded fuse would be perfect, but it's not necessary.You can hear the results even with an ol, but cleaned up, vintage fuse holder.

Aren't vintage things supposed to be better anyways!

I also have been using a Hammond bulk tape eraser, which was given to me by a friend who changed his studio to all digital before he passed away.

I have yet to find anyone who can't hear an improvemnt after a disc has been demagnetized.

I'll ask a friend to bring over a fave cd.

We'll listen to a single cut.
Then I demag the cd, pop it back in and we listen again.

Just like a parlour magic trick, my friends start asking what else I may have done to the settings on my system, like did I add more volume?

They hear the difference but can't wrap their heads around the fact that all I did was to zap both sides of the cd for 20 seconds each.

If you can find them,and they are working up to speed, the old pro bulk erasers work their magic everytime, on lp's and dvds.
I never play any discs that haven't been zapped, and I can tell when someone brings over a cd that sounds diffuse and jangly that this is a fine candidate for a demag.

I don't care about the how or why,only that it works.

Now about the "expense" of upgraded fuses, I think they keep you from spending a great deal more money on endless upgrades and swapping of components.

Fine tuning a system seems to be out of fashion in the new disposable age.
Don't like or have grown too acquainted with a component, then sell it and buy somethingelse,use stock fuses and then sell it,never knowing how good both pieces could really sound because both were compromised by that cheap stock fuse.

I think losing and spending thousands of dollars(as I have)looking for the next big audio junkie fix is an endless journey into frustration, and ultimately leads to burnout.
Then you sell off all the good stuff and settle for mediocre stuff, convincing yourself that it should only be about the music afterall.

The sad story is that if you always ran stock fuses, wires etc, and never really got into the Tweakiness" of this hobby, you've never heard how good that frustrating system really was.

The blame lies not with the system, the snake oil or the evil High End and all their minions.

The reason for someone's displeasure ,frustration with this hobby rests with them.

But then it's always the easy way out to blame someone or something for one's misfortunes.

For what it's worth, I've found that what you get out of this hobby is only as good as the effort you put into it.

I have replaced the stock IEC on my acoustat servo amps with Rhodium Furtechs so that it's furtech from the dedicated line thru to the amps.Opened her up and soldered new wire to the IEC, also added Furutech rhodiun RCA,and 3 per speaker Furtech speaker connectors, not a stranger to simple mods.

I would certainly like to improve the fuse sockets, which have been sanded and cleaned and given a coating of ESST(on all connections)not sure if Furtech makes them, but if they do I will add them to the mix.

But I ask the question-why wait for upgraded fuse holders, when a simple $20.00 investment in an AMR fuse will get you most of the way there even with that stock fuse holder?

For me, I'll enjoy the improved sound the fuse gives me over the stock one now,, knowing that I would only enjoy it more with an improved upgraded fuse holder.

Why deprive yourself?

Mapman,one thing I am certain of is that you probably will never even try an upgraded fuse.The other thing is that I don't use Furutech fuses,I use AMR, Iso Clean and HiFi Supreme. I do very much like and use Furutech GTX-R recptacles, their rhodium IEC, and RCA,and speaker connectors and their power cable receptacles and bulk power cord wire.
All many times more costly than an AMR fuse.

Are they the reason why the upgraded fuses make such a profound improvement in the sound of my system?

Answer- yes.

Do you need to use all these costly aftermarket devices to gain the benefit of an upgraded fuse?

Answer-no.

The only way for anyone to know the answer to the post-HiFi fuses-Snake oil? or something in it? is to try one for yourself, in your system.

Until someone does, they can only speculate one way or the other.

I do side with the folks who base their opinions on something that they have actually used in their system,rather than with those who speculate the merits or lack of from the sidelines.

I am almost tempted to send you one to try,but the postage and hassels of sending things from one country to another would cost as much as an AMR fuse.

Again, I urge anyone who feels that fuses have no sonic impact on what they are used in to dig up an old copy of the Audio Critic ,where almost 40 years ago, Peter Aczel came to the conclusion that fuses degrade the sound of what they are used in.

I lived on the edge for years, bypassing the fuses in my gear forsaking safety for better sound because of what Aczel said. I actually replaced the fuses with DIY fuse replacements of solid or stranded copper.He was right, the gear just sounded more clear and defined.

When the upgraded fuses came out, I knew that if they were closer to sounding like no fuses then this was for me.Providing protection was the icing on the cake.

After years of arguing the fuse and defending those who also feel the same as I,an upgraded fuse is still better than a stock one and , though not as uncoloured as no fuse, is my prefered way to go about the business of getting closer to what's on the recording.

An upgraded fuse is no different in this instance than an upgraded speaker wire, interconnect power cord, rack, room tuning device, power supply upgrade, resistor capacitor upgrade or tube swap for some exotic NOS.

