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 have the Jo+Jazz on both LP and CD. I have "Ballad of The Blues" on LP but not on CD. If the CD is anything like the LP, you're in for a real treat. I'd be interested in what you think of the sound quality of the CD. If they made a good quality transfer from the tape, I'll buy it. Thanks ...
Hi Frank, I ordered 2 Jo Stafford CDs from Amazon.com "Ballad Of The Blues " and "Jo +Jazz" which features an 8 piece band (members of Duke Ellington’s band). I also ordered Al Hibbler "Unchained Melody " (thanks Al). Can’t wait to listen to them. Charles
Just installed a pair of Blacks today in Quad 12L actives, replacing Furutech fuses. Noticed some pleasant differences straight out of the box in a few senses. Look forward to what shows after burn in. Of course, the thing about checking direction with two powered speakers is that there are four possibilities. although I have a sense that one speaker is performing better than the other.
For those of you who love soulful music from south of the border, Linda
Ronstadt made one album with great Mexico City musicians. I heard her perform the songs on this album live at the Universal Amphitheater in L.A. An amazing evening.
Personally, I love really good Mexican music, being exposed to it through living in Southern California all of my life and a 35 year marriage to a woman whose Mom was born in Mexico and a Dad who was born in Central America. There were marimbas, guitars and castanets at family get-togethers. The Dad was a fine marimba player ... even playing professionally at one time.
Al ...
Where I got the idea that Al Hibble was a Brit is a mystery to me. I've believed that since I was a kid. Now I find out that he was born in Mississippi. Thanks for the correction. This is a little treat for you, Al:
By the way Al, you mentioned the Righteous Brothers ... A friend of mine (Bill Perry) played guitar on all of their albums. To this day, I cannot find his credits on the liner notes on any of the RB albums.
You are welcome. I like making others aware of good music and I enjoy the recommendations from those posting here. No matter how large one's music library is there are always new discoveries introduced.
Allan I've used the PS Audio PWT (memory transport) for the past 7 years and it is truly excellent with Redbook CD.
How anyone could prefer the 1965 recording by the Righteous Brothers, who it seems had the best known and most popular of the many hundreds of recordings of the song that have been released, is absolutely beyond me.
A minor correction, though: Al Hibbler was an American.
Billy Eckstine has always been one of my favorites. As a junior high kid, I was obsessed with trying to sound like him. I was always trying to sing "I Apologize" in that deep, wonderful crooner's voice. Never could pull it off of course, but I tried. I saw him in concert back in the 70's as a side act with Sammy Davis Jr. He sang and played the trumpet ... and while an older voice at that time, he still had the juice.
Joe Williams and the Brit, Al Hibbler, were two more favorites of mine back in the day. Oh, and I have the Johnny Hartman albums he did with John Coltrane. Man, those are a couple of demo vocal records if there ever were any. Soul, man ... soul.
The Peggy Lee album you recommended is available on Ebay right now in both vinyl and CD format.
Here's one from that era I believe you and others would enjoy. Peggy Lee "Blues Cross Country" features her with a big band with arrangements by a young Quincy Jones, very good music/recording.
Helen Merrill with Clifford Brown is a classic! So is Sarah Vaughan with Clifford Brown, timeless music. Agree with your opinion of Doris Day’s vocal talent. Two excellent male vocalist from that era are Billy Eckstine and Johnny Hartman. There’s an enormous amount of wonderful music available as this thread often confirms. I will checkout Jo Stafford "Ballad Of The Blues" this sounds like something I’d really enjoy.
I'm using Herbie's Ultra Sonic RX's. So far, I've put these into the REF-3 preamp and the CD player. Next will be the phono stage and the amp. I see no reason at this point ... or ever, to buy another CD player. Red Book CD's can boggle the mind. If you haven't sent your CD-7 back to the factory for the "SE" power supply upgrade, I highly recommend it. The CD player is using a full compliment of SR Black fuses, Herbie's tube dampeners, a Synergistic Research Level III power cord and a balanced Von Gaylord Legend IC. Expensive, yes. But I know what the CD-7 is capable of at this point ... and it goes WAY beyond reason.
