Fuses are a difficult subject, because there will always be people who don't believe they can make any difference.. And there also be people who don't hear any difference, either because they are less discerning as to the changes in their sound systems or because their systems are not good enough to show any differences. Or, what's even more likely, they have never tried any aftermarket fuses in their systems, but they generally know better about things in this and other subjects and they want to let the world know about it.
Fuses have occupied me recently - a few months ago, I would have never believed they could change anything in my system, but they did! I have written a little review of a Polish product as compared to SR Blue, I've had it on my computer for a while, wondering where to publish it. I just thought I might publish it here. I liked the Polish fuse much more than the product from SR, but hang on, things are not as obvious as they might seem.
The Verictum X Fuse happened to massacre the Synergistic Research Blue fuse in my system consisting of a Metronome CD8 S player, a custom-made KT88 amplifier and a set of Franco Serblin Accordo speakers. Its advantage was manifested primarily in the unique culture of the sound versus the vivisection of the SR. There was no jaw dropping when it comes to the bass range. Well, there was the right amount of bass all right, and there was nothing missing in that area. But most of all, the bass came where it should have been and when it should have been. Such a seemingly dry review of the bass is actually a big compliment, because, most of all ,I do appreciate a balanced sound, where no range is emphasised. The area where the X Fuse really stood out right from the start is the midrange. Beautiful vocals (especially male vocals), acoustic instruments, outstanding piano and incredible realism of the double bass, "you can hear the wood" said a friend of mine. I did not get the impression that the X Fuse might adversely affect the treble (as I’ve heard from one user of Polish forum). Maybe people who have relatively warm-sounding amplifiers can get that impression because the X Fuse certainly does not emphasize this range. Strong treble may lead to “a good first impression”. Strong treble may also be conducive to creating hyper space. However, we should ask ourselves if live music really sounds like that. Listening to live music in a jazz club, for example, we don't see those hectares of space among the musicians, not at least in my experience. What you do get, however, is a coherent, natural sound that will make you abandon whatever you were doing and listen to your favourite music for hours. I still feel obliged to report an Audio Research user preferred the Blue J
Before and during the listening I read everything that had been published about these fuses, both in Poland and abroad (not much there), and one conclusion I drew (apart from the ones I will keep to myself) is that little is said about the significance of the breakin period. When I replaced the fuse in my CD player, the sound was great right away, then the sound improved further. The sound was very good right from the start maybe because the Metronome CD8S is generally a great sorcerer when it comes to colour. But in the case of my amplifier, there were moments when I wanted to return the fuse. My amplifier is hyper-transparent and the addition of X Fuse brought an effect I did not quite like at first. But things improved so much after some 200 hours or so; the artificial hyper detail smoothed out, and there was just beautiful, noble sound, further enhancing the realism of the acoustic instruments. Diana Krall was no longer intrusive with the details of her thorax, but started to sing as your mother might have sounded when she was putting you to sleep. To sum up, I would strongly emphasise the significance of the breakin period, even if it’s not stressed as much as the infamous breakin of Furutech’s products (I did break in Furutech’s rhodium outlet so I know what I’m talking about).
Overall, I believe the Synergistic Research Blue might be an excellent product when you are concerned about impact on your treble (in warmer-sounding gear), when you love your soundstage expansive the American way, when you love your bass to impress your guests. But if you want to hear what musical instruments really sound like and your gear is up to the task, I would choose the X Fuse. I would say, X Fuse is Europe, with all its upsides and limitations, and the Blue is America, with all its grandeur and limitations ;)
Disclaimer: I am a customer having recently purchased X Fuse products encouraged by recommendations from some friends of mine. I absolutely have no personal interests in promoting the X Fuse. I am a university teacher in Poland in no way related to the industry.
I happen to be a member of a Facebook group of audiophiles of the U.S. where people produce a lot of hate speech targeted at Ted, the owner of Synergistic Research. In my review of the X Fuse, I do not mean to discourage people from using his products. I just want to draw your attention to the X Fuse, because I believe it is an absolutely outstanding product. But it’s for experienced audiophiles, who are far over with the audiophile hype, people who want to sit down with a glass of good whiskey and listen to music. But then the discussion is still purely academic, as I believe Vercitum does not do much trading abroad anyway… If you only get a chance to grab it, do! You might find your holy grail!
P.