Those things cost a whole lot more money, and for the most part trade one colouration for another.One day it's vanilla, next it's chocolate coated.

I have full sets of Iso Cleans, and HiFi supremes that sit in their boxes as spares, along with my stock fuses.
At $20.00 a fuse the AMR is a steal,and an improvemnt in any fuse holder you put it in.

If fuses blow, then there is a flaw in the component or in the design.
Upgraded fuses will blow when called upon.I speak from experience.
I also speak from experience that solid wire in place of a fuse never did any harm to any amp, tube or solid state or speaker that I used it in, but... I don't suggest anyone do this.And you don't have to anymore to get better sound.

I bypassed stock fuses with wire in the follwing-Mission 770, CLS11Z,Nads,Classe DR 8's, Michelson and Austin TVA 10,RGR amp and pre amp,Magnepans,Blue Circle monos,various Brit integrateds and el 34 tube based amps,in fact almost every amp or speaker I've owned from the early 80's on to the day I switched to upgraded fuses.

I know I was walking on thin ice, my friends would always flinch when I'd fire up the system keeping a close eye on the nearest exit.

Nothing ever happened.Perhaps I was lucky,or just that the gear was in good shape.
Had any of the gear been shoddy I would not have been so lucky.

But I don't have to tempt fate anymore.

The upgraded fuses that I have experience with sound better than the stock fuses, come close to using no fuse, but give me all the SAME (I've blown then in wrong placement)protection a cheap one buck wonder does.

I find it very interesting that some manufacturers place so much faith in the simple cheap stock fuse.

There are other ways to provide thermal protection without using these cheap fuses.
Some high quality amps go this alternate route, but you pay for it.Using cheap stock fuses saves money.

I would be a bit suspect of any pricey power amp that still uses the cheap stock fuses.
If they cut corners here looking to save a buck, wherelse are they compromising quality for profit margins?

I remember one manufacturer of pro PA speakers that used a good old light bulb inside his cabinet to soak up any power overloads before they destroyed the driver.

Cheap off the shelf fuses weren't in his design notebook, although I am sure others use them in the same application.

I agree that where you apply the upgraded fuse to get the most for your investment is at the IEC inlet, or main power fuse.

If Maggie owners can be trusted when they say that replacing the stock fuse,or bypassing it altogether and hardwiring, makes their speakers sound better,and Peter Aczel, the great audio myth buster,denounced the sound degradation of fuses,some 40 years ago,then there must be more than snake oil involved.

In fact 40 years ago,I can't recall too much of anything being called snake oil except for those fancy high priced alternatives to good old tried and tested 18 guage zip cord.

Yes siree, 18 guage zip cord,does the job, doesn't blow up my amp and makes me feel proud about not spending any more than a few cents a foot for it.

Some things never change.

But I am glad I have.

I was thinking some more about the need to replace old fuse holders when you use upgraded fuses.

If you follow that logic, then you should replace the RCA's on your amp,pre etc when you switch interconnects, replace the binding posts when you change speaker wires and replace all tube sockets when you swap out or replace tubes.

In the grand scheme of things and going the extra mile I would agree to this also, and I have replaced all the stock connections in my rig from the panel to the connectors on the gear.

It does make a difference.

So if I ever come across upgraded fuse holders that are compatible with my amps I will do it.

Everyone has opinons and all are equally respected, just the opinons from those who have experienced the fuse are a bit more respected than the opinons from those who have not.

One opinon is based on experience the other on speculation .

The fuse god told me this.

I switched back to the HiFi Supremes from the AMR.

The AMR were better than stock, but the Supreme's give a bit more body to the overall sound.

Value wise I would say the AMR fuses are hard to beat,of course not compared to the cost of stock fuses.
Soundwise they are also close to the sound of the HiFi Supremes in my system,it was only after I replaced the Supremes that I noticed more slam and body to the sound of my system.
I should add, I used the same WA chips on both fuse types and felt they improved the sound of whatever fuse they were on, even the stock fuses.
Amazingly the WA chips still have enough stickiness to be moved from fuse to fuse, but I think that's pushing things a tad too far.Better to just buy more new chips from here on.
Perhaps in the future I'll experiment with some other fuses.

The fuse debates have settled it seems,but I also haven't read about any fuse being the top dog.

It would be very much system dependant anyway,but it would be nice if aftermarket fuses could have some sort of descriptors assigned to them.

For example-the HiFi Supremes, to me, would be the 3ooB of fuses.
The AMR would be EL 84.
So depending on how your system is voiced you could(a taboo?)voice your sound accordingly.

I personally find nothing wrong by fine tuning a system using tubes or wires or fuses to achieve the type of sound that the owner desires.
Which seems to be shunned by most in this hobby.