On Linda Ronstadt ...
Glad you're appreciating it. She was a great singer, and when unleashed with Nelson Riddle on the Great American Songbook, she was a power to be reckoned with.
If you truly like the music on the "Round Midnight" Ronstadt album, you'll like the other two as well ... the same level of artistry and the same quality of sound. Prior to Nelson's Riddle's passing, they had a fourth album planned. Untimely death, indeed.
The music you've been exposed to on these albums are really a trip into musical history. Here's some other artists to expose yourself to:
Jo Stafford ... "Ballad of The Blues." I have the original six eye Columbia stereo. The sound is excellent and the sound stage goes on forever.
Here's another Jo Stafford album where she appears with the Art Van Damme Quintet. Excellent sound. Van Damme plays the accordion with his group. Don't laugh, he really swings and along with Myron Florin, was on of the world's premier jazz accordion players.
June Christy ... A teriffic jazz ballad singer. She was married to the great tenor sax player Bob Cooper. She's been one of my favorites since high school in the 50's. In fact, I bought this album when it first came out. Its a must have. Here's a sealed copy of Cisco's reissue of "Something Cool." I have it as well as the original. The Cisco reissue is better. Buy it, you won't be sorry:
All of the above recommendations have been in my collection for years. All are demo quality that will bring out the best from your system. Most are mono ... but the kind of mono that will have you asking: "Who needs stereo?"
I truly hope you try these albums. Compared to what passes for pop music these days, they are a breath of fresh air.
If you like, I can recommend some really great male ballad singers from the past as well. Have you ever heard Tony Martin? :-)
Please keep me posted. One the things I enjoy most about this hobby is that it gives an opportunity to expose those two or three generations up the line from me to great music like we've been discussing here. Like they say ... "Eminem and Justin, eat your friggin' hearts out. :-)
Are you using the Rx or the SS dampers for your CD7? BTW, I read through some of your previous posts and bought the Linda Ronstadt Round Midnight Album. Got it from Amazon and love it. Anything that you can recommend similar to that? Thx and greatly appreciated:)
^^^ I was going to answer .... but what's the point? There's way too much music to listen to tonight to be the whipping boy for a couple of infantile egos.
By the way ... I installed six of Herbies tube dampeners in the ARC-CD 7-se last night. The result? ... A completely new level of resolution and musicality. Zowie.
+1 ptss, and I’d say every tech on this planet would say so too. And they are the ones that design the equipment we all listen to. And here we have a few voodooists that have next to no tech skills at all saying they’re wrong. It’s really sad to think that they have some influence over the gullible to hand over a hundred + dollars for a 10 cent mains fuse, and to also have the hide to say it's directional as well, with no proof from the manufacturer stating so.
Hello everyone , i am new bee and need your help !!! I bought 2 SR black fuses for my Mcintosh MC 501 and 1 for my wadia 781 i . The question i need help that which direction of arrow on fuses go into the amp and the CD player ? *** for MC 501 the arrow point down or point up ? *** *** and the wadia 781 i arrow point down or up ? **** Thank you for your help . Cheers .
One of the most appropriate comments I've read about the SR (Synergistic Research) Red Quantum Fuse and Black Quantum Fuse discussion (or should it be called blatant promotion?)-- "
I will continue to question fraudulent imaginary nonsensical products as insulting to the professional designers who do the actual good work , and who don’t need to compromise their integrity with inexplicable pseudo tweaks to make a buck. " from wolf_garcia. Honesty is so refreshing in this thread.
