Huh? Are we still talking about the same fuse? I thought Audio Magic was the only one with liquid inside. You mean Audio Magic is not the only guy who drills teeny tiny holes in the fuses? Could I be wrong?
Audio Horizons fuses.... won’t buy them again...
I’ve bought 5 Audio Horizons Platinum fuses a couple of months ago, for my amps, speakers and DAC.
Three days ago, coincidentially, the 5A fuses on my mono amps (Rogue Apollos), blew at the same time on start up. Replaced them with the OEM fuses, and everything works again.
I have a very good electrical installation, with independent lines for each amp, a no surges or anything strange occurred. My speakers, Evolution Acoustics MM3s are always ON, and nothing happened to the fuses on them.
I emailed Joseph Chow inmediately and his response was to send the fuses back to him (at my cost, I live in Ecuador...), to repair them for $70/each, plus shipping.
I have paid $138 for each fuse in October, and no warranty?... what a shame!!!
Won’t buy these fuses again, NEVER!!!
Three days ago, coincidentially, the 5A fuses on my mono amps (Rogue Apollos), blew at the same time on start up. Replaced them with the OEM fuses, and everything works again.
I have a very good electrical installation, with independent lines for each amp, a no surges or anything strange occurred. My speakers, Evolution Acoustics MM3s are always ON, and nothing happened to the fuses on them.
I emailed Joseph Chow inmediately and his response was to send the fuses back to him (at my cost, I live in Ecuador...), to repair them for $70/each, plus shipping.
I have paid $138 for each fuse in October, and no warranty?... what a shame!!!
Won’t buy these fuses again, NEVER!!!
95 responses Add your response
Maybe Audio Horizons might just practice a bit of "love" as well. No warranty on a 138.00 fuse and a cheerful and presumably empathetic offer to "repair" for the generous price of 70.00 each plus shipping? Some of us clearly get it Geoff. You say don't be a rube, i say don't be a chump to such overt greed. It's principle not sound. |
George, you just don’t get it. Audiophiles want fuses that sound good. Haven’t you been paying attention? They don’t want some cheap jive fuse. They’ve been there, done that. That’s why audiophiles have bought ten thousand aftermarket fuses since they first can out almost 20 years ago. Don’t be a cube, rube, go ape! 🤪 Holiday tip: resolve for the New Year to try an aftermarket fuse for yourself. See what all the hoopla is about. Don’t be a hater, be a lover. And be sure and try both directions. |
leog2015 $70!!! bucks to fix a fuse. What next!!! Save your $$ and throw it away as you would with a blown fuse. And get a approved rated for your equipment $2.00 fuse from anywhere, Digikey, Farnell, Element 14, and many other suppliers of electronic components. They may even have some $4.00 "special" ones that have branded ends. There are 7325 to choose from here none much over $2, this should ring a bell about "audio" mains fuses https://www.digikey.com.au/products/en/circuit-protection/fuses/139?k=Fuses&k=&pkeyword=Fuses&pv49=80&FV=ffe0008b&mnonly=0&ColumnSort=0&page=1&quantity=0&ptm=0&fid=0&pageSize=25 Cheers George |
@leog2015 I will try the SR Blacks next time. Did you not read my response above? Both the AH and the SR Black fuses blew in my Primaluna integrated amp. After calling the distributor, they recommended I increase the fuse rating which worked with no consequences. Do you believe SR would have replaced your fuses after the warranty period? |
Geoff, absolutely all fuses fail as do all electrical components. And I have no issue with aftermarket fuses. However I prefer a fuse that has been tested and certified in the same way that I prefer that my auto has been rated in the NHTSA crash tests. I also prefer a warranty on a product that is longer than a month. Putting things in all caps is a charming literary device however it does not increase the veracity of the statement. |
