McIntosh fuse changeout to make better sound


Have anyone change out the fuse in the back of a McIntosh integrate amp to make it sound better? Does this work or is this a myth? And if it does what kind of fuse? Thx
ucdmac122005
I prefer a "Methode Champenoise" approach to gravitational influences on fuse performance which simply requires giving every fuse (every one...open that lid...get in there) in your system a quarter turn at least once a day. If you don't at least try this you simply cannot comment on its efficacy so please, no comments.
Sorry you "nattering nabobs of negativism," but fuses do make a difference. Most of that other stuff people are pushing are just snake oil in my opinion. I put SR Blues in my ARC CD player and Krell integrated and the difference was significant and undeniable. Even Paul at PS Audio admits they improve sound but also admits he can't explain why. He has a video online if you're interested. If you are so set in your mind that a fuse cannot affect sound, and I'll agree that it doesn't make sense that it would, but your stubborness is keeping you from hearing your system closer to what it is capable of. 
Hello,
The fuse can make a difference. Power cords made a difference on my Denon receiver. When I upgraded to a two channel system power cords made a big difference. It’s like saying you don’t need premium fuel in your sports car. Electricity is the fuel our systems use to make music. If the fuel is tainted or the fuel line is partially blocked by something you loose performance. There is a point of diminishing returns. I know someone who upgrades the $1 fuses to $10 fuses. It makes a big difference. If the power goes through it it can make a difference otherwise we should all go to Ace Hardware and buy some 10 gauge extension cords and use it for our speaker wire. Instead we go spend several times that on thinner gauge wire to get the sound we all love. ******Make sure the fuse is rated exactly the same as the one you want to replace. $10 bucks is nothing. That’s one month of Tidal. 
The "money where their mouth is" thing about Synergetic is that they give you 30 days trial.
Why not???
What do you do when their under-rated fuse burns out. Can you still return it?
"What do you do when their under-rated fuse burns out. Can you still return it?
I've known a few people who were made good on blown SR fuses after the 30-day trial period. 
Nonoise,
The Dunning- Kruger effect can account for some of these unknowlegdable ramblings.
hotroady1,
Most certainly, since to be unknowledgeable is to not experience, first hand, something and then claim otherwise from an imagined higher ground, deluding oneself.

All the best,
Nonoise
I did a thorough test of SR fuses a few years ago and they made zero difference except when they blew...zero...which makes sense as they're FUSES. Otherwise hey, they're great...*yawn*...

You got it wolf, this snake oil fuse **** is just companies pulling big profits from the gullible audiophiles that believe in the simple things they they can change themselves.
  
You’ll never see one of those "boutique fuse manufacturers" on these pages backing up same BS that the snake oilers here say that a $150+ fuse can do for the sound, cause they know they’ll be liable if they did.

Cheers George
What is the problem when it comes to fuses?

If you don't believe they help, fine. Go do something other than belittle those that do.

I posted a challenge a while ago regarding this controversial topic. Nobody reported back!  It was simply this and requires no expense. Yes it's free. 

Choose a component, remove the stock fuse and replace facing the other way.

Can you hear a change in sound?  You can? That's great it means your system is sufficiently resolving and would respond to a better fuse.

You can't? That's great now you have proved to yourself it makes no difference and you can move on and stop insulting those who can.



Pull out your old fuses and put them back in.  Try it again.  Each time a bit of corrosion is removed.  Even better, let someone else change your fuses around several times.  buy a bunch of different ones.  Number them and keep a score card, but do not look at which ones you are using.  Special Fuse Buffs:  I dare you!
danvignau
Pull out your old fuses and put them back in. Try it again. Each time a bit of corrosion is removed. Even better, let someone else change your fuses around several times. buy a bunch of different ones. Number them and keep a score card, but do not look at which ones you are using. Special Fuse Buffs: I dare you!
It’s rather juvenile to "dare" people.

Given that you’ve made the "dare" I can’t help but ask: Have you tried this yourself? If so, what were the results?
Or it means you are susceptible to self suggestion. Have someone else make the change .... Oh and yes I have with many audiophile buddies. They can only tell a difference when they know the change.