Yet some folks cry about how the new gear tends to be too sterile for them, so they seek out gear which has colourations more to their liking, or they seek out vintage gear with tone controls.Using interconnect as tone controls is frowned upon ,it's better to buy another amp or pre amp.Yeah, that makes way more sense!

As I grow older, I don't like that over laid back sound ,but that's because my old ears need as much detail as they can get to make things sound right.My ears have built in high frequency filters.
Younger ears perhaps,tend to go for a more polite sound.

So I can't see any harm dome if anyone states that they use interconnects, speaker wires, NOS tubes or fuses to build a sound that they and they alone find solace with.

We should all be thankful that we have so many choices.

You can read up on all the physics you want and until you experience what a fuse upgrade can do, you are just book smart.

Mumbo jumbo physics,which is limited to what can and cannot be measured and mumbo jumbo tweaks are no different.

The followers of either can be fooled by what they have read and by preconceived notions.

Be a real man of science,embrace it's ethics and "do the experiment" and varify with your own ears and post your own findings.

Don't rely on the opinions, experiences of others ,in order to pass the physics exam you have to do the test,do the experiments, not just read the book.

Most of the folks who build this stuff refuse to admit that their offspring can be coaxed into even better performers.

I'll give Pass credit, he never stops at one design,he keeps working on different ways to skin the cat.
If he were stunted by just the findings of the physics that came before, he would never have progressed to where he is now.
Would you call this the behaviour of a lunatic?

Perhaps his designs are so great that an upgraded fuse isn't necessary.
But how many amps are as good as his?

No sales pro forced me to try upgraded Designer fuses, only 30 years past experiences with bypassing fuses with DIY wire, gleaned from reading about the sonic impact fuses can have from the old Audio Critic Peter Aczel.

The lunacy to my way of thinking, runs both ways.

I would say that a cheap fuse,with it's paper thin glass envelope may be more prone to disaster after repeatedly removing it.
I don't think it wise to infer that this practise is just as good as trying a new fuse.
You know how some feeble minds can be swayed when they read about such practises.

If you like stock fuses and aren't interested in trying an upgrade leave well enough alone.

I would note that in 30 years of running DIY fuses or bypassing them altogether I ner once had a meltdown or accident.

I am not endorsing this practise,just as I wouldn't endorse removing and reinserting stock fuses to try and get an improvement in sound.

What I can state is that in every instance,the sound with the stock fuse was inferior to what I replaced it with, in more than one component and over 3 decades.

I have been using upgraded fuses for the past 4 or 5 years and have not had any problems in any of the components(cd ,amps, pre)that I've used them in.

I can also state that when one does do something stupid like not pay close attention to the small fuse values, a HiFI Supreme fuse will blow, so yes they do what they are supposed to do, and that is self destruct before something else does.

One has to have hands on experience before they can state what is fact what is fiction.
You need to compare one to the other not speculate.
You have to do the experiment.

Until that is so,I say all is fiction, until proven as fact.

I'm an old guy pushing 64.
I've been at this hobby for over 40 years and I've seen the same comments made back in the day when people started to state that the standard 18-22 guage zip cord was all that was needed to wire up your speakers and the interconnects that came in the box was all you needed.
Bookshelf speakers were just that, on the shelf, not on dedicated stands out into the room, and filling those stands with lead shot or sand? Come on give me a break, what can that do?
That's as stupid as putting spikes under your standmount speakers, and spending countless hours trying to find the sweet spot,when everyone knows that time should be spent listening to the tunes and the money spent on all that esoteric stuff like wires is just throwing money away.

Yet some of us moved on from that time, and now use dedicated lines, power conditioners, upscale wires and power cords and spend time placing the speakers in the room where they sound the best and tuning the room.

You don't have to do any of this stuff to enjoy the music, in fact to those who are still stuck in the mindset of the 1960's,it should be just about the music,and as long as the music is being played then everything is as it should be and "can not get any better than this".

"Life is good why rock the boat?"
Why throw any more money at this hobby than is necessary to make the music play in my room?

Yes what some of us do must seem like a waste of money on esoteric junk that shouldn't make a difference.
Especially if they've never bought anything that made a difference or heard somebody's system that was better than theirs .

I've seen comments made about how rotten some of the esoteric systems sounded at HiFi shows over the years, and those comments were often made by folks who say their system bought at a garage sale sounds just as good if not better to their ears.

I guess it's experience and exposure to some of that "esoteric"stuff that has made me one of the lunatic fringe who spends big bucks($20.00?)on an upsacale fuse, but I've heard what some of the stuff that can't make a difference does.

Everything makes a difference.
Not everything that makes a difference is for the better.
Some times it's all about trade offs.

