HiFi tuning fuses, some benefits help

I had to describe the improvement as, "More organic". Not in any way, "colored". Rather simply more, "alive". ie: More wood from a Double Bass, rosin on the bow, skin from drums, breath and chest resonance on vocals, etc. Subtleties for certain, but worth it(If you're into realism). Try them in the AC main of your amp first. If you don't realize any audible improvements there; They may not be for you or your system. Ignore any "Placedo-Effect" pronouncers that might pop up here. They seem to forget that, should one expect no difference; they probably won't hear one(Reverse-Placebo). Then again; most that knock these fuses, haven't tried them in the first place.

search the archives, there have been some serioud debates about fuses

>>Then again; most that knock these fuses, haven't tried them in the first place.<<

Conversely many who have purchased them and not heard a difference, refuse to admit they've pissed away $30 on a per unit basis.

The door swings in both directions.

I didn't waste my $60 for a pair of gold fuses. Hmmph...how dare people insinuate Audiogoners don't have good judgement or taste. How dare anyone imply HiFI Fuse buyers are bored impulsive readers of blogs who hide their purchases from their spouses. I've never fabricated, not once or twice, a perceived improvement after spending good money on equipment or tweaks...it's absolutely counterintuiative. Besides, once I turned the fuse around I noticed an even more noticiable improvement. Finally, I sleep comforted by the thought I have gold fuses...isn't that worth the money?! LOL. Somebody get me away from this hobby, my sense of reality is dwindling.

I haven't tried them, and I don't intend to. Therefore I won't express an opinion about their performance. But I would suggest that you consider the following:

1)It would stand to reason that in some fraction of the cases where improvements were noted, the real reason might simply have been that several year old fuses, whose surfaces were dirty and oxidized, were replaced by new fuses with clean (and oxidation-resistant) surfaces. It might be worth first evaluating your existing fuses after treating them with a contact cleaner.

2)It would seem pretty clear that the differences, if any, would be dependent on the design of the power supply in the particular amplifier or other component. The more ideal the power supply, and the better its ability to store and deliver energy to cope with transient peaks, the less the difference the fuse figures to make.

3)Similarly, the narrower the dynamic range of the music you tend to listen to, the less difference the fuse figures to make, imo.

Regards,
-- Al

Compared to the cost of so many other "audiophile" tweaks, $30 is pretty inexpensive and worth an experiment if nothing more. I tried the HiFi Tuning Fuse in my relatively low cost/entry level system. It made a difference in the JoLida 502B I was running. When, at some point, a tube went and took the HiFi Fuse, I didn't have a spare so had to replace it with an inexpensive RadioShack fuse until the new HiFi fuse arrived. For me the proof of what the HiFi fuse did was in the loss I heard when it was gone. Something was definitely missing. Presence? Liveliness? I have a hard time articulating the differences in sound quality but to me Rodman's description fills the bill. For the skeptics, I'm not at all concerned about convincing you - believe what you will. In turn, spare me your sarcasm (especially if you haven't tried one of these). I heard a benefit well worth $30. That's all that matters.

Ghosthouse,
I have a pair in my system. I can't tell you specifically how my sound was that much more different for having them in place. Excuse my attempt at "irony" in my last post. It really was a "whim" purchase with no great expectation. I'm glad the fuses sounded good in your system. Take care and enjoy the music.

I replaced the 3 fuses in my Sugden A21 and really didn't want to hear a difference because that means I now would need to replace fuses in many different pieces. So I always err on the side of cynical. However, I really did hear a more open presentation and cursed my future purchases. Same cynical approach with power cord upgrades was met with a mixture of appreciation and resignation to more investment.

Please see http://www.affordableaudio.org/issues.html for measurement result.

For me I heard more details. The increase in details for the bass is quite obvious.

Thank you for all your answers (so far). Now to another part of the question not asked, when you replaced the fuses with either (HiFi Tuning or a different brand of high end fuse) was it in tubed or solid state and was it just in the amp or what piece(s) of equipment was it used in? and dispite the fact did it still have the same difference in sound/presentation?

I have them in Magnapans, and a PrimaLuna Prologue 8 CD player. They make a difference.

I have them in equipment that uses fuses. My Amp has a breaker , no fuses.
I think they add a little more spark to the presentation.
For a nominal fee they are worth it.
Why dont you just buy them ?
Geez they are only $25 bucks now at the Cable Company.

I found them to work well in some situations. I had them in an audio aero Capitole SE cd player. It made a nice improvement to the presentation. More natural details and slightly lower back ground noise and a richer midband.

I have them in my DCS cd player and they made a very small but noticeable difference mainly to the high frequencies. Great in ARC pre amps.

Worth a go.

My Mains are modded Cary tubed monoblocks, and the improvements I mentioned were most noticeable in that app. I've also installed them in my modded TransNova 9505 woofer amp, but installed IXYS soft recovery FREDs at the same time, so I can't honestly quantify their impact or contribution to the speed and definition I gained there.

