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



128x128oregonpapa
So glad us idiots have all been illuminated by Shadowcats "professional" opinion.
I mean its not like anybody here using boutique fuses could also possibly have a professional opinion as well is it?
Definition of a professional - someone in a cheap suit fifty miles from home waiting for a bus.
@shadowcat2016.....Not to "P" on your parade with your so called "professional" opinion but first have you ever heard the Blue fuse in your system ? If not than i dont think you are qualified to have an opinion unless you heard the Blue fuse for yourself. Second you can not " Think " that someone does not hear what he hears when using the Blue fuse. We heard the differences for ourselves because we did the comparison test with the Blue fuse against the stock fuse. The " Professional " opinion is with our hearing and what we do hear or dont hear. So with that being said your so called " professional " opinion dont mean squat .  
I have an Oppo 203 DVD player with the power supply upgrade by Oppo Mod.com. In additional to a higher grade transformer and higher grade capacitors, the new power board has a removable fuse. I changed out the HiFi fuse supplied with the mod to a Synergistic Research Blue fuse and yes indeed there was improvement in both audio and video performance.

I am a big supporter of these third generation audio fuses like the  Synergistic Research Blue fuses. Trying them is certainly a lot cheaper (return postage is about $3.00) than many other mod-tweeks, and one also gets to overcome the fear of opening up their equipment for inspection. Yes I  was indeed nervous when I also replaced the fuse in the Pass Lab amp. But I am glad I did. The SR Blue fuse allows the amp to sound better than the original Little Fuse did. Paul McGowan who is president of PS Audio has stated at his web site that audio grade fuses make a difference. I agree.


The PS Audio.com site has several good sources of information without a lot of hyperbole.


David Pritchard
Only in the surreal world of Audiophile threads can Shadowcat2016 make such a factual and accurate statement yet be vilified. It seems the more crazy and illogical the tweak the more forcefully the tin foilers worship said tweak.

Paul McGowan is a savvy businessman looking to make more profit. He understands his clients well - those who spend the most on hi-fi gear are all Schiit scared of not getting the most from their system due to a wire, a fuse, a mat, a quantum dot or ......the dreaded hi-fi Bogeyman.
Is shadorne shadowcat’s shadow? Are they the same person?  Hmmmmmmm...
So now Paul McGowen is part of the conspiracy.
Where will this all end?
Just keep moving the goalposts and one will have an argument to make.
Only in the surreal world of audiophile threads can a genius like shadorne make the assessment that a product doesn't work as advertised without trying it for himself.

Frank
+1  shadorne

If he wasn't such a "savvy businessman looking to make more profit." he'd be a real estate agent or used car salesman.
The classic was he changed his ideas completely 180' on preamps just before his  BHK Sig preamp was to be released, for sale.

Cheers George
Greetings all, I am certainly a Novice; I need help with the blue fuse for the Emerald Physics 100.2SE.  How do you get inside to swap fuses? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
Cheers!

@lostnamerica

http://www.10audio.com/emerald_physics_EP100.2SE.htm

Take a look at that link. It appears that all you need is a screw driver or a hex key to remove the cover’s screws.
Last Friday I replaced the Shunyata Viper Zitron power cord powering my system with the new Synergistic Blue UEF cable. Amazing value for the $649 price. As with the Blue (and Black) fuses, bass took on more detail and texture, transients became quicker and more powerful, voices and solo instruments sounded more "in the room," the noise floor was lowered still, and the sound-stage took on more space and air.

Geronimo!
If anybody is considering trying an SR blue fuse or three.

Check out partsconnexion.

They are having a promo right now where when you buy 2 you get the 3rd one free.

Hard to beat deal.
@uberwaltz

So is the Cable Company.

I want to buy one SR Blue Fuse.

I would like to team up with 1 or 2 other Audiogoners who want to buy a fuse or two.

Any takers?

-jim
docknow:
Another possible upgrade path is to take advantage of another of the Synergistic Research September specials and to buy a SR Blue outlet and get a free blue fuse. Adding these two upgrades made a big difference in my system. And the cost was less than many of my tube rolling purchases.

The SR September specials are listed at The Cable Company website and are available through all Synergistic Research dealers.