viridian If only one in 10,000 fails why is the warranty only one month? Only in audio and politics do you find these kinds of disconnects IMHO. Geoff, I don’t think that the point about UL listing is moot at all. The AH fuses are apparently not UL listed and may be out of spec. I would prefer a UL listed, or ISO certified as someone else mentioned, fuse in my gear and if Isoclean is UL listed that’s great. I also prefer UL listed plugs and outlets. There is a reason that electrical connectors are safety tested and rated. >>>>Not to belabor the point unnecessarily, the UL issue is moot because all types of fuses ocassionally fail, even stock fuses, you know, Littelfuse and Bussman. It’s not the fuse’s fault if it blows — as far as we know. Aftermarket fuses have been with us for almost what, 20 years? We have know FOR ALMOST 20 YEARS that sometimes the fuse rating must be increased somewhat to prevent premature blowing. Problem solved. As I pointed out previously, if there was an issue with a fuse’s manufacturer, the manufacturer would be subject to legal repercussions, perhaps. But that has not happened. As least not to my knowledge, and I have been following the subject rather closely for many years. A fuse blows sometimes. That’s what a fuse is supposed to do. And when it blows it PREVENTS DAMAGE TO ELECTRONICS AND FIRES. To the OP, Your warrantee ran out. Get over it. |
Obviously, no storms, surges, nothing strange happened.As for voltage surges how would you know? Not all voltage surges are caused by storms. I notice the input voltage rating for the amps is 115Vac. What is the avg mains AC voltage at your residence? Is it stable or does it fluctuate? Does it ever get above 126V? What was the voltage at the mains power receptacle outlets the day you powered up the amps and the AH fuses blew? I doubt if you know...... Who checks such things. Am I defending the Audio Horizons fuses? NO. Just giving the guy at AH the benefit of doubt. Just a guess the 5 amp OEM slow blow fuses that came with the amps have a longer lag, delay, time than the AH fuses. If the amps are still under manufacture warranty you might want to check with the manufacture about using aftermarket fuses in the amp, in place of the OEM fuses that is spec’d by the manufacture. Especially tube amps. Use of any other than Rogue Audio factory parts may void this warranty.http://www.rogueaudio.com/documents/ApolloManual.pdf |
This is a copy of the email from AH: ”Hi Leo, That's weird, no sure if the storm around your area cause the power surge. Is this happening right after power up? We see less than 0.01 % rating failure in our sales record and we only provide one month warranty. However, please check the current rating and either slow or fast blow in your original stock fuse. We can reworking your fuse once it return and cost $70 each plus shipping. Happy holiday! “ |
Wait a minute.....You say he charges $70 each to repair? Um,,,, don't you just throw it away and get a new one? Sounds like his definition of repair is getting his cost and then some for the replacements. In most applications replacing stock fuses with vastly overpriced expensive ones seems like a lot of BS to me. |
Geoff, there is a very well documented case of a tube amp catching fire at an exhibition in Germany a couple of years ago and doing damage to the hotel room. I have also worked on amps that had burn marks on the chassis and on resistors. Now maybe the fuse is not the culprit in these fires, but I prefer to have Underwrighter’s Laboritories between me and the wall outlet. I believe that their certification also requires the manufacturer to carry liability insurance against failures, or in the case of fuses, lack of failures. |
30 days is what it takes shipping to Ecuador... Bad customers service, to say the least. Increasing the amp value of the fuses will be dangerous for the amplifiers, don’t you think? I will always prefer to protect my equipment, not the fuses. Sometimes, you have to make EXCEPTIONS, just to keep clients happy, and replacing a pair of defective fuses wouldn’t have been a big problem for Mr. Chow... By the way, the OEM fuses are working perfectly. |
I had one AH fuse blow within the 30 days and Joseph Chow replaced it immediately. Prior to owning AH fuses, I also had a SR black fuse blow within the 30 days and replaced immediately. I called Primaluna and said I needed to increase the fuse rating on my integrated amp and had no problems since plus I had no problems with AH fuses in my other equipment. As geoff stated above, there are cases where you you may need to increase the fuse rating. But since your fuses blew on both amps simultaneously after 2 months there may be another problem. |
Most aftermarket fuses come with 30 day money back guarantee. Only one of the 15 aftermarket fuses comes with 60 day money back guarantee. You exceeded both the 30 and 60 day periods. So, you’re actually lucky Audio Horizon will replace or repair your fuses for less than the original cost. Sounds like he was doing you a favor. This could just be a case where you need to increase the fuse rating, as others have noted. There is no free lunch. 🍔 🍟 🍪 ☕️ |
Sorry to hear about your experience with the Audio Horizon fuses. They are expensive. May I suggest you try the Brimar Audio fuses? I think you'd be pleasantly surprised. All the best, Nonoise |