Stehno,
I inquired about the 5x20mm fuses specifically; maybe your price sheet reflects a 1.25" fuse. That's about the only explanation I can come up with. |
Albert, nice analogy with cables above. They all sounded ridiculous to me until I decided to listen for myself. As you may guess, I heard a difference with cables and tried probably 30 different cables over the last 5 years before finally finding one that made me say "I'm done."
All: FWIW, I have the HiFi Tuning Fuse as the AC fuse in my McCormack DNA-125 Platinum. It makes the sound airer, and instruments sound lighter. My considered opinion is they are very much like cables in the sense that some people will like the change they bring, while others won't. I also suspect, though I am not sure, that the level of difference they bring is system-dependent as well.
Hope everyone here has a great week ahead.
Howard
|
Stehno,
I have 4 fuses on my 125; one 6.3A per channel (rail fuses) and two 2A which are each in the signal path of both channels. I live in a very dry climate though, and have blown all 4 fuses on several occasions. I'm moving to Kansas in July, though, so maybe I'll fork out the $100 for 4 more. :)
Sirspeedy, I purchased my HiFi Tuning fuse from the guys at The Cable Company as well. http://www.fatwyre.com/
Good luck!
Howard |
I note the Isoclean only come in slow-blow "for best quality sound." I don't know about you guys, but I'm not willing to take the chance of my amp getting blown because I was an idiot and used a slow-blow fuse in a spot the manufacturer designed to be a fast-blow fuse to protect the circuits on either side.
My AC fuse is a slow-blow though; maybe I'll try the Isoclean and see. Might be too much of a good thing in my system. |
John,
Interesting! I went househunting out there a couple weeks ago and drove from Kansas City to the Manhattan area, where I bought a house. I was very surprised at the temperated weather (which I know won't last long) and the beautiful rolling terrain. The people were very friendly across the board, too. My wife and I grew up in and near Houston, Texas, so we're well-prepared for the muggy summers. :)
The monsoons and their corresponding brownouts and lightning storms here in the high desert caused me to buy an APC S10 last summer, but I will continue to unplug when those buggers hit in Kansas - thanks for the tip!
I've only been to Portland in Oregon, but I hear the entire state is just gorgeous. I'll bet you guys are really enjoying it there.
Howard |
I bought an Isoclean fuse to compare against the HiFi Tuning fuse. I seriously doubted there would be any difference.
Last night I sat down and spent three hours listening to several tracks twice - first time with one fuse in, second time with the other. I jotted down a few notes from time to time. Can you guess the results?
That's right - the HiFi Tuning fuse won almost across the board. For jazz and classical I preferred the HiFi Tuning fuse because everything seemed cleaner, airier, and just more "real." The Isoclean fuse had more-defined imaging, but I felt some wind instruments, chiefly alto and tenor sax, sounded ever-so-slightly colored. The only place I might have preferred the Isoclean was with hard rock.
Just my two cents, but I thought my experience was interesting in light of this thread.
As an aside, there's a thread on audiocircle where some folks in Denver recently tested various fuses, and found a silver-plated fuse that they liked better than the HiFi Tuning fuse. You can find the thread here: http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/viewtopic.php?t=28274
Howard |
Geoff,
Great question. I suppose I should flip the fuse around to see if I hear a difference. (I can't believe I actually just wrote that. Then again, I didn't believe the fuses would make any difference in the first place.) The info sheet that comes with the Isoclean fuse claims it is "directional" but doesn't really say which way to point it. I assume you point it to run with the current, but considering the location of the fuse in my amp (in a slide-out "pocket" directly below the power cord receptacle) I don't know which way the current runs at that point.
For grins, I'll try the fuse in each directions tonight and report back tomorrow.
Interestingly, the manufacturer of the HiFi Tuning Fuse states their fuse is *not* directional. |
Tbg,
Thanks for the tip on the fuse. We had an unexpected visitor tonight, which precluded me from testing the fuse. I'll run the test tomorrow night, though.
I went to South Texas College of Law in Houston for the short period of time it was known as the "Texas A&M Law Center."
It's ironic that the law school (and TAMU) lost in litigation over the affiliation/absorption, because STCL is ranked #1 in the nation for producing trial attorneys . :|
Hmmm.. I didn't know there were audiophiles in College Station. I'm glad to hear that! My wife and I still have friends there, and when we visit again I'll offer to take you to lunch to talk about our hobby. :)
Howard |
Here's the info I received from Furutech's USA office (they have no US distributor yet):
Dear Howard,
Thank you for your interest in Furutech product.
Our suggested retail price for Furutech Fuse 6.3A 30mm is $50.00 / piece.
Currently we do not have any more stock for it, if you are interested to place an order, we will order it from our Tokyo office.
Look forward to your reply.
Regards,
Patti
Alpha Design Labs Inc.
www.furutech.com
Tel: 626-571-5333 |
Stehno,
I'm curretnly a military attorney specializing (as best you can in the military) in criminal law. Before getting called to active duty I practiced commercial and tort litigation in Houston.
That sure is strange about the fuse; maybe the $50 is a typo.
While I'm on vacation for the next 30 days or so, I'm sending my Isoclean and HiFi Tuning fuses to Steve McCormack so he can play with them in his amps. It will be interesting to get his thoughts when he's done. :)
Howard |
For those interested, Steve listened to both the Hi-Fi Tuning and IsoClean fuses in his home system. I don't feel at liberty to publish what he sent me, but he may be willing to share his thoughts with owners of his equipment if you call or email him.
Primarily because the price was right, I special ordered some silver-plated fuses from Wayne at Bolder Audio. These were universally well-regarded (and considered superior to both the aforementioned fuses by many) at a recent audio get-together in Denver. I'll post my thoughts when I get a chance to listen to them, which should be in about a week. |