David Pritchard
Thx David

I did not have any use for 3 more blue fuses but a new receptacle and one blue fuse I could use
Will be checking that special out as well
I think I'll give the Blues a try. Although I've been very happy with my Maestro outlets, (they blew away the Porter Ports & the FIM), with this deal, I'll be able to finally try graphene out. If it doesn't work out, I'm starting a second system I can use things in as well.
To uberwaltz and slaw:

I do hope you will indeed give the Blues a try. One of the wonderful properties about both the Blue fuses and the Blue outlets is the sound is really good within  24 hours of being installed. They do reach a further improvement by the 10 day mark, but I did not experience the common roller coaster affect that many audio changes cause.
Plus if you do not like what they do send them back!

I think it is a fun experiment to do.

David Pritchard
slaw:
Yes the Blue fuse has directionality. But you do not need to 'Break' in the fuse for 10 days and then Re- Break in  the fuse another 10 days  by reinstalling it in the other direction. Keep it simple. Put it in. Listen to the same track several times. Reverse fuse direction. Relisten.  Pick the direction to leave the fuse on which way sounded best to you.

Have fun with this experiment.

David Pritchard
David

I already have blue fuses, and a black,no need to be convinced here.

However have not yet upgraded any receptacles so that is why that last offer was of interest.

Now a question for the technical minded.

My Mytek Brooklyn dac has a fuse but I do not run it of 120vac, I have it powered of a 12v iFi power supply.
So is the fuse still in the circuit this way I wonder because if not then no point spending any money on an upgraded fuse at all
Hi Uberwaltz,

Most likely the fuse is not in the path when the DAC is powered with DC.  But given the power consumption ratings stated on the specs page of the manual you could probably confirm that based on the current rating of the fuse.  It would probably be in the area of 3 amps or so if it is in the DC power path, and less than 1 amp if it is in the AC power path.

Best regards,
-- Al
Think you are correct Al.

From what information I can clean, the Brooklyn has a slow blow fuse on its psu board of 630ma so right in line with your comments.

When using the dc input protection is afforded by whatever fuse is in the external power supply, for example if using the sbooster it uses a 2a fuse, again right in line .
I will have to investigate my iFi ps now.
Regarding fuse directionality.....

You’d think a company such as SR would be on top of this and given the high price of entry, would mark their products for optimum performance.

The last time I had my McCormack amp upgraded (three years ago), they have a piece of equipment that tells them the correct direction for fuses that they install. This is a slight additional cost but worth it for the end user.
slaw:
Synergistic Research does recommend the signal path to go in the direction of the writing on the fuse. From the letter "S" and towards the letter "R". But for many pieces of equipment it is an easy and quick experiment to take a two minute listen in each direction and leave the fuse in the direction it sounds best. Then there is no second guessing.


uberwaltz:

I think you will greatly enjoy the Blue outlet. I am sure your Brooklyn DAC sounds good with the iFi power upgrade.

David Pritchard
I bought a Furutech GTX-D NCF(R) outlet, and it does not fit in the outlet box in my rental apartment and I have not going to rip open the wall and replace the box.  I think this is because of the "wings" on the back of the outlet.

Is the SR Blue Outlet "normal" sized?

-jim
Hi Jim,

Yes, the SR Blue (and all SR receptacles) are “normal size” and easily interchange with standard builder receptacles.

Dave
I feed all my gear from a CPT 1800.
This is fed from my 20a line on a duplex to my room.
I assume that if I change that duplex to a sr blue I will reap some benefits?
Or is the equicore going to negate that?
Not really up for replacing every receptacle in the rear of the equicore right now!
@docknow I presume you're referring to the width of the box, and those small sliding plates that cover the screw heads.  That must be one narrow box.  I just installed one of those, and there was about 1.5mm clearance either side.
Who has heard this to answer it? 
How different is the Blue duplex versus the Black duplex?  Is it as much as between the two colored fuses or something less?   
The difference between the Black and Blue fuses was good but not tremendous, unlike the difference between the Black and the standard fuse, or the Red or Black duplex and a standard Hubbell hospital grade duplex.  
As have no fancy duplex anywhere I took advantage of the SR September special and ordered a Blue duplex and get a free Blue fuse.
Now not sure as overkeen on paying $285 just for a duplex but with a free fuse at $149 its a bit more palatable.

Will report on perceived sq change once installed. 
Each system is different. I felt as though the SR Blue fuses was like the SR Black fuses on steroids. I arrived at this conclusion after going through a complete set of SR Red fuses, then Black fuses and then the Blue fuses. If I had to do it all over again, and had they been available at the time, I would have started with the SR Blue fuses to begin with.

Frank
Uberwaltz:
Congratulations on getting the Blue package. I think you will appreciate the improved musically and decreased sense of grain. I found it to a very worthwhile upgrade. Remember to try the fuse in both directions.
Yes we will see
The duplex is the main feed into my music room that feeds the cpt1800.