A bit more detail for me might mean sterile or edgy to someonelse.
Warmth and smooth may mean wooly and lacking in definition to me.

So depending upon what system you insert a piece of the esoteric, you may come to a different conclusion than mine.
In that case no one can argue with you.

You tried it and it didn't work for you,it wasn't what you expected.But you tried it,you are entitled to an opinion.
Now in my system it might be just my cup of tea.

And so it is with fuses,chunks of wire or fuse bypassing.

It may seem like mumbo jumbo to some,but when you've had 30 plus years of fooling around with this part of the hobby,you get to know what is snake oil and what isn't.

People with Maggies know what fuses can do to the sound of their speakers.
Just look at a stock fuse,and it's impressive that we can hear any difference in speaker wires etc.
Esoteric fuses aren't much more robust, but enough so that you can hear differences between them and the stock ones.
I can easily tell when I used a stranded DIY fuse replacement or one made with solid core wire.
It's similar to the differences using stranded or solid core speaker wire.
Or perhaps there shouldn't be a sonic difference there either?

Some may have never had any experience with anything but good old zip cord,because that's all you need,as someone stated years ago when bragging that their gear worked just fine with nothing fancier than zip cord.And perpetrated as the gospel for decades later by the cable sceptics.
Here's my take.
What works just fine for some, doesn't work as well for others.
Will that be a hot dog or a fillet mignon you're serving with your fries?
It's all meat and potatoes, it's all about the music.

What your take is on hifi sound is not the same as mine.

What demands I make of my system and my expectations of good sound are different than yours.

Most of us never started at the same place and we haven't ended up at the same place over the years.
Our audio history, journey ,is not the same.Maybe similar.
Most of us have had many systems over the years,some may still enjoy the first system they bought.

All I can state to back up any of my claims is that over the years I've heard some stellar systems, and owned a few myself that made it very easy to tell when something made an improvement or not.

If it was an improvement I usually bought it,if not and I could return it I did.
Would I call the stuff that didn't work "snake oil?"

No, because some stuff is just too far out there for me to even consider, but if I could try it at no cost I'm open to just about any of the clocks , pebbles,discs,generators,nano stuff, that's out there.

But when it comes to things like wires, fuses and power products I've done enough experimenting with that stuff to know that it's not if they make a difference, it's all about how much of an improvement that difference is compared to what was in it's place before.

Pack, have you done the test with a HiFi Supreme or other esoteric fuse,or are you just relying on the accepted wisdom of those who also haven't tried it?

I don't have any test gear,but it's very easy for my ears to hear differences in tone and texture when I use DIY or esoteric fuses.

In fact my built in test gear can even pick out what brand of fuse I am fooling around with.
No foolin.

Can your test gear do that?

I would be a believer in such gizmos if they were tied into a computer which has been fed a variety of parameters and specific tonalities etc, so that when any sonic traits specific to solid core i.e. or related to AMR sonics, would then be able to distinguish those sonic traits, and sort out what is what.Not just a square wave.

Are all square waves created equally?
Are all such devices calibrated the same?
Is there a univeral standard for such devices and are these devices able to avoid the vagaries and fluctauations of the grid these devices are run on?

Sorry if my ignorance is showing, but I wonder about such stuff,especially when people place all their faith in devices and don't trust their ears.

Until such a device is made available, I'll rely on what I have always relied on.

The same devices that I use to listen to my music as it's being processed by all the crap that it's hidden behind.

My goal has always been to eliminate whatever it is that the music is hiding behind.

It started from the time I tried to put together a system that recreated the feeling of playing live on stage,as I have continued to do now nearly fifty years later.

I've heard some systems that are much closer to it than where mine is, but I am also much closer than I once was.

Esoteric fuses have opened the curtains that were once closed.

They are but one avenue to go down,and for me the price to pay to drive down that road was more than reasonable.

The story of the Pied Piper,who is the High End esoteric charlatans of today I presume?

Here's how I could spin that tale.

You take someone who has demonstrated that they have a sound scientific background and lead all the gullible audio children down the garden path marching to his tune and not their own.
Follow me,trust me, I know all the answers.

Esoteric fuses, power cords,if they all measure the same they should all sound the same.
Don't be afool follow me.

But if it's all about measurements then everything that passes a square wave should sound the same, and so there is no reason for buying an esoteric anything?
Is that not reverse snake oil descrimination?

Are Dueland caps worth their price if they pass a square wave the same as an offshore cheapie?
Surely they must be the kings of snake oil.

Perhaps it's the LEgend of Pandora's box that we should refer to.

You know, you start with an Esoteric fuse and then before you know it you're hooked on Duelands with gold and silver internal wiring.