Jwong - Thanks for your reply. My response, probably a bit of an over-reaction, was not directed at your comments specifically. I have to say I was a bit surprised they made a difference in my system but that also applies to changing out interconnects, power cords and speaker cables. I was a real skeptic about a lot of this stuff before I tried it but now I'm in the camp of "it all seems to make a difference". The bottom line is go with whatever helps facilitate access to the music. Take care.

Way back when, Peter Aczel from the Audio Critic(before the 10 great audio lies)in about 1980,he suggested that speakers which has fuses, actually sounded better if you bypassed them altogether.
So chalk one up for those who feel fuses do have an influence on sound.
I stuck with this mindset and replaced the speaker protection fuses in some of my amps also.
In every case the sound opened up, nothing blew up or burnt and I am still here 25 years later.
When the IsoClean fuses came out I gave them a try, and yes they were better than the cheap stock fuses but still not as invisable as the solid chumks of wire I had been using.
At under $30.00 a fuse, they are a cheap upgrade and give you peace of mind, which is a nice compromise.
The need to use fuses in any design is a sonic compromise that in this modern era something I believe we can do without.
We should banish them to only the most rudementary designs.

Way back when, Peter Aczel from the Audio Critic(before the 10 great audio lies)in about 1980,he suggested that speakers which has fuses, actually sounded better if you bypassed them altogether.
So chalk one up for those who feel fuses do have an influence on sound.
I stuck with this mindset and replaced the speaker protection fuses in some of my amps also.

Keep in mind, though, that fuses in speakers, and speaker protection fuses in amps, are directly in the signal path, while ac line fuses are not. Also, the current that is conducted through speaker and power amplifier fuses is both large and fluctuating, while the currents that are conducted through the ac line fuses of line level and source components are small and relatively constant. Different situations altogether.

Regards,
-- Al

Depending on your view of a power amplifier's operation, the AC line fuse can be considered directly in the signal path. The voltage/current taken from the wall/AC line is converted to DC, stored in filter capacitors and is connected to your speakers via the output devices(be they tubes or transistors). Those are simply switches/valves that modulate(YES- the correct term) the current flow to your speakers as directed by the musical signal, which proceeded from the preamp/source section of the system(which IS NOT connected to the speakers). That same power supply also provides voltage to the input and driver stages of the amp. That's why cleaning up your AC power, or making even simple mods to a power supply can yield major changes in the sound of a power amplifier.

I concur Rodman,as one who has cleaned up the power from the panel to the gear,the more you do the better it gets.
Why spoil it for the sake of saving a few dollars?

Laces - how did you clean up your power at the panel?
thanks.

One approach to panel noise and A/C noise in general is to look at Alan Maher"s CBI filters. They attach to the main incoming wires to the breaker box and to the ground wire. They are quite effective at improving the A/C that goes to the in wall duplex outlets. take a look at Alanmaherdesigns.com
Good listening.
David Pritchard

What I meant by cleaning up the power from the panel is that the single best thing to do is use a dedicated line to your gear using a 20 or 30 amp breaker and 10 guage wiring.
Everything after that is icing on the cake.
I am intrigued with the reference to the alanmaher product and will investigate.
I've spent years running around in circles flitting from one component to the next looking for sonic nirvana.
I have let go of some fine gear that I never really heard how good it was because I never ventured into cleaning up the power to the gear.
My most recent and pleasant experience has been the addition of a Python CX power cord to my shunyata snakepit.
It has upped the pleasure factor, my Audio Aero has never sounded this good with any other power cord that I had at hand.

As far as audiophile fuses go, I have only tried the Hifi-tuning gold ends version. They made a very substantial improvement in both my tube monoblocks and my tube preamp. However, in my system and IMHO, these fuses take a while to fully flesh out. The first couple of hours they sounded very sparkly and nice. The next three days it sounded like a blanket was placed over my speakers. At this point, I almost took them out, but I hung in there and on day four, the blanket was removed and the sound continued to improve thereafter for up to 300 hours. I know. Call me anal. (o: Here is the best price I have found on these fuses:

http://store.acousticsounds.com/d/41414/HiFi-Tuning-Fuse_-_Large-System_Enhancements

Here is a link to some lab tests comparing some popular fuses:

http://www.partsconnexion.com/prod_pdf/hft_facts.pdf

A few weeks ago I installed the silver HIFI Tuning fuses in my Theta Casablanca II, Theta Compli, and Theta Intrepid. It just seemed like the logical thing to do.

In so many words, my system immediately sounded more refined, and over the past few weeks the sound has evolved to be sweeter with tighter bass. I did all three pieces of equipment at once so I say which piece benefited the most.

Theta was kind enough to provide me with a full list of fuse sizes and values for all their equipment. If interested, I’d be happy to share that information with other Theta owners.

Could you please email me the ratings for the fuses found in the Intrepid amp?
Thanks,
Dave
[email protected]