The blue fuse will be going in the ayre ax7e amp. I already have a blue fuse in my Goldnote ph10 phono stage.

Never investigated my old Pioneer sacd player for an internal line fuse to change, sure there is, but as it is used so infrequent decided not even worth looking.

Mind here is an example of crazy ( in some eyes). My old Pioneer sacd value maybe $120.  Hooked up with Nordost Heimdall ic value $600 ..... Lol.
Received my Blue Duplex along with free Blue fuse today.
Not had time to install duplex yet, plan for tomorrow but did slip the fuse into the Ayre ax7e.

I played exact same album as I had on last night, a piano driven piece.

A lot of difference imho, notes seemed to hang in the air filling out the music more.
Deeper it appears to delve into the actual recording. Hard to really put into words, just seems more fleshed out overall.
Lets see what the duplex brings tomorrow.
uberwaltz:
Actually a very nice description of the fuse's sonic effect. This will improve by day 3 and reach it's full benefit on day 10. For me the sound becomes richer with more complex textures and more emotionally involving.


David Pritchard

Hi Uber,

In my K&K Audio Trio phono preamplifier. I have a simplistic system as I only listen to vinyl.  My Trio has a volume control.

Steve
Slaw
Yea I thought you was mostly vinyl.
I only asked as prior to this purchase I had bought a blue fuse and placed that in my Goldnote ph10 phono and I thought it made quite a difference.

I think you will be impressed.
Uberwaltz, I have a Brooklyn DAC+ powered by an Uptone Audio JS-2 and adding the Blue fuse to the JS-2 had an immediate and positive impact along the lines of what's reported in this thread. Best of luck...
With the September, but 2 get 1 free promotion I have 6 on the way!  I have not ever been one to hear a difference with cables.  I have not ever upgraded power cables and have modest speaker cables and interconnects.  I have Audioquest diamondback interconnects with some older Audioquest speaker wire that was bulk for around $7/foot.

The sales guy at Cable Company was sooo passionate about these Blue fuses and assured me this will not be one of those A-B comparisons where you have to really struggle to convince yourself you hear a difference.  He said it WILL BE jaw-dropping.  I'm upgrading my phono preamp, main preamp and the two monoblock amps.  

They recommended a staged implementation and were out of stock on one for my main amps anyhow.  I will start upstream with the phono preamp and see how it goes.  

He recommended I not try to constantly go back and forth with the fuses as you may with a speaker or amp.  I think all comments I have read for SR fuses speak to a break-in period.  He said to leave them in for a couple weeks and then go back to my stock fuses and thats when I will be amazed.

Years ago when I was getting started in high-end gear, we still had a few brick & mortar shops in town.  The guy I visited most would let me take used gear home on a Saturday and trial over the weekend to bring back Monday.  One time I tried a pair of $1500 interconnects to connect my CD player.  I have a friend that is a car audio audiophile and we never could appreciate a change in the sound.  When I returned them Monday, Ken asked if I really wanted to understand.....that he would teach me.  It would take a couple hours in his sound room with different cables and gear, but then I would understand.  BUT!!! Once I knew, I would be hooked and could never turn back.  I chose to stay ignorant at that time LOL.  

I'm very excited about this upgrade and also feel much comfort that they offer a 30-day satisfaction guarantee! 
Hard to tell what is having the biggest effect as I have so many new tweaks in place right now but all I can say is everything is adding up to lower noise floor considerably.
With my ear up against tweeter on my analog phono stage I can barely hear a faint hiss. Before tweaks it was not terrible but definitely a lot more audible than it is now.

And it should only get better.
At the last minute I got in on the September special of a Blue outlet with a free Blue Fuse. The Blue outlet will free up one of my Black outlets for re-deployment. The Blue fuse will bump the Black in my REL S/5 to replace in turn, a Hi-Fi Tuning fuse in my REL R-328. Swapping the outlet will be a major PITA involving moving equipment and some furniture. The things we do for a more involving musical experience in our homes....
Here is my initial impression on the Blue fuse in my phono-preamplifier. I let it burn in for 19 hours before listening. After two familiar lps, I hear greater clarity and transparency with no brightness or forwardness. I believe I have it installed in the correct direction. I’m gonna wait until 200 hours are over before making my final impressions and before I install the Blue outlet that feeds my Hydra that drives my front-end electronics so as to get a better understanding of what that outlet can do.