I wonder a lot.
Like why do some folks in this hobby even bother to listen to their systems if they can't trust their ears?
Do they take out a cd,then check the spec sheets,and knowing that everything is as it should be, put the cd back in it's case and call it a nite?

Can they actually bypass their ears altogether like the chap who can read the record grooves and tell you what the music is?

THis is audio is it not?
So ,how can you make a decision without listening first?

How can a square wave do anything more than show you that the item is functioning correctly?

All functioning fuses would pass a square wave.

All functiong capas would pass a square wave,the Dueland included.
Would you be able to see any difference between a Dueland and a cheap Nichicon?

Again, forgive me if my ignorance is showing,I am a subjectivist,and empiricist.

I have to base my conclusions on what I can hear using my ears and by comparing one against the other in purely subjective terms.

If my ears are fooling me, then I can accept that,because I am fooling myself everytime I sit down to listen to reproduced music.
I know it's not perfect,I've heard real,this is not it.
Yet the measurements are very likely perfect.

The Pied Pipers who would lead you to believe that perfect measurements are all that matters, like perfect sound forever, are fooling themselves that what they have is perfection because it measures so.

No need to listen first, the decision has already been made.

Of course one has to decide on whatever choices one makes.
You decide whether anything is worth trying,and hopefully you try before you buy.

But if you've already made up your mind and refuse to try something just because you know there can be no difference,that doesn't prove anything to you or anyonelse if there is a difference or not.

It's just an opinion based on the opinions of others with the same mindset as yours.

So who is following the Pied Piper?

We are all followers,if indeed we are in this hobby for anything more than to kick back and enjoy the tunes.

Which I feel is the more recent take on this hobby.

It wasn't this way when I started out, and old habits are hard to change.
Those habits ,like critically evaluating one component to the next(without measurements or DBLT)were all I had back then as now.

I am quite certain that a chunk of wire compared to a stock fuse will pass a square wave,as will an esoteric fuse.
But can those measurements show the differences between each?

If the square wave for the solid chunk of wire is better than for the others, and I find that it also sounds better, then my ears must be good measuring devices.
If there is no measurable differences between any of them, and I hear differences,am I better than the machine?

There's so much more to this than just assembling a system according to how well they spec out.

Simple things like a fuse,do have an effect,I've heard it, and way before there were esoteric fuses, I bypassed the stock ones, not because they measured better,but just because it sounded better.

Had I not done so,I would have never guessed that it would.
If I had a measuring device and it measured the same as the fuse then I would have stayed with the fuse and the protection it provided.

One doesn't have to listen to everything,most of the time substitutes to the esoteric stuff are right at your fingertips.

You don't have to spend a penny.

You have a choice to just listen to the tunes as they are and not try anything to improve the sound.

Or you can try and improve that sound.
You have the choice.

But the more times you decide to try something,and it works, the more you are prone to try other things.
If you are not prone to experimenting with the simple things, and instead feel that it makes more sense to buy something new than improve what you have, then you will always follow that path.

I wonder about the negative comments some have made when a tweak doesn't meet their expectataions.
Were those expectations too high in the first place?
Were they expecting to transform a sows ear into a silk purse?
Was there something in their system that wasn't functioning properly that was obscurring any differences,a blockage of somesort? A lack of attention to some small trivial detail,something that shouldn't make a difference?
It's all about the details and small stuff, because when you add them all up,they do make a difference to the end sound.

One thing that is indisputable is that in my experience, everytime I improved my sound, my enjoyment of the music was increased.

And as far as I know,there isn't a device that can measure how much more I am enjoying it.

Blowing both "upgraded"fuses sets off some red flags for me.
First,were they the correct ratings for your amp?
Sounds silly, but I confess to mixing up the spots where the 5 amp fuse was with the .5 fuse.Of course the .5 amp fuses blew.

That's been the only time I've ever had a fuse, upgraded or stock ever blow in over 35 years of using them in hifi and as a professional musician.

For you to have two "upgraded'fuses blow can't be just random bad luck.

Something is wrong somewhere.
If they were upgraded fuses, send them back for a refund or replacement,it's worth a try, but again two malfunctioning fuses may pose a problem.

I would appreciate, as others,what was the manufacturer of the "upgraded"fuses?

Since you haven't had any of the stock fuses blow, that suggests the fuses were not up to spec.

GVasale,have you never read about how the sound is so much better in the wee hours of the morning when there is less demand on the grid?

If not, then here is a very simple and cost free experiment for you to try.

If you are allowed,stay up and listen around 2 AM to your music.

You may not hear any difference, some folks don't due to a number or reasons like bad hearing, low resoulution systems,inability to discerne differences at any time of the day with anything "new" introduced into the system, or you don't trust your ears.

On the other hand if the system sounds fuller, you feel less stressed and the music is more smooth,you may then discover that the power that drives your system does influence how it sounds.