Years ago I was visiting my neighbor, the late Lars Friedel (friend of Stereophile’s Sam Tellig), and the Sun Mook dudes had recently installed a bunch of Mpingo disc things in his sound room (Lars reviewed gear for Euro mags). We both thought the whole thing was pretty strange, and after having them in his system for a while he was certain they were utterly useless. Geoffkait mentions a pile of silly "take it on faith" tweaks that have been deemed useless by many listeners who actually hear as well as anybody, but by simply repeating over and over that something illogical, unproven , and maybe dangerous (improperly rated fuses) that is designed to remove money from the pockets of "naive seekers" provides a path to better sound doesn’t make the tweak actually work. I’ve been delighted to hear differences I didn’t expect from various cables, tubes, active gear of all sorts, and designer recommended setup suggestions, and welcome all of that, but I will continue to question fraudulent imaginary nonsensical products as insulting to the professional designers who do the actual good work , and who don’t need to compromise their integrity with inexplicable pseudo tweaks to make a buck.
Unfortunately what we have here is just another situation where some folks just can’t hear the difference. It happens all the time. It happens with many tweaks, especially the more controversial or preposterous tweaks, you know the ones I’m talking about. Things like Mpingo disc, green pen, holographic foil, intelligent chip, tiny bowl resonators, you know, things that either don’t APPEAR to be in the audio path OR actually AREN'T IN THE AUDIO PATH. It's frequently a pretty obvious case of the Backfire Effect, I.e., the more you try to convince someone he’s wrong the more convinced he is that he’s right. Moreover, some folks have invested a lot of energy defending their position, years. Is that a self fulfilling prophecy or what?
+1, well said geoff !
"Expectation bias" works for the naysayers as well. If you do not expect to hear a difference, you won't.
If I don't spend money on it, it cannot possibly work, for I am a genius!! ;^)
Unfortunately what we have here is just another situation where some folks just can’t hear the difference. It happens all the time. It happens with many tweaks, especially the more controversial or preposterous tweaks, you know the ones I’m talking about. Things like Mpingo disc, green pen, holographic foil, intelligent chip, tiny bowl resonators, you know, things that either don’t APPEAR to be in the audio path OR actually AREN'T IN THE AUDIO PATH. It's frequently a pretty obvious case of the Backfire Effect, I.e., the more you try to convince someone he’s wrong the more convinced he is that he’s right. Moreover, some folks have invested a lot of energy defending their position, years. Is that a self fulfilling prophecy or what?
jmcgrogan2 You did it now Larry (lak), you have awakened the barking chihuahuas. They are barking up a storm and nipping at your heels. Hahaha!
People always underestimate chihuahuas. In their native country they are bred as hunting dogs and have been known to bring down a 200 lb man who had a 20 yard head start.
@mac48025 ;-) of course, I knew you were kidding... Luckily, I usually have time each morning to listen to my system, many times later in the day also.
I had added the SR Black fuse to my preamp, Phono Preamp, Dac’s, Transport’s and Integrated amp a year ago with great success also.
@wolf_garcia sorry if you don’t buy into the SR Black fuses, as others have said in this thread (and I know several of these audiophiles on this thread), I trust their ears and my own ears. We know what we hear and like it.
If indeed I "have this one wrong," then please explain how a safety device (fuses) using a tiny half inch of wire designed to melt provides any sonic benefit. What does it do? Nobody knows the answer to this around here anyway, because there simply isn't one, except "I paid $120 for it so it must do something, and by god I should hear it or I made an expensive mistake." It can't be compared to active components since it's not one…and to note that fuses have meaningful "direction" because they're marked as such is sort of why this thread is so entertaining.
Too bad you couldn't have found a nicer amp to put the fuses in lak ;)
i hope it's obvious that I'm clearly joking......the Plinius SA-Reference is an amazing amp and I'm glad to hear you heard an improvement with the SR Blacks. I had the same experience with an immediate sound improvement upon placing the SR Blacks in my amp and later my DAC. And they get even better with time. Thanks for sharing with us, lak. Btw....with all the amazing equipment you have how do you tear yourself away from the listening room?
Yesterday I finally got around to putting an SR Black fuse into my Plinius SA-Reference amp main fuse compartment and I heard an immediate improvenent. :-)...
