I installed a SR RED Quantum fuse in my ARC REF-3 preamp a few days ago, replacing an older high end fuse. Uhh ... for a hundred bucks, this little baby is well worth the cost. There was an immediate improvement upon installation, but now that its broken in (yes, no kidding), its quite remarkable. A tightening of the focus, a more solid image, and most important of all for my tastes, a deeper appreciation for the organic sound of the instruments. Damn! ... cellos sound great! Much improved attack on pianos. More humanistic on vocals. Bowed bass goes down forever. Next move? .... I'm doing the entire system with these fuses. One at a time though just to gauge the improvement in each piece of equipment. The REF-75se comes next. I'll report the results as the progression takes place. Stay tuned ...
Any comments from anyone else who has tried these fuses?
I've read the reviews and the devise seems to improve the tonal balance of instruments even further. Accurate tonal balance is one of the most important things to attain in an audio system in my opinion. I'll start trying them one at t time ... one per month. Thanks again ...
Sorry about the confusion. I bought 2 of those and use one on each side of my outlet like the author posted on the web site. They are awesome and I just found them hard to believe that would make such a difference. To me it is just a piece of wood and not plug in to anything. I am still in shock but my wife noticed the sound improved too. According to Jack from Bybee, it will also improve the quality on your TV. He also told me in email that I should try them in my fuse box outside of my house. Since I only have them for 2 days, I will follow up later with more details.
Thanks for the heads up on the Bybee product. I’m a little confused by your post though. I read through the Bybee article and they cite the price at $150. In your post you say that "you got the device today and its the best $300 bucks you ever spent. Did the price go up to $300 each, or did you buy two of them? Thanks ...
I just got this device today and it's everything the author said in the article. No break in is necessary, you could hear the difference right away. The effect is bigger than the 6 fuses that I replaced in my PS audio BHK amp. That could be the best $300 bucks I ever spent.
I remember, as a kid, seeing Psycho and never being used to using the shower for some time without that staccato string attack going off in the back of my head.🔪🔪🔪
Nonoise Bernard Hermann had a big influence on me way back when and is responsible for my appreciation of modern day soundtracks. I like to call these pieces mini-classical in nature as they generally use an orchestra, or parts of, and the pieces are short but can be dynamic in nature. They can also be soft and beguiling, lulling one into reverie. Yes, those massed strings.
Bernard Hermann had a big influence on me way back when and is responsible for my appreciation of modern day soundtracks. I like to call these pieces mini-classical in nature as they generally use an orchestra, or parts of, and the pieces are short but can be dynamic in nature. They can also be soft and beguiling, lulling one into reverie. Yes, those massed strings.
Nowadays, it can be anyone from Thomas Newman to Bear McCreary to Trent Reznor and esoteric composers like Ryuichi Sakamoto, Alva Soto and Johann Johannsson. They all offer great escape and comfort.
Sometimes those primitive sonics can be refreshing. I still love the way old movie tracks sound, especially those from the '40s and '50s. They had a magical way with massed strings.
Tommylion, I have long considered Brahms' First to be my all-time no. 1 favorite symphony. I don't have the Klemperer, which I understand to be magnificent. But among the various versions I have my favorite is the performance by Jascha Horenstein and the London Symphony, recorded in 1962 and masterfully reissued on a Chesky CD. It is out of print but is available used from various sellers. Performance and sonics are both amazing!
Also, Toscanini's remarkable 1940 performance can be listened to and/or downloaded and burned to CD (which I've done) here. The performance is sufficiently captivating that the primitive sonics probably won't matter. They didn't for me, at least.
Thanks for the friendship guys. Believe me, It's very important in these times. Open heart surgery isn't for the faint of heart. Oh, wait ...
I've been experimenting with a new product as a "tester." I'm not allowed to discuss it because it's not on the market yet. Its so good that I can't tear myself away from the system. As soon as I get the go-ahead, I'll do a complete review and I'll be encouraging everyone here to jump on it. It's the best tweak ever.
