Its nice there is a new product out that is easy for a variety of hard core audiophiles to get excited about. Beats spending 10s of thousands on the newest and greatest same old same old speakers.
The new Synergistic Research BLUE fuses ....
New SR BLUE fuse thread ...
I’ve replaced all 5 of the SR BLACK fuses in my system with the new SR BLUE fuses. Cold, out of the box, the BLUE fuses stomped the fully broken-in SR BLACKS in a big way. As good as the SR BLACK fuses were/are, especially in comparison with the SR RED fuses, SR has found another break-through in fuses.
1. Musicality ... The system is totally seamless at this point. Its as if there is no system in the room, only a wall to wall, front to back and floor to ceiling music presentation with true to life tonality from the various instruments.
2. Extension ... I’ve seemed to gain about an octave in low bass response. This has the effect of putting more meat on the bones of the instruments. Highs are very extended, breathing new life into my magic percussion recordings. Vibes, chimes, bells, and triangles positioned in the rear of the orchestra all have improved. I’ve experienced no roll-off of the highs what so ever with the new BLUE fuses. Just a more relaxed natural presentation.
3. Dynamics ... This is a huge improvement over the BLACK fuses. Piano and vibes fans ... this is fantastic.
I have a Japanese audiophile CD of Flamenco music ... the foot stomps on the stage, the hand clapping and the castanets are present like never before. Want to hear natural sounding castanets? Get the BLUE fuses.
4. Mid range ... Ha! Put on your favorite Ben Webster album ... and a pair of adult diapers. Play Chris Connor singing "All About Ronnie," its to die for.
Quick .... someone here HAS to buy this double album. Its a bargain at this price. Audiophile sound, excellent performance by the one and only Chris Connor. Yes, its mono ... but so what? Its so good you won’t miss the stereo effects. If you’re the lucky person who scores this album, please post your results here.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ULTRASONIC-CLEAN-The-Finest-Of-CHRIS-CONNOR-Bethlehem-Jazz-1975-NM-UNPLAYED-...
Overall impressions:
Where the RED fuses took about 20 hours to sound their best, and the BLACK fuses took upwards of 200 hours of total break-in, the BLUE fuses sounded really good right out of the box ... and that’s without doing anything about proper directional positioning. Not that the BLUE fuses don’t need breaking in, they do. The improvement continues through week three. Its a gradual break-in thing where each listening session is better than the last.
Everything I described above continues to break new ground in my system as the fuses continue breaking in. Quite honestly, I find it difficult to tear myself away from the system in order to get things done. Its truly been transformed into a magical music machine. With the expenditure of $150.00 and a 30 day return policy there’s really nothing to lose. In my system, its like upgrading to a better pre amp, amp, CD player or phono stage. Highly recommended.
Kudos to Ted Denney and the entire staff at SR. Amazing stuff, guys. :-)
Frank
PS: If you try the SR BLUE fuses, please post your results here. Seems the naysayers, the Debbie Downers and Negative Nellie’s have hijacked the original RED fuse thread. A pox on their houses and their Pioneer receivers.
Frank
I’ve replaced all 5 of the SR BLACK fuses in my system with the new SR BLUE fuses. Cold, out of the box, the BLUE fuses stomped the fully broken-in SR BLACKS in a big way. As good as the SR BLACK fuses were/are, especially in comparison with the SR RED fuses, SR has found another break-through in fuses.
1. Musicality ... The system is totally seamless at this point. Its as if there is no system in the room, only a wall to wall, front to back and floor to ceiling music presentation with true to life tonality from the various instruments.
2. Extension ... I’ve seemed to gain about an octave in low bass response. This has the effect of putting more meat on the bones of the instruments. Highs are very extended, breathing new life into my magic percussion recordings. Vibes, chimes, bells, and triangles positioned in the rear of the orchestra all have improved. I’ve experienced no roll-off of the highs what so ever with the new BLUE fuses. Just a more relaxed natural presentation.
3. Dynamics ... This is a huge improvement over the BLACK fuses. Piano and vibes fans ... this is fantastic.
I have a Japanese audiophile CD of Flamenco music ... the foot stomps on the stage, the hand clapping and the castanets are present like never before. Want to hear natural sounding castanets? Get the BLUE fuses.
4. Mid range ... Ha! Put on your favorite Ben Webster album ... and a pair of adult diapers. Play Chris Connor singing "All About Ronnie," its to die for.
