Why don't amplifier Companies use high end fuses?

If there was a reason to I'm sure they would.  Says a lot.

Maybe fuse lovers should try the same fuses that the experts choose to use when designing their gear? Might save some $$$$s. Make sure the contacts are clean and the fuse is properly installed for best performance. Also of course always make sure the specifications are correct for use in your gear. You might not be able to afford top of the line VAC amps but you could probably squeeze the fuses they use.

No good engineer would use a fuse or any component that does not provide enough certified information to help assure its proper application since the main purpose of a fuse is not to make things sound better but rather to reliably save devices from damage.

Again people who are focused solely on how fuses "sound" miss the main points.

Its also possible in the case where the PS audio guy heard a difference that replacing and freshly seating a new fuse alone is what made the difference. That was not addressed. Almarg and others have repeatedly pointed out the things that might make a fuse change sound better other than the fuses used themselves.

The PS audio guy said they use good quality fuses not high end or the most expensive. Big difference! Its been asserted since the start of teh Red fuse thread that not all fuses are created equal but good quality ones can be had for much less than "audiophile" fuses.

His explanation is a good one. Nobody know why audiophiles hear or prefer what they do so no reason to put in a more expensive fuse that has no clear advantage over another other than the fact that some people may hear a difference and like it better.

Similar to most high end/audiophile products in general except more so. Except fancy fuses only cost 3 digits not 5 or six so easier to dabble with if one is so inclined.

His explanation is consistent with the viewpoints offered by myself, Almarg, Atmasphere and some others I believe. Not with Geoffkait’s who seems to be mostly interested in muddying the waters and providing some comic relief along the way to make it more digestible.

The problem is still with the people who insist a fancy fuse ALWAYS makes a difference and if you don’t hear it you are defective which is simply not the case. They are providing very misleading information that benefits only the sellers and not educated buyers.

And yes, it has been asserted that not all fuses are the same but I don’t recall any naysayer saying that, but rather the ones who’ve tried them.

Not to toot my own horn but I recall saying exactly that early on in the red fuse thread prior to actually trying the red fuse that OregonPapa sent me.

That was based mainly on my experience working in hifi and electronics stores years back and having assisted many customers with fuse related issues on many different pieces of equipment much of which was not even "high end" by today’s standards.

Nonoise I encountered pretty much every major brand of the day in the late 70s working at tech hifi Lafayette Radio and later Radio Shack.   Mcintosh would be one exception.  It can happen.  Believe me!  YMMV.   

Just to be clear, there was no "proof" of anything.

A fuse was changed and he heard a difference. Resetting the original fuse with better contact may have produced a difference as well.

Almarg and Atmasphere have both stated this I believe and that is consistent with my experience as well.

Again that’s not to say all fuses are created equal and some may in fact work better than others.

So the truth as in most cases is most likely right square in the middle and extreme views or blanket statements do not cut it.

Expensive products with nothing to back up extreme claims should be questioned. Those who object are helping nobody but the vendor. Personal attacks should always be right out. The usual high end audio story.

Hifiman yes that is often the case and I can attest to the fact that it can make things sound better having encountered it many times working on customer gear. In fact. When a customer brought an amp in for service complaining about bad sound, we always first tried to reset the fuse before sending the unit out for repair. In many cases doing that resolved the issue and proved that it can happen.

We also experimented with replacing fast blow fuses with slo blo and found that could make a difference too. Of course we never actually left a slo blo in when a fast blo was required.


These were all standard issue fuses commonly used in hifi gear of the day.   Nothing fancy required. 

• It is not about facts.

Yep. That’s it in a nutshell. Cheers! Too much time spent talking about fuses. People will think and do what they will and are not likely to change, especially the older folks like me.

One last comment I will repeat that I think I made eons ago early on in teh red fuse thread is taht I ahve also seen cases where fuses only blow partially ie the filament is partially but not totally melted. More prevalent with slo blo fuses. Obviously this is just another case where all fuses are not created equal however replacement with any good quality new fuse is all that is needed to rectify.

So yes fuses can be delicate little beasts and do matter but like most of high end audio the returns on more expensive products are diminishing at best and nill in some cases at worst.

They are also not complicated devices and as difficult to understand as some vendors make them. Its reasonable to expect that some portion of the discussion about them is just noise but hey only one way to find out if one actually cares. Personally, I’d focus on making sure my fuse is good quality and in good working order and look pretty much anywhere else (except Machina Dynamica for example) for things that will make clear significant differences in sound quality.

But hey some people like to go where no man has gone before. The question then becomes how much of their tales is fact versus fiction.

Not to cut straws but there is a difference between calling someone a liar and not believing what people say they hear.   Nobody can  hear what another does exactly the same way so why take offense at that?  OR if they do not believe in fuses?   If one is sure one does, who cares what others think or say?