And from this you might even conclude that anything, even a simple fuse,that is in the signal path can also have an effect on your sound.

The next step if you hear the system sound better late at nite is to try an upgraded or treated stock fuse late at nite and listen if it makes more of an improvement.
If so, then it will be doing it's job during the normal times you listen,but may not be as audible.

I have never stated that an upgraded fuse is 100% guaranteed to improve everything it's plugged into.

I can only state that it's never failed the test for me.

Why some folks are so reluctant to try is beyond my comprehension,some fuses offer money back trials, so there's nothing to lose.
Or lend them to another audio friend who has the same voltage requirements, let him have a listen and evaluate them.

It would be nice to pass some of these fuses around,but they are fragile, and if someone got one that was damaged in use or transit and it took something out, that wouldn't do anyone any good.
So let's not go there.

There was a time on another forum when these fuses first came out that I offered to buy and send an IsoClean free of charge to a sceptic and post his truthful findings.

He declined the offer.

You may hear similarities in speakers, a house sound from Magnepan, and while all the Maggies strive for 100% accuracy,you can still hear that they all perform differently.

Striving for 100% by measurements, doesn't mean the same sound.
You can get many different types of speakers to measure 100% accuracy or at least close to it,but some folks would find that too Sterile,Harsh and not warm and cuddly.

The same as you can measure capacitors and make sure that they all meet the same specs, but why then do they not all sound the same?

Why does a 300B tube sound different than an el35, el84, or 845?

They all meet spec measusrements, yet each one can change the sound of the amp they are in, and each have certain tonal characteristics that differentiate them.

All the "fusers" are stating is that all fuses do not sound the same either.

Whether your gear would benefit or not, I can't say.

What I can say is that attention to the small stuff pays off in the end.
It's cumulative.

If I were you,before I bought any fuses or any new wires or changed anything in your system, I would address the power going into your set up.

Specifically, dedicated power lines.

If you start to clean things up at the panel and work towards your speakers,you'll start to hear differences and make sense of all this voodoo.

It's like cleaning your eyeglasses.

You never realized how dirty they were until you cleaned them.
All the while you thought you could see good enough before you cleaned them.

Same as audio.

Gvsale,is your gear so perfect that it cannot be improved?
You fear your "stuff would suffer greatly from such changes".
You are 100% certain of that?

You are throwing a lot of stuff out there such as "how much more overcapacity might one need for something to show up".

That may make sense to you, but you are missing the point about upgrades.
It's not about how much bigger,it's about how much better.

I used an upgraded fuse in a DecWare Zen 2 watt amp that cost 1/6 the price of the amp.
I plugged a Shunyata Annaconda power cord into the amp,the power cord was almost 4 times the cost of the amp.

Neither upgrade morphed the amp into a Krell with a 1000watts,but, Mr.Deckert and others will tell you that it's how good the first watt sounds that matters most, not how many.
So gear that can handle 1100watts /9 amps using a 1/8 amp fuse means moot to me.
I'm just concerned about how good I can make those all important first few watts sound.

So irregardless of what you think audio is all about,it means somethingelse to others.

In my experience, the amp just performed better with the fuse and power cord upgrade.
Those two watts were cleaner, more robust and would lead you to believe they gave you a few more watts than the two I started out with.

Of course that wasn't what was happening.
What was happening was that those important first few watts were given a bit less distortion, and because the electricity was cleaned up, or made to flow a bit more freely, the sound also was able to bloom.
More of what makes an SET low watt amp sound so pure and good,just became more apparant than before.
Subjective,yes, but repeatable results none the less.
Switching things back to normal, or stock, was a step back in information detail, clarity,and there was a loss of body.
Put the power cord and fuse back in and the little DecWare sprang back to life, able to reveal just how good this little wonder is.

But the same results are there when I use upgraded power cords and fuses in my cd player,and speakers, and phono stage.

That spare Annaconda is now used to power up my $60.00 TerDak power supply!
And yes way overkill, but it makes my Lightspeed Attenuator sound so much better than the wallwart.
Remember, it was a spare, I certainly don't think anyone needs a power cord of this price to make the TeraDak sing, but it hasn't hurt it's performance or made the gear "suffer" because of it.

So a pretty decent amp for the money can sound even better with upgraded fuse and power cord.The amp doesn't have to be 1100watts, it can be a two watt amp.

The power cord was a spare from when I ran mono blocks, I wouldn't suggest that anyone with a DecWare amp needs an expensive power cord or fuse to make it sound good.
But it is also good enough to let you hear the improvements such stuff can make.

If there was no difference in sound I could have concluded two things.
The first would be that which you might conclude, that the amp was so good it didn't need any help.

The second conclusion would be one that I would make, the amp was of such poor design and so distorted that nothing could make it sound any better.