Quick .... someone here HAS to buy this double album. Its a bargain at this price. Audiophile sound, excellent performance by the one and only Chris Connor. Yes, its mono ... but so what? Its so good you won’t miss the stereo effects. If you’re the lucky person who scores this album, please post your results here.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ULTRASONIC-CLEAN-The-Finest-Of-CHRIS-CONNOR-Bethlehem-Jazz-1975-NM-UNPLAYED-...
Overall impressions:
Where the RED fuses took about 20 hours to sound their best, and the BLACK fuses took upwards of 200 hours of total break-in, the BLUE fuses sounded really good right out of the box ... and that’s without doing anything about proper directional positioning. Not that the BLUE fuses don’t need breaking in, they do. The improvement continues through week three. Its a gradual break-in thing where each listening session is better than the last.
Everything I described above continues to break new ground in my system as the fuses continue breaking in. Quite honestly, I find it difficult to tear myself away from the system in order to get things done. Its truly been transformed into a magical music machine. With the expenditure of $150.00 and a 30 day return policy there’s really nothing to lose. In my system, its like upgrading to a better pre amp, amp, CD player or phono stage. Highly recommended.
Kudos to Ted Denney and the entire staff at SR. Amazing stuff, guys. :-)
Frank
PS: If you try the SR BLUE fuses, please post your results here. Seems the naysayers, the Debbie Downers and Negative Nellie’s have hijacked the original RED fuse thread. A pox on their houses and their Pioneer receivers.
Frank
Showing 50 responses by mapman
Fuses aside, when I saw SR was at Cap Audiofest last weekend, I was actually very jacked at the opportunity to gain some insight. Their room ran around half hour demos with no admittance during. So I walked into the room next door where they had various gadgets out for display and looked around a bit until next demo time. A lovely sales rep greeted me. Good marketing! Then I went into the room next door for the demo. Unfortunately whatever was playing sounded very bad, way below par so I lost interest and decided to move on. There were some very nice looking gadgets there though I must say. I did buy a very nice $20 cast aluminum 45 RPM record adapter from a guy in the Atrium. It it both looks and works great! Also a new DAC and some CDs. It was a fun show! |
Look this has been going on and on and gets nowhere. A big "nothing burger" except people hear what they hear. If the fuses make people happy wonderful! Thats what hifis are for. My issue is with the attacks and frankly bullying of those who want to learn and remain skeptical. Kudos to Wolf for standing up to the bullies but at the same time the topic is going nowhere regarding learning anything new or useful IMHO. So what is the point in keeping asking? Now that the designer has chirped in it would seem the time is right to maybe learn something new? So far nothing though. Frankly I’ve never met a good designer who does not love to talk about his work. But why ruin a good thing I suppose. |
Here is the skinny from the SR site: " The new SR BLUE Quantum Fuse was developed over a two year period and represents our most advanced UEF Technology to date. At its heart is a completely new UEF / Graphene coating that delivers a dramatic increase in resolution and holographic realism over SR Black. And thanks to a new conditioning process, break-in time is cut in half. In fact a brand new out-of-the-box BLUE Fuse should significantly out perform a fully broken-in BLACK Fuse and it only gets better from there with full performance after 200 hrs of continues power. To find out how good your components really are audition the new SR BLUE Quantum Fuse today. Sold with a no-risk 30-day money back gaurantee. $149.95 in all sizes." So you have 30 days to get the fuse singing in case of buyer remorse. I like the simple color coded model numbers. Its very easy to understand. Marketing genius there for sure. |
FWIW I took my red fuse out of my pre-amp mainly so as not to have to be concerned about uncertainties in the specs that matter and determine if a fuse does its job correctly (ie blow when it should). If I heard any difference at all in the sound between the stock fuse in the Audio Research pre-amp (very well built to start with, not "cheap") and the red fuse, it was so subtle as to not practically matter compared to making sure my device is safeguarded and operating properly. I swapped fuses many times up front in the interest of determining any differences in how they "sound". |
Wow there may be some measurable science behind the blue fuse after all! Whoda thunkit! https://www.livescience.com/34105-favorite-colors.html |
grannyring if I might propose an answer I would say knowledgeable people do in general understand the importance of a fuse and how it can affect sound quality. A fuse is a relatively simple device on the grand scale of things. They also tend to be very skeptical about way more expensive "audiophile" fuses that make sonic claims to justify the cost with little or no concrete information (other than individual opinions where favorable) to back them up. It’s that simple really. |
