geoffkait ...
"Well, for one thing that’s not really skepticism ..."
I was referring to those who "know" the fuses don't work without even trying them.
"Just curious, which tweaks did you try that didn’t work for you, that you felt burned by?"
1. Green paint for CD's. Black paint for CD's.
2. Tice Clock.
3. Don't recall the name, but a black box with a power cord attached that when plugged into any outlet was supposed to lower the noise floor. It did absolutely nothing.
4. After market turntable mat that did nothing except slow the speed of the turntable motor.
5. CD mat ... no change.
6. After market jumper cables for the speakers that actually degraded the sound.
7. ... more and more ... :-)
" I can certainly understand the melodrama ..."
Melodrama? What melodrama? I'm just chronicling my experiences with the SR fuses. Geeze, Louise ... if you want to see melodrama, read the posts from some of the naysayers who haven't tried the fuses. *lol*
" It happens with cables, it happens with power cords, it happens with Mpingo discs, it happens with CD treatments, with demagnetizers, with contact enhancers and it happens with it happens with fuses."
With the exception of Mpingo discs, I have tried everything else above. Some were busts and some were major improvements. Some that worked were the result of trial and error. An example ... I've tried a number of contact enhancers and CD treatments. One contact enhancer gave an improvement initially but then eventually dulled the sound. It was a real bear to get it off of the RCA plugs and tube pins. Now, I just use Caig Red and Gold. Works great. After much trial and error, I've settled on a CD treatment formulated by a friend, the contents of which, he keeps close to the vest. For a solution to clean records on my VPI 16.5, I make my own. Its better than anything I've tried in the commercial products and it costs only pennies to make up a gallon of solution. Oh, years ago, I bought a VCR tape demagnetizer from Radio Shack. I treat every CD with it after cleaning with my friend's CD cleaning solution. It really takes the digital edge off of the CD's that need it. They sound much more analog like after the treatment.
And yes ... the direction of the fuse makes all the difference. Like going from a system that's out of phase, to one that brings you to a new level of resolution and musical enjoyment. With all of that said, the SR fuses are such a revelation in my system, that I find it really hard to imagine that they don't work in every application. I suspect that the user isn't letting the fuse break in ... or that the system has some other problem attached to it.
On the other hand, there are those who find a really great single malt Scotch to be unpalatable, or are completely oblivious to a glorious rainbow or a beautiful sunset. To each his own ...
Take care ...