I have personally never owned any piece of audio gear that was so good or so bad that it's sound couldn't be improved with an upgraded part or two.
That goes for vintage and new tube gear, solid state, and any speakers that were fuse protected.
It was easy to hear how anything with a power cord or a fuse was hindered by the quality of the fuse and power cord.

I hate to keep rehashing the fuse issue, but it was Peter Aczel from the Audio Critic of the late 70's early 80's who brought this to my attention way back when.

Nothing has changed,except that we now have some alternatives to using stock, sound degrading fuses, if we choose to.

Until this happened I was bypassing them,enjoying better sound, but was skating on thin ice.

Thankfully that's no longer necessary.

Inasmuch as those same AR speakers would be bested by most entry level sub $500.00 speakers of today, I am not sure folks would be as fooled as they were back in the old days.

That's a little like saying those same folks who viewed a 1950's TV wouldn't find much difference in a 4HD or whatever they call the latest in television technology.

I can say that my Aqos HD blows away my Marantz RPG, which back in the day was at the top of it's game.

Audio has moved on, and I admit that some of the old stuff is still good even today.
My old 1974 Acoustat montor X's are testament to that.
Except for the fact that they have had a few thousand dollars worth of upgraded parts.

The upgraded parts are the reason the Acoustats sound as good as they do.I know, before I had them upgraded, I knew how they used to sound back in the 70s.

But all the rest of the stuff I plug into the chain is also better than it was in the 70's.

I've put a lot of effort into getting the best electrical connection as I can to my gear,which means dedicated lines, upgraded connectors and even fuses.

All the stuuf that others will say can make no difference, has for me and in every other system where the owner has done similar improvemnts.

In fact listening to the before and after effects of some simple revisions to the power delivery to my friends system took me down the same road and I am very happy I did follow along.
My problem is that I don't have finances to pursue it to the level that he has.
And he is still experimenting with different power cords and their effect on his DCS dac.

So when does it all end?

It doesn't have to end,who says it's supposed to?

It can begin with a simple fuse, and end there I suppose, but what's the fun in that?

Expensive aftermarket power cords are seldom offered as part of the deal when purchasing a quality product simply because it comes down to a matter of taste and how one's system is already "voiced".
If you have a systen that tends to be warm or romantic as most tube systems are, you may want more of that or less of that and so you look for a power cord or product that gives you what YOU want.
This is why most gear comes with power cords that cost next to nothing that do the job,but don't really give you the performance that the component is capable of.

Hey, you or I have to do the homework and put in some effort to chhose what's right to our ears.
Some folks are quite content with what comes in the box, others are not.
I have access to some high end gear in another persons system and even gear priced in the $100,000.00 per component don't come with much more than throw away cables.
Needless to say the throw aways are thrown away until the right match , and then the full majesty of the pricey stuff shines thru.
I've heard it and as I said, that's how I was converted to switch my audio purchases from endless gear swaps to investing in things that really matter and improve what I have.And will improve what I purchase in the future ,or on to another round of searching for the right recipe.

The casual listener won't understand any of this stuff,be he a novice or a lover of the old tried and true system he has loved since day one back in the 70's.

But my old 70's Acoustats never sounded as good as they do now since I replaced the RCA and IEC inputs with the best Furutech has to offer,And yes I use HiFI Supremes(4 in total) in these amps also.

Before the changes, the sound was fine, most folks would have not gone any further.
I did, because I experienced what such simple mods using better updated parts can do from lessons learned in my friend's set up.

This is stuff that is voodoo to a lot of people,you are not alone Gvsale, I have a few audio friends like you, who just can't be bothered to try stuff that will improve their sound.In fact one is reluctant to even try a better power cord on his amp, because if he likes it,and can't afford it, he won't ever enjoy his current system again.

And I'm not belittling folks like that.
Everyone has their own take on what level they are willing to take their system to and I'm aware of all the associated
constraints that are involved when one has a family and the more pressing monetary demands of such.

Whether a manufacturer includes designer fuses or power cords doesn't diminish his efforts to bulid the best he can.
But neither do they state that their gear must only use a specific and supplied interconnect or speaker wire, although Naim and Spectral are two who used to share such thinking.

But times and attitudes change,some manufacturers now design their own power conditioners when once upon a time they frowned on them.
Naim now has gone for a more user friendly type of connection.

If some company supplied and I paid extra for a designer power cord that didn't match my sound, then I would be upset about this and feel ripped off.

People like to have the opportunity to pick and chose the sound they want, whether that is different from the designers intention or not, it's a fact of life, that no two people really like all the same things and sound is a very personal thing.