Not that it will change anyone’s mind but for the record I am with Al’s analysis of fuses 100%. Given that and the fact that I tried a highly touted Synergistic fuse and found no clear significant difference, I will stick with more popular, high quality less expensive and better spec’ed fuses when needed. If someone thinks a $100+ fuse that some say will make a big difference, but that has little published technical basis to support that, is a good investment in their system, then more power to ya. The red fuse OP sent me to try is still around as a spare if needed. |
If I understand the test proposed correctly, it certainly could be done technically. The problem with it would be the same as is the problem when humans do a comparison, attributing differences to cause. There would undoubtedly be differences at least to some small degree. It would not be valid to assume the only thing that is different is the fuse since the performance of any system at two different times is bound to vary to some degree for various reasons. If controlled properly, the results would indicate the magnitude of difference that the fuse alone could possibly produce, but there is no way to assure that. If tested repeatedly and that magnitude was repeatedly large and consistently measurable, that would support the notion that a fuse change can make a major difference. Otherwise not. Furthermore, assuming a significant difference is detected, the next task would be to determine in what ways and how that would be heard. Determining which sounds in fact "better" would be a further challenge. But at least there would be some actual technical data to base a claim on rather than just the individual opinions and observations of a few. Then you still have the issue of if the change observed in one system occurs similarly in others. Most likely not, so the results are really only useful for the actual cases tested. |
GK that is absolutely correct. The problem is your previous stated desire to throw out the data points that you don’t like, joking or not. All data points are subject to bias like the expectation bias possible with all those paying a huge premium for a fuse or the bias of those with a business association with the vendor who might also be getting product to eval for free or at a significant discount. Also a random sample of data points is needed to draw any conclusion. There is nothing to establish that the sample of data points represented by poster views on a thread like this is random or large enough to be representative of the general population. Your theory is those who report here to have heard a worthwhile difference is the norm and those who do not are outliers. That’s true perhaps but only within the context of this thread. Also you appear to claim knowledge of some larger scoped study involving thousands of users. Please provide a reference to that if so. |
In hindsight one of the very best names for one of my products was the Teleportation Tweak Yes you should be very proud of that! The fuse and other controversial tweak vendors should also be very thankful to have you (along with your furtive imagination) on their side as chief technical spokesperson. It’s all about one’s personal assessment of probability. Yes it is. With perhaps a bit of wishful thinking and monetary factors tossed in the mix on occasion. |
Here is a fun exercise to try. What’s needed: 1) music server with random play 2) two or more different masterings of the same release ripped to music server. Have the music server play tracks randomly and see if you can tell which is from which mastering. If you consistently can Mazel Tov you have a good quality setup and good ears. If you can’t, well not so much. Maybe you could even hear different fuses if the bias were similarly eliminated? If not eliminated, well then you are biased! Thinking you are not biased does not make it so. |
Geoff already explained it, and it works suitably. When someone pretends to be a skeptic, but they really have no interest in said item/subject, as they’ve already made up their absolute decision in their mind. Ah I see. A clever label it would seem for one who can apparently read other’s minds to place on others if they do not drink their kool aid! I see how that works! No wonder GK loves that term so much! I did not know we had mind reader’s in these parts! Very mystical! Much like fancy fuses themselves. |
why would any manufacturer solder a fuse to the board The same reason they solder all the rest. Makes a better and more robust connection. Fuses are not special in that way. Expectation is an authorized service person will more likely replace the fuse when needed. Also avoids dare I say it TAMPERING! I perhaps have replaced and dabbled with more fuses than anyone here over the years having troubleshooted many for customers at Lafayette Radio, Tech Hifi, and Radio Shack in a past life. Resetting a fuse alone occasionally can make a clearly audible difference in sound and performance as a result of a better connection, especially in amplifiers. Much like reconnecting a speaker or other wire might on occasion if left alone for extended periods of time. Also slo blo fuses can melt partially and have an effect on performance and sound. Replacing it with a fresh good quality fuse solves that. I always checked the fuse first when someone cam in with an amplifier issue for service. Many times no further service was needed. So fuses do matter! Of course if you want to promote expensive fuses, best to not focus on other things that can easily account for what is heard. Makes things more complicated and bad for business! Just attribute everything to teh new and better fuse. Much easier for all! Ok. Groundhog Day! LEt’s go through all teh same arguments again now just for fun... |