Scientology is now an audio tenet?
PADIS vs Furutech fuses
I now have about 260 hours on my PADIS fuse and ready to some listening. The PADIS fuse appears to look exactly like the Furutech fuse. It has the same blue casing with the PF logo on one side. Actually, the only visible difference between the PADIS and Furutech is that the Furutech has “FURUTECH” printed on the opposite side. However, there are actually differences:
My very initial thoughts on the PADIS fuse (in the first few hours) was that the PADIS seemed somewhat dryer sounding than the Furutech. The PADIS did not have the typical “cold / wet /chimey” tones that fresh rhodium plated Furutech components generally have (I’ve tested Furutech rhodium fuses, power cord connectors, interconnect – they all initially contribute this cold/chime character).
I have often stated that Furutech rhodium is painful to burn in. I have burned in many Furutech fuses and it goes through several painful areas. There are days in Furutech rhodium burn-in where I would sit down to listen and the sound would just be so bright / harsh / hard-edged that I said “I can’t listen to this”. At that point, I would just walk away and let it continue to burn in. With the PADIS fuses, it never got that painful. I could hear the burn-in process changes, but it was always listenable. At the 180-200 hour mark, the PADIS did get very bright/hard-edged, but it was still somewhat listenable (I did not have to walk away). At 220 hours it was fully resolved.
Now, for the comparison. I will say that the PADIS is an excellent fuse. For the money, you really cannot beat it, unless you need a warm signature (in which case you need an Isoclean fuse). Both the PADIS and Furutech share the same essential sonic signature. However, there is definitely a difference. The PADIS sounds very good – do not get me wrong, it is an excellent fuse. However, the Furutech really did have an improvement. The tones on the Furutech were just a bit more pure and true sounding. The Furutech had a more “solid” sound to the audio. The Furutech had a bit more punch and meatiness to the bass / midbass. The PADIS, on the other hand, was a bit more loose in the highs, causing the high frequencies to be a bit more messy and rattling. This does cause the PADIS to sound a bit more dry. The PADIS also did not have quite the depth of soundstage when compared to the Furutech.
Now some people might sit down with me and say “I can’t hear a difference” or “your just splitting hairs”. I might be. The difference in sound is VERY subtle, but to me it makes a significant improvement. The differences could also be revealed when listening over a longer period (like 20-30 minutes). The music with the Furutech is just more engaging.
If you have very low resolution or warm equipment, it is possible that you would not hear the difference at all. However, on high resolution stuff, the Furutech could make that equipment “shine” just a little bit better. The PADIS is an excellent buy. For half the cost, you get a whole heck of a lot of performance (almost a no-brainer if you’re still running a stock fuse!). For those who want to bleed out the most amount of performance and resolution – the Furutech is worth the cost.
There are a few possible reasons I can think of that would cause the PADIS/Furutech difference:
- Furutech fuse state a special damping filler inside to reduce electrical resonance. I cannot find an reference to a damping filler for the PADIS fuses. This could be why the PADIS sounds a bit more loose/dry/harsh in the highs
- Furutech does a Cryogenic treatment process. I cannot find any reference that the PADIS fuses get the same treatement.
- Rhodium plating. It is possible that the Furutech fuses are manufactured with a much thicker rhodium plating. I know Furutech likes a thick rhodium plating on their A/C connectors. The PADIS could have put a thin plating on their generic “PADIS” fuses. This could help explain why my burn-in process was not as painful.
Anyways, those are my findings. Maybe next year I’ll do a BLUE vs. Furutech analysis.
Showing 17 responses by nonoise
Kavakat1, You can get the PADIS fuses from the European Amazon site here: PADIS Rhodium Feinsicherung 5x20mm 8A: Amazon.de: Elektronik or from the Canadian eBay site here: padis fuse | eBay All the best, Nonoise |
@auxinput, I had to reread what I wrote several times before I realized what I did and then when I typed this, I did it again! I have to pull my mind out of the gutter now and again for perspective. @almarg , I had no idea that something that looked so simple and innocent could be so deleterious. Thanks for posting. All the best, Nonoise |
@crazyeddy, there is a review of the SR Black fuses over at Audio Bacon and in it they show how to make a fuse break in device that should take the pain out of it. I've only tried two different fuses (HiFi Tuning Silver Stars & PADIS) so my experience is limited compared to others. However, I found the greater benefit to come from the source rather than the amp. Both benefited but my SACD player had a bigger level of improvement over my amp, but do try both. Hopefully, @auxinout and others will chime in with their extensive experience. All the best, Nonoise |
Isn't it strange that those who hear a difference accept it and those who don't or won't even try a different fuse go the Chicken Little route with the sky if falling, it'll blow, you're delusional, how dare you, you can't trust your own ears routine? It's like religious extremists trying to save others souls. One side is acting perfectly natural and the other is incredibly emotional, driving them to ridicule, insult, and look down their collective noses at others. As I've said before, there is some latent issues here that have manifested in this fuse argument. The fuse is not the issue. Right now, you can go to a power cable thread and find those who've never tried one other than stock and similar arguments are being put forth as for fuses: stock is good enough, no, I've never tried it and never will, you're all fools for believing it, expectation bias, etc. Check the archives and you'll find the same declaimers for all manner of audio gear. Thou shalt not dwell on the aftermarket: it's the devil's work! All the best, Nonoise |
