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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
lalitk's avatar
lalitk
5,063 posts
 
In agreement with last two posts. My system is connected through Nordost QRT components and I have heard improvements every time I played with after market fuses.

fleschler
1,919 posts
 
I have all my source and pre-amp components plugged into a Bryston Bit 20 isolation transformer and my amps plugged directly into the same SR Black duplex. Only the amps require fuses. Plugging the amps into the Bryston ruins the sound by depressing the power available (30% decrease in voltage as read by my bias meters) squashing dynamics.and clarity.
oregonpapa's avatar
oregonpapa OP
4,867 posts
 
Lalitk 

Off with the ARC rubber dampeners and on with the Herbie's dampeners. The improvement is not subtle at all. 

Frank 
jafreeman's avatar
jafreeman
689 posts
 
  Well, the SR Blues are so dramatic in my Maggie 3.6Rs over the also-impressive SR Blacks, I had to add just one more SR Blue --to the AC main input of my Wadia 861SE, from 2003.  The Wadia uses the smaller, 20mm, 250V fuse at 1A. Since I push all values, I put in a 2.5A SR Blue to replace a 2A Black.
   The effects were immediate: more information in a more deeply-textured presentation.  I had to turn down the volume of the REL Strata III subs again, just as when adding the Blacks to the ARC amps' and subs' AC inputs.  The increase in low midrange with the SR fuses has required a backing down of the REL roll-offs from 30hz to 28 and now to 26.  There has just been too much bass from both the 3.6Rs and the subs together when adding these fuses.
   Perhaps I can add some bass back as these fuses mature, but for now, the overall balance of sound favors the low and midrange frequencies with more information, which is not to say the highs are suffering--just that they are somewhat overwhelmed, depending on the recording, and I wonder if this is the effect some of you are getting when you say the highs seem rolled off with the SR Blues--time will tell. 
  Regarding the use of isolation transformers and power cell/conditioners in conjunction with fuse upgrades, I also have only heard improvements by using all of these power-improving accessories.  Much has been said in many threads about what is gained and what is lost by trying the myriad products out there, but one rule appears constant; according to the product's capability and system requirements, front-end components are best served first, but as Folkfreak describes, the ultimate application is first a 240V/120V transformer service for all components, then other conditioners after that, as desired.
   In my layman's experience, these fuses are an extension of a solid foundation of pure and plentiful AC power, the medium upon which we are modulating our music signal.  What could be a better pursuit than this?        
audioman58's avatar
audioman58
3,858 posts
 
I have done a lot of experimenting with fuses a lot has to do with 
the circuit design some housing heavy Copper traces on the circuit board ,and the acme silver plated fuse holders or other brands 
made the impact  much less no matter what the fuses for the fuse is the bottle neck .Pass labs and a few others Donot use fuses in 
some of their gear ,just a breaker. I was saying the pricing is getting out of control $150 a fuses, now audio magic $230       bees wax-honey,and I am sure it damps it well, sonicly ? No idea  but in a pinch great in  Tea. One thing I found multitudes better,
a great Power cord ,your source - Digital for example . I seen a demonstration with several well known cords  the Verastarr we found had the biggest improvement vs $$ spent. Yes their was 
a Elrod that was slightly better But at 4x the cost IMO way excessive per return on dollar spent.
power cords are another subject entirely .i am just saying a good Hifi tuning supreme fuse is 3x less  but  spend on a reference power cord it is night and day more of an impact in your digital product better then a double blind test 5  people ,the 6th was doing the demo  with both a Meitner, and Lumin -S with outboard PS.
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