Can you hear a change in sound? You can? That's great it means your system is sufficiently resolving and would respond to a better fuse.


Some i****s or (shills) will have you believe they can hear directional differences in an AC mains fuse, even though ac 60hz mains changes it direction 180 degrees 60 times a second, I let you digest that one.

Cheers George
Is fuse directionality audibly discernible as well ?
It most certainly is.

I knew that swapping out bog standard fuses for better made ones made a difference but it wasn't until a year and a half after changing fuses and out of boredom, that I tried changing directions only to discover that it does make a difference. 

In my short fuse journey It tried it with various, mid level priced fuses and the results were all the same: it made a difference. 

All the best,
Nonoise

George, you know I don't believe in fuses, but you also know, I have told you several times, that this argument, does not make fun of fuse believers, it makes fun of you, and your lack of understanding of how electricity works.   "AC" is not the reason why fuse direction does not matter.  Fuses are not directional (practically), hence why it does not matter in an AC circuit.  Thought exercise for you. You replace the fuse with a diode. Does the circuit operation change?  Yes. Does it change because it is AC or because the diode is directional?

georgehifi8,097 posts12-18-2020 9:23pm
Some i****s or (shills) will have you believe they can hear directional differences in an AC mains fuse, even though ac 60hz mains changes it direction 180 degrees 60 times a second, I let you digest that one.

Cheers George

Thought exercise for you. You replace the fuse with a diode.
You rectify the mains, what are you trying to say that a fuse will act like a diode???
I have said this  to the fusers many times that the only way a fuse can be directional is if it were a diode!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  END OF STORY PERIOD!!!!!!
Is fuse directionality audibly discernible as well ?

Yes. With some like Synergistic the difference is surprisingly obvious.

But, as with so many other things, only if you listen for it. 
Some i****s or (shills) will have you believe they can hear directional differences in an AC mains fuse, even though ac 60hz mains changes it direction 180 degrees 60 times a second, I let you digest that one.

Cheers George


This is partially correct, ac does change direction, but the EM wave does not. 
I recently installed a 8A HiFi Tuning Supreme Series Fuse in my Revox A740 amp. https://photos.app.goo.gl/XK2ddmTU8pHsBriB7  
I was stunned by the improvement!
Look if you've spent all kinds of money on highend components plus high quality speaker, interconnect and AC power cables, what's the weakest link in your system? The skinny piece of burn wire in the 50 cent fuse!!!!!
"This is partially correct, ac does change direction, but the EM wave does not."                         The fact that voltage/signal flows outside the conductor, as a wave, and always toward the load, doesn't fit their 1800's science based theories of AC electricity.                       They're still trying to shove electrons through conductors (waveguides).     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_of_electricity      Note what's stated under 'Electric Drift', regarding AC and electrons.         Save your keystrokes, as any modern science/theory will be categorically dismissed, by the Naysayer Doctrine adherents.
This is partially correct, ac does change direction
So does the current.
As I said the only way a fuse can make a sound change is if it were a diode, a bad contact "can " cause a "diode effect".

So to the gullible just do this and save money for better equipment instead.

  Just change the fuse if old for a quality brand EE industry standard 50c fuse, as fuses (even the snake oil ones) do age after many turn on cycle surges.

     Quick blow fuses       and         slow blow fuses aging left to right.
https://ibb.co/0ZtRv4J                  https://ibb.co/mbzs3RK

Cheers George
To be gullible is to think that everything that happens after the fuse's role is done is completely isolated and unaffected afterwards.
George unfortunately you're understanding of electricity doesn't appear to be deep enough to have this conversation. you are trying to use AC as a justification for the fuse not being directional but that is a false argument because the fuse isn't directional is actually why AC doesn't matter.

I do find the claims that people who did not believe in fuses must not have tried it because many of us have I have many times with many people that's why I'm pretty confident about my position. What I'm also pretty confident about is that all the people who claim that people who don't believe infuses have never tried it have never themselves actually done a proper blind test a fuses after cleaning the contacts. So to them I say unless you've actually done a blind test and have cleaned the contacts you actually haven't done the test.