Yeah, welcome back Frank, didn’t know about this, wondered why all went quiet for a while, thought you just sat out out for rounds 9 and 10. Back into it yeah, ding, round 11.
Frank, What a friend you have in Robert. It is gratifying to read you two are back doing what you (and I) love, listening to music. At this moment I am listening (again 😊) to the Milt Jackson Savoy recordings you made for me . Glad to know that you are doing so well Frank. Charles
In the meantime, I'm back home from ten days in rehab. Breathing normally with the new heart valves ... and the audio system is sounding suburb. Yes, better than ever!
Robert came over last night and played the part of the DJ so I didn't have to expend any effort to change discs and records. So nice to be back in the world of the living. Modern medicine is a God send. When in dire straits, we discover that there are those in the background who have dedicated their lives to helping others. The surgeon's skills are amazing of course, but what of the nurses, occupational therapists and physical therapists who take such great care to make one as comfortable as possible to ease the way back to good health? Where are their Oscar awards ceremonies?
I am overwhelmed with gratitude just to be able to make this post. Its great to be back guys.
Thank you, Kenny (Kdude66). I’ve enjoyed your posts in the Tekton Double Impact thread.
Geoffkait 5-26-2017 Ignore the AV just like the AC when it’s traveling in the direction toward the wall outlet. You can’t hear what’s headed toward the wall outlet, only what’s headed toward the speakers. That’s why fuses are directional in both DC circuits and AC circuits. CASE CLOSED.
On the other hand, though, an instructive experiment might be to install a diode having a suitable current rating in place of the mains fuse of a component. Connecting it such that it would allow current in the direction of the component, but would block current in the direction of the wall outlet.
Chances are nothing much at all would be heard in most cases. Before as well as after the component’s power transformer burns out due to the resulting DC offset.
Big deal! It's a Red Herring. Ignore the AV just like the AC when it’s traveling in the direction toward the wall outlet. You can’t hear what’s headed toward the wall outlet, only what's headed toward the speakers. That’s why fuses are directional in both DC circuits and AC circuits. CASE CLOSED.
I took some time and read through this thread and all I got was Fused up,but I did like this,
Both the voltage and the current alternate in AC. That follows from the fact that per Ohm’s Law, which applies to resistive loads, voltage and current are directly proportional to each other. (And for a capacitive load current is proportional to the rate of change of voltage, and vice versa for an inductive load, and all of those quantities also alternate in the case of AC).
That can be easily seen on an oscilloscope, where the vertical axis of the graph that is displayed corresponds to voltage and the horizontal axis corresponds to time. AC will look like a close approximation of a sine wave, swinging both positively and negatively, above and below zero volts.
Cool Frank I look forward to hearing your thoughts, nothing like a bit of removal and time laid up to think to bring a fresh perspective on things. Perhaps a small silver lining to your situation.
Thanks, guys. This time away has given me a lot of time to rethink this audio hobby of ours. I'll be sharing those thoughts after I'm home for a few days. It has to do with no rights and no wrongs. Just different approaches not necessarily trying to reach the same goal.
Glad to have you back Frank. Your ears must be quite acute if you could hear the blood flowing from a faulty valve. No one here can now question your aural acuity!
As for the donor of you new aortic valve, you're in great company since Arnold Schwarzenegger had the same model installed in his heart as well. Just don't do any action movies for a while. 😃😃
Actually I believe that the hearing has improved. Before the surgery, I could hear a pulse in the left ear ... swish, swish, swish. That's all gone now. Even with the swishing I could hear the direction of the fuses *lol*
Thanks guys. Been taking a break from these parts but all is well. Papa, good to hear from you. Maybe with the new ticker you'll be able to hear fuses even better now? :^)
Thanks for the kind thoughts. This has been a real ass kicker. I'm still in rehab and hope to be home again on Friday. Two repaired heart valves and a brand new aortic valve from a pig. Oink, oink! Oxygen is flowing nicely through the body and internal organs now. I can breathe ... I can breathe!
Great to see you back here, Mapman. Many here have noticed your absence in the past few months. Hope all is going ok for you and the family. As well as for Frank, of course.
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