Synergistic Red Fuse ...

^^^ Its no secret on this forum that I'm a huge fan of both the SR Red and Black fuses. Are they the very best out there? How would I know? The only experience I've had with fuses are the stock fuses that came with my equipment and the HiFi Tuning fuses that replaced the stock fuses. 

Here's what I do know ... I know what they are doing for my system and my system alone.

The most transparent mid range and sound stage I've ever gotten from my system was years ago when I owned a pair of Acoustat lV's. When fed enough power, those huge, ugly panels (I had removed the grill cloths) caused the entire back wall to fall away and the depth went on forever. They sounded incredible. That was almost 25 years ago, and my audio buddies are still talking about those damned Acoustats. 

Over the past number of years, I've been using a pair of Legacy Signature III's

 http://d2heru13qkbk4q.cloudfront.net/media/906323/scaled/IMG_0212.jpg

The Legacy's never approached the mid range or sound stage of the old Acoustats, but they had better highs and bass. With the SR Black fuses, the Legacy's now outperform the Acoustats in every way, including musicality. I know some people put down the Legacy III's, but that's because they bought them (like the guy I bought them from) and used solid state electronics to drive them. Well, they suck with SS electronics. With tubes, they are exceptional. At 93db they are easy to drive too. My ARC REF 75se just coasts driving these speakers. 

This gets me to this morning's listening session. I warmed the system up while making a fine brew of home roasted Guatamalan coffee (Yum!)  

The first thing I played was a CD of Bach's orchestral music that consisted of massed strings. Well, those strings filled the entire room, wafting over my head and striking the emotional center of the brain. I sat there shaking my head, dumbfounded at the beauty. It was disbelief suspended. 

So again, will the SR fuses work in every system? Perhaps, perhaps not. In Gwalt's system, they do not. At this point, I couldn't care less. My fuse search has ended. 

Mapman ...

Have you made a decision on the SR Red fuse I want to send you? Come on man ... I put two daughters through college too. I just want to help a brother out. :-)

Hang in guys ...

I certainly believe in the idea that there are numerous excellent products as opposed to an  "one and only best". I bet that I'd likely be very pleased with the Beeswax fuse as I am with the Black fuses. The thing is that I have the Black fuses and they happen to be superb in my system. Either of these fuses would make many listeners very happy is what I believe.  The big point for me is that premium level fuses are truly an asset in good quality audio systems. I'm just spreading the word.  Gwalt,I have no doubt that the Beeswax fuse sounds superb in your system. 
Charles, 

May I just ask--of all the SR Reds and Blacks being placed, how many of you are exceeding stock ratings by a little or a lot?  This is often needed
 because the SR offerings are high by .5 amp or because the boutique fuses may blow easier at the stock rating.  Another reason is a higher rating sounds better, IME.  I have pushed the ratings in my AC input fuses by an amp or two. The bigger filament adds more to the overall presentation, I believe. If these AC input fuses are removed, there is no sound--no power.  Does this imply all of the AC voltage passes through these tiny filaments? I mean, after all the over-size Romex, the transformers, the dedicated 20 amp lines, the 10 gauge AC cables, etc, are we being choked by these little filaments? Please tell me.  If you have Maggies, you have the additional potential to push the stock rating for an unbelievable result--at the midranges and tweeters, I have quadrupled the stock ratings, and I don't worry one bit about it, not with a 4000 watt isolation transformer serving my system--you should have faith in your power supply to do this, I would guess.  So, you have found the right fuse, but are you willing to extend that benefit even further?         

I have a VAC SigMKIIa pre and SR RED is NOT thin in my system.  My system is very revealing ...

It's all system dependent and personal preferences.  Not everyone is endorsing one fuse ... at least not in this thread.

Here are 2 reviews that mirrors my experience

SR RED

Audio Horizon Fuse

I don't buy the idea one would be satisfied with any aftermarket fuse.  I tried an Audio Magic fuse and the mid was elevated so didn't stay long.  BTW, I might still have it so shoot me a PM and it's yours.  It's 4 amp slo-blo that fits a VAC pre. 

May I just ask--of all the SR Reds and Blacks being placed, how many of you are exceeding stock ratings by a little or a lot?

0 out of 5.

This is often needed
 because the SR offerings are high by .5 amp or because the boutique fuses may blow easier at the stock rating

. Not from my experience

    Another reason is a higher rating sounds better, IME.  I have pushed the ratings in my AC input fuses by an amp or two. The bigger filament adds more to the overall presentation, I believe. 

That's not my understanding how a fuse works.   Bigger fuse doesn't sound better but will take a higher current before it blows.  

I've been using the sr reds in my arc preamp and power amp since they were introduced over a year ago. I was gaga over them, and could not believe the improvement. Since my amp was replaced recently by another arc amp, the fuse rating did not match up to the new one, so now, I will replace the fuse in the new amp with a BLACK one... 

Given, my new amp is still burning in. It only has 175 hours of 600 needed, but I can already tell, after the fact, that my red fuse that was in my old amp was indispensable and was part responsible for how transparent the old amp sounded.

Now even though my new amp is still burning in, the stock fuse in there, I'm sure, is mucking up the sound. There is a bit of nasally congestion in the upper mids, that I am attributing to the break in process, and or stock fuse.  Either way, I'm very much looking forward to getting the stock fuse and going straight to a Black fuse.

 If my mind is blown, then I may just upgrade the digital and analogue fuses in my scd5400es. Right now it has the blue furutech fuses in it.  The preamp has an SR red. Maggie's fuses are bypassed. (Immense improvement from taking the fuse out of the  Maggies) I will never go back to a fused Maggie. I've never had a problem and the transparency and lack of grain is too good to give up.