For marketing purposes, it's a great idea to produce a product that claims efficacy and back it up with hyperbole with a qualifier like "if you can't hear a difference you or your system is/are inadequate somehow." The fact that ridiculously expensive "magic" fuses are generally ignored by the vast majority of audiophiles and component manufacturers should tell you something. And it's worth noting that no component I know of claims that its internal wiring (including the wiring immediately after the fuse) is utilized with any thought of wire directionality (a box of wire directionality chaos! Oh no!), except perhaps internal speaker wiring, although that's generally not mentioned either.


No sorry you seem to not understand, that a piece of ac fuse wire 1/2 long has no bearing on the sound, as it’s in series with the ac line house wiring along with power points and fuses or circuit breakers in the fuse box as well.

As stated the only time a ac fuse is in question is when it’s seen too many audio equipment turn-on cycles and ends  up sagging, carbonizing/crystalizing or electrolysis and looking like this, and the same will go for your expensive boutique fuses. This "can" lead to a "diode effect" between dirty/corroded fuse holder contacts or in the end cap of the fuse itself because of dissimilar metals.

So to the gullible just do this and save money for better equipment instead.

Just change the fuse if old for a quality brand EE industry standard 50c fuse, as fuses (even the snake oil ones) do age after many turn on cycle surges.

Quick blow fuses aging            and                 slow blow fuses aging left to right.
https://ibb.co/0ZtRv4J                               https://ibb.co/mbzs3RK

Cheers George
It's essentially a myth. But a placebo is not a drug and yet typically has between 20-30% efficacy in many double blind tests. Put simply, when you make a change in your system and then listen for changes there may or may not be actual change, but your perceptions may tell you otherwise-- or nothing.

When I make a system change, like a new cable, I pay little attention to my own initial reaction to whatever I think I'm hearing and commit to live with it for a while. If I perceive a persistent and consistent improvement over time I assume there has been an actual change-- something added, or subtracted, something different but better.

I do not believe for a second that swapping out a fuse and then hearing an immediate and not at all subtle improvement in your system comes from the fuse-- it comes from you. The exception might be that when the swapping was done a dirty connection was cleaned by the action of making the change.

So has anything really changed? If you believe you can hear it, then something has changed-- but most likely that 'something' is you.
Reading this to get some idea if fuses make a difference?

An idea to ignore George and his ilk.
He doesn't believe it does (nor do they).
And will say it 100 times.

I've tried a few iterations of fuses.
All to good effect.
Post removed 
I do not hear differences in fuses. With that being said, if fuses make such a BIG difference, why don’t the really high end manufacturers use them as standard in their equipment?  So, you spent $150.00 or more on a fuse, of course you think it sounds better.  After all, you do need justification for the money you just laid out.  For myself, I will take that $150.00 and buy more music, at least I know I got something for the money.  If PT Barnum was alive now, he would be loving the boutique fuse purchasers. 
That's the question I often ask when this nonsense pops up...if magic fuses provided even a fraction of the benefits claimed by bloviating posters offering hyperbole laden claims these things would garner universal acceptance and be used by every serious manufacturer and far more audiophiles. There's the rub...
Confirmation bias is a thing, but many people "just can't handle the truth". I stand by my above comment-- that the extra "something" that you're hearing is coming from YOU. Any Qanon fans here?
Yes, confirmation bias is a thing and it’s proven every time someone says fuses can’t, and won’t, make a difference. They believe it so deeply that when they listen, they don’t hear any differences or write off any as of no consequence.

Oh, as for the Qanon reference, it applies to those who choose to live in an alternative world and not in the real world where one can hear the differences for themselves. Followers of Qanon refuse to think for themselves and choose, instead, to be led.

All the best,
Nonoise
You didn't read my first comment above that I was referring to. I assert nothing and when I preview system changes I do not look for an immediate answer, I live with it and decide for myself over time. I'll admit I do not waste much of my time swapping fuses, aligning crystals, or coloring the edges of my CD's (I'm more a vinyl guy anyway) with a green marking pen that uses special ink blessed by a Buddhist Monk. My problems are more pedestrian-- like room reflection, the occasional cable hum, etc. Just because you hear something, or see something with your own eyes does not mean for a New York minute that it's real. You should know that. Most people that (IMO waste) their money (which is totally cool with me) buying a $300 fuse or a $5k power cable EXPECT to hear something-- and so they do. I expect neither because I know that initial reactions to any subtle phenomenon are better approached with an open mind.
Now explain why every time my audiophile buddies over the years have claimed some amazing improvements from fuses, when I forced them to listen blind, those amazing improvements disappear. I do make sure to clean the fuse contact first to remove that variable.