The more exposure I had to a variety of very good systems tended to alter some of the feelings I had about "how great my set up is".
You learn there are many different voicings .
It doesn't matter which one is correct, because none of them are, it's all an illusion and no one has arrived at the perfect cookbook for the perfect sounding 100% accurate system.

Even if you recreated all the same gear as what was used in the mastering studio, you would only approximate the sound in your home and only for that one particular piece of music from that studio at that time.Your listening room would sound different than the recording sound room with all it's differnt dimensions and room treatemnt.

Everythingelse will be different,so one size will not fit all.
One power cord will not fit all, nor will a fuse or anythingelse.

The only piece of gear that is immune to most of the voodoo would be a wind up RCA turntable with cactus stylus and horn.

No power cord, no power conditioning, no dedicated lines or fancy connectors, no interconnects,no speaker wires,no fuses.
Nothing much to argue about.
It was a simpler time, and for the music lovers of that era, state of the art and as good as it can ever get.
Then things changed.

For better or worse I'll let you decide.
I know where I stand.

Absolutely correct Rodman,a lot of the old transformers were quite special,and some aren't made anymore so finding replacements is hard to do.

As Rodmann stated just about anyone can change a captive power cord in a component.

Usually the hardest part is to file out the opening and fastening the IEC to the cabinet.I've resorted to contact sealant in some cases, and never had an IEC that was attached like this ever fall out after repeated plugging and unplugging.

But if you have a vintage piece of gear and you would like to keep it that way for resale purposes, then do not alter anything and enjoy the sound and looks as they are.

But for some of us, it's more about improving the sound of that component.
A decent sound when it was first made with as decent components as cost constraints would allow in those days.

It was big bucks back in the day when some of the old macs with captive cords were made, and people seem to forget that a $600.00 amp back in 64 would cost $5000.00 of todays dollars.So while it seems like the gear from the good old days was cheap, it's all relative.
Look what a gallon of gas cost back then.

But this is the joy of doing upgrades to that old stuff or to even not so old stuff.
A fuse replacement requires no special tools or skill sets.
And can cost nothing if you are foolish enough to bypass them as I did before I settled for the HiFi Supremes.
Power cord swaps are easy to do.
You should be able to hear improvemnts or at the least a difference, when you replace the molded rubber ends of a throw away power cord with better upgraded ones from Wattgate, Oyaide, Furutech etc.
Then use those same upgraded ends and attach them to some upgraded wire from the aforementioned companies and you can DIY a pretty decent step up in sound quality.

Gvsale you seem to feel that it's just too overwhelming to do any of these things, and perhaps you aren't cut out for it , so I suggest you quit worrying about it.

The sky's the limit when it comes to modding gear and you can replace everything inside a component and rewire it with silver,gold platinum wire if you wish.
It all makes a difference, and it's just up to you to decide how much you want to spend and how far you want to go.

I've known some folks who "know the math" and completely redesign the gear for better results.

I am not in that league.
And not all who make the stuff we enjoy are either.

But a fuse upgrade is so simple,it's an audio upgrade for dummies like me.

Thanks for the response Gvasale,as I mentioned,some things are easier to mod than others, and what we have to accept is never the ultimate.
This could be gear related room related, power related and most importantly cash related.
We do what we do and "irregardless" or what some may think, we do reap the rewards of going the extra mile.

Those who never venture into these areas will never know how good they can make their systems sound, but then of course to their ears,what they have is the best, and everything not purchased at goodwill is a waste of money.

I have old Acoustat X electrostatic full range speakers with their matching output transformerless tube servo amps.
The speakers are directly wired to the amps, no need for speaker wires.

The amps are each powered on separate 20 amp dedicated lines from the panel on 10 guage romex and terminated in Furutech 15 amp rhodium f48 ends into matching Furutech rhodium IEC in the amps.The RCA in the amps were modded to Furutech top level inputs and the connectors of the interconnects are all CF 102R.The fuses are AMR or HiFi tuning Supremes-the less costly mods I've made.

They are placed properly in my room which is a dedicated listening room 30 x 22x8 and I have ASC room tuning devices.

I can very easily hear differences in fuses,and despite my supefluous language and lack of spelling skills,I have somehow managed to get a very realistic sound.

But it took time and effort and a few dollars to get there.

Now I can't measure the difference in sound after the upgrades,but I can hear it.
Nowhere near the sound that I had before I did the upgrades.
The fuses are a miniscule but important link in the chain, and those unfamiliar with how important the chain is from the panel to the speakers know what I am talking about.

Those who don't get it, or have not chalked up enough experience with decent gear,would say things like " a fuse is not in the signal path".

My friend, everything from the panel to the speaker is in the "signal path".

It's all in how you interpret my bad englishe.

More bad language skills.
I meant to say"those Familiar with how important the chain is from the panel to the speakers"
I should use the preview option I "s'pose."