No... Because there wasn’t a widely accepted unit of resistance, people DIED because they didn’t know what they were working on. The only things people listened to were other parts exploding. Really? What on god’s green earth does that have to do with fuses? But I’ll bite. In order to develop a meter to measure, there had to be some kind of consensus on what worked and what didn’t. They had to have some inkling of what was going on. They weren’t completely in the dark. How else would they know how to calibrate the meter until they were satisfied that they had the correct values? How many people do you think DIED making that meter? History, prior to the multimeter, is chock full of stable designs that didn’t KILL everyone. Hair on fire arguments are meant to distract. It won’t work here. How about this? I’ll take my F5 and put one bad resistor in it. I’ll cover up all the markings on the others and give you an ohm meter without a dial or marked range selector on it. That and your ears are all you’re allowed to diagnose the problem with. Keep in mind the power supply is bipolar at 32.5V and pushing about 10 amp on each side with an additional 120,000uF of capacitance. You think that’s a good way to work? Go short out a charged 15,000uF cap and you’ll realize how horribly wrong that can go. Kosst, if you’ve been seriously following my posts, you’d know better than to throw out figures like that as I’ve stated I’m the one who has problems putting batteries in a remote. Again, missing my point, and most deliberately with your red herring argument. All the best, Nonoise |
@nonoiseAnd yet they used their ears when it came to making music. Not everything blew up or went awry. Standardizing the process with a meter certainly helped to further things but that entirely misses my point. Or side steps it. All the best, Nonoise |
How in the hell did mankind ever progress before the advent of the multimeter? Absolute chaos must have reigned supreme in the 1920s until Zavier came to the rescue with his invention. Before that, all it took was for someone to demonstrate that it works. All anyone had to do was look at it, or listen to it, or taste or feel it to make sure. Once that was established, rule of thumb came into play along with posits, conventional wisdom, more and folkway, until it could be quantified by math, science, theory, or that damn multimeter. There's a whole cottage industry of trained and trusted ears in Japan where all they do is build by ears. Everything from choice of wire and down to it's direction is tried until it sounds right. But they must be wrong, right? Their systems are the envy of anyone who's heard them. It's just another canard to insist that everything can and must be measured or it simply can't be. I'm not talking about accepting things on blind faith, but by my own ears, and thousands of other ears which were and still are, the foundation of measurement and still the final arbiter. If all one does is follow measurements, then why double check and do the final tuning by ear? The naysayers should be perfectly content with their color by numbers build techniques. Stay within the lines and all will be fine. No need to venture out and try something new lest what you try violates your written in stone bible of electrical standards because, blind faith. I prefer to question authority and conventional wisdom because it's been proven to be so wrong in so many instances. Not having UL or Guiness around, I trust my own ears and soldier on. For the life of me, I can't fathom why anyone refuses to simply try it for themselves and insists that they hold all the knowledge and answers because it's written down somewhere by someone who, themselves, haven't tried it. Baffling, to say the least. All the best, Nonoise |
Haven't audiophile fuses been around since the early 2000s? That's almost two decades worth of thousands of listeners who've heard a difference and you need a measurement that hasn't been invented yet? This isn't new territory. There's something else going on here of a latent nature that's manifesting itself with this fuse argument. All the best, Nonoise |
Beating that dead horse again, Kosst? You need a new hobby. One where you can relax and not get so worked up. Being wrapped too tightly can lead to frays and splits in the wraps and then, when they burst, the fun is over. It's been shown that our hearing is definitely done in a non linear fashion and that measurement are done in a linear fashion. One can only approximate the other. How hard is that to wrap your head around? I know it's easier to just ignore it like you've never heard it or bothered to read up on but really, it's getting really old. All the best, Nonoise |
@auxinput, This is a coincidence. I just got through listening to 3 CDs that I'm very familiar with. Since I leave everything on 24/7, there's always juice going through the fuses so it aids in break in. It's been awhile since I've had the PADIS fuses in and since I've listened to anything (for about a week). The break in has reached it's greater impact this day. I'm kind of drawn to the analogy that @gbmcleod referred to in another thread about finding continuity, and how elusive it can be, but when you hear it, you know it's right, and that's close to how I'd describe what I'm hearing now. These CDs that I'm very familiar with now sound different (as in new) as the detail, breadth of sound that emanates out of instruments, added rhythm and pacing, and increase in the realism of human voices is a bit mystifying, leaving me to wonder just how compromised my system has been all this time. Kind of the opposite of what you're describing with the PADIS. The highs seem good enough so I'm now wondering if maybe I didn't describe what my system sounded like accurately the first time around. I don't doubt what you hear and appreciate the input. It's just a matter of finances right now but I'll keep it in mind should and when I get the itch. 😃 All the best, Nonoise |
@auxinput, Great review there ol' chap. Now you've got me interested in the Furutech but what stops me from completely going for it is I'm in that caveat you stated in regards to the warm nature of gear like my Marantz and how what you're experiencing won't necessarily be what I would experience. I do know that the PADIS is better than the HiFi Tuning Silver Star fuses, at least to my ears, and I'm really impressed with the even handed nature in the results. I feel I could always use a bit more treble energy but I wouldn't go so far as to say it's dry. On some recordings the treble is spot on, even effervescent, so it's probably due to quality of the recording. Like you said, if one is on the fence, at least try the PADIS. Who knows where it can lead to? 🤔 All the best, Nonoise |