Yes, confirmation bias is a thing and it’s proven every time someone says fuses can’t, and won’t, make a difference. They believe it so deeply that when they listen, they don’t hear any differences or write off any as of no consequence.

I did read your first comment and, sorry to hear that you couldn't hear an immediate difference. I did. Granted, with some changes I've had to wait for certain moments in music to verify what I believed all along, but it was always apparent on first listen that something was amiss, either for the worse, or the better.

The only time I couldn't, was when swapping out fuses on my Kinki EX-M1 integrated. Everything was more of a sideways move and in the end, I stuck with the stock fuse (which was anything but stock: it was a well made, high rupturing fuse that cost about $2.00, but much better made than the usual dreck out there).

All the best,
Nonoise

So, Nonoise,
I was thinking your detractors seem to think; browbeating you into submission, will effectively change your mind?
I would suggest they piss. Into the wind, instead. That way, they would: get to know; how that really smells...do you concur?
Wow, hotroady, way to behave like an a-- so easily. If people can't handle disagreement of opinion without behaving like an angry child (which you just behaved like), then perhaps the Internet is not for them.
All this reminds me of how my grandfather told me the way people get freckles. They spit chewing tobacco out the window of a moving car.

That, and I think I'm too old to be browbeaten any more. Too set in my ways, nowadays.

All the best,
Nonoise
Good for you, Nonoise!
 I, as you; know that fragrance..when we get wind of it.
 It helps some others to rub their nose in it, a little..until they track down, the scent!
Consciousness can be a real b!tch. Subjectivity is not objectivity. Your eyes and your ears can deceive you, especially if you want them to-- and when you invest time and money, most do want them to. Audio2design is probably right though. Cleaning dirty fuse connections and putting in a new fuse might make a difference. I'd bet he's right when he says his friends can't tell when put to the test. Your own ears can improve your system even if the fuse cannot. Imagine the possibilities?? And no money down!

Okay so, about fuse upgrades.

I have a HARD time believing in them. Setting aside the physics involved and the fact that they sit on the outside of the power supply, I noticed that they are heavily marketed by Synergistic Research -- which is a scam company. Why don't any large, reputable manufacturers produce fuses? Why doesn't, say, Furutech or Oyaide make them? That smells of scam.

The other problem is...how do you test this without audio memory effects getting in the way? How many people have two identical amps they can test side-by-side in a reasonable fashion? The improvement would have be very large to overcome audio memory IMO. Will a fuse really provide such a major improvement?

It just seems like a con to me.
To whom it may concern:
I trust what I hear. I do not have to "prove"anything to anybody, about anything.
Several of you embark.on a mission to prove a negative.
Good luck with that..
how do you "prove" what someone did or not hear??
Than you call someone else arrogant?
wtf????, get real.
Your results may vary..that does not trump; my experience.
It only makes me believe, I am dealing with some kinda dolt.
You hit the nail on the head: arrogance. Rude, presumptive, ignorant and stubborn arrogance. Each adjective carefully chosen for accuracy. Rude: they butt in where no one wants to hear their blather yet again. Presumptive, they presume to tell us what we hear. Arrogant, what could be more arrogant than to tell another individual that YOU know what THEY can do. Ignorant, because virtually every single time they haven't tried and so literally do not know what they're talking about. And stubborn, because they keep at it no matter how many times or how clearly its explained they are full of it.  

You can see I've been around and have seen it replay over and over again like Groundhog Day without the humor. They just die over and over again, only never ever do they learn anything, and in the end they for sure don't get the girl. I just thought it worth pointing out that even a new guy with 7 posts can see clearly just what is wrong with them. Why they can't see it, that is the question.