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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
shadorne's avatar
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shadorne
7,467 posts
 
Oregonpapa,

This is the explanation for why the fuse works for you (makes an audible difference):

 Your equipment component has a poorly designed power supply. 
imgoodwithtools
236 posts
 
Wow. I think "poorly designed" is a stretch. There's No Way my Audio Research Reference 6 has a poorly designed power supply. Not in how both transparent and Just How Good it sounds. John Atkinson's measurements of the Ref 6 in Stereophile do not show any power supply defects, either. 

But I think there is some merit in your thought process, shadorne. A year or so ago, I tried SR Black fuses in my amps at the time, a pair of Ayre Acoustics MX-R Twenties. I heard No significant change in sound from the stock "two dollar" fuse when compared to the SR Blacks. 

Is that because they were installed in a differently designed component? Or because a preamp has influence over smaller signals than an amplifier? I don't know.

When I tried a Black fuse in my Ref 6, the sound was transformed from marginally great to awesome. Also, a Sain Power Systems cord also gave a appreciable improvement in sound. So, in a way, I agree with you. I think the auditory improvements of fuses, in general, depend on the design of the equipment they are installed in.
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almarg
9,670 posts
 
Tom (TheAudioTweak), thank you for your sincere, thoughtful, and well composed explanation. What you’ve written may be the best such attempt I have yet seen.

 

However, while I see no reason to dispute the possibility that it might explain the sonic benefits that have been claimed in at least a few applications, when it comes to many or most other applications it seems to me that there are some issues with it:

 

1)Regarding the following statement …

All fuses have a solid element which is modulated by the signal that travels thru that element. Circuit breakers and my preference magnets are less prone to modulation and vibration created by the passing of signal. They will generate less interference by design or by material or both. Much of this interference in a standard fuse will be reflected back and forth along the conductor...because of the change in boundary speed and shape at either end of the element.

 … As I’m sure you realize, in many circuit applications fuses conduct neither a signal nor a current which varies as a function of signal. Or a current that even varies at all, aside from the repetitive and nominally sinusoidal variation within each 60 Hz AC cycle in the case of mains fuses. The current conducted by fuses in most preamplifiers, most source components, and even fuses in some power amplifiers (if they are biased in class A and provide large amounts of energy storage) has essentially zero variation from cycle to cycle. So I’m not sure that your statement has broad applicability.

 

2)Wouldn’t the shear wave effects you have described, to the extent they may occur in a one inch or so length of fuse wire and its associated boundaries, be completely swamped by corresponding effects in all of the rest of the wiring in the component, as well as in external wiring such as the power cord, as well as in the electrical parts in the component?

As you pointed out yourself:

… all the solid materials that make up any system are in a continual state of motion.   The fuse element is the most simple of all the solid conductors in any audio system .   Its understanding and refinement of application could be applied to all other solid materials and shapes in a sound system.


3)Most fundamentally, what leads you to conclude that the effect you have described, as it occurs in a fuse, would be great enough in degree to have audible significance with the **consistency** that has been reported, regardless of which of the extremely diverse applications I listed in my previous post is involved?


In any event, thank you once again for what I consider to be an excellent attempt at an explanation.

Best regards,

-- Al

 

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lalitk
5,055 posts
 
+1, @audiotweak
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geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
I suspect the vibration of walls in concert with seismic low frequency vibration would swamp any micro effects associated with fuses, capacitors, transformers, not that those effects would be inaudible in most cases. That’s why capacitors, fuses and transformers and CD transport mechanisms should be damped - using some effective means, of course, not an ineffective means. That’s also why aftermarket fuses often address vibration concerns, with beeswax, ceramic fuse bodies and such. Personally I like using pure natural cork. Aka Quark! 

Riddle me this. Why do high end amp manufacturers still insist on coupling the transformer directly to the chassis with BOLTS?!

Pop quiz: how many concerns are there for fuses, in terms of signal quality? I’ve just given you one.

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