Sorry Gary. I see you posted a quote from another person. My mistake. I like to read Wolf's posts and find him very entertaining actually. Wolf you have this one wrong however. Sorry.
Bill, Gary is actually making the same point as you. Unquestionably the power supply affects the audio signal and significantly impacts sound quality. Each part in a power supply has an effect as you've pointed out with your examples. All who aspire to build a high quality audio component put much attention and effort toward the power supply. Charles
Gary, sorry but really? Just like filter caps, chokes, and diodes all these power supply parts impact the resulting sound. The fuse is part of the power supply. If you doubt it, then build the exact same tube amp with common cheap electrolytic caps the the other with Clarity TC film caps. Listen to both. Yes indeed in one sense all power supply parts are indeed in the signal path.
The only direction of current in an AC circuit we should be worried about is the direction pointing towards the system. You can forget about the direction pointing toward the power plant. Hel-loo!
"At the risk of alienating anyone I will repeat for the umpty umpth time" that fuses are NOT part of the signal path and have zero…and I mean zero…effect on the signal when performing properly.
Thanks so much for reassuring me. Your wisdom means the world to me.
"I will repeat for the umpty umpth time that fuses are Not part of the signal path and have zero...and I mean zero...effect on the signal when performing properly. Zero."
OK wolf_garcia, if one were to use that logic then it would seem to me that the use of after market power cords would also have "zero...and I mean zero...effect on the signal"
But I don't think anyone here would claim that power cords don't make a difference, even you. So why is it not possible for the fuse that passes the same power as the power cord does to have no possibility of changing the sound we hear?
Direction of current in each fuse holder? This by itself is ridiculous, and "fuse direction" isn't merely a myth, it's irrelevant in the face of even a basic understanding of electric current. "At the risk of alienating anyone I will repeat for the umpty umpth time" that fuses are NOT part of the signal path and have zero…and I mean zero…effect on the signal when performing properly. Zero. If a fuse does have an impact on the signal in any meaningful way, things have somehow gone wrong, and the tiny wire has melted…like it's supposed to.
Sorry to chime in again. The fuses should be evaluated one at a time. Trying to evaluate all fuses in the same direction according to the lettering, then reversing all of them at the same time is not effective, at least not unless the fuse directionality is predetermined at the factory. It’s like trying to solve three simultaneous equations in five unknowns. Since SR is correct that all fuses are directional if only 50% are in the right direction the overall sound will still be less than ideal, I.e., when all fuses are in the correct direction, which is different from saying the lettering of fuses always goes in the same direction for best sound. Repeat the entire process, one fuse at a time, you know, just in case you were unsure of the direction of one or more fuses the first time around. At the risk of alienating anyone I will repeat for the umpty umpth time fuses are directional because wire is directional.
After Geofkkait chimed in I decided to call Alfred and ended up speaking with his lovely wife Betty who confirmed after a 5 minute hold, she needed to look it up on SR literature, that the SR 20's are indeed directional with the the "0" end being inserted into the fuse holder. She also said the Blacks are less so and try it and see it which way sounds better to you. I know, wishy washy. But experience with these fuses bear it out. I also found this but may be may be nothing new to you old hands,
In my experience nearly all fuses are directional including SR Quantum Fuses. I recommend you try them in one component at at time and experiment with directionality. You should immediately notice a preference for one direction or the other. If a component has more than one fuse use a DVM (Digital Volt Meter) to determine direction of current in the circuit. Once you know the direction of current in each fuse holder place all fuses in like direction paying attention to have the letters on the SR Quantum Fuses all in the same direction either reading in the direction of signal flow, or against. Next switch direction and the correct match to your component should be readily apparent. There are just too many variables for me to make a blanket recommendation for all components when such a simple and definitive test is available. As to having to take a reviewers word for it (or not,) regarding which fuse to try / buy you have the option to audition SR Quantum Fuses for 30 days in your system with a full refund of the cost of the fuse should you elect to go a different way. Our 30-day no risk audition policy takes the guess work out of trying SR Quantum Fuses and is offered because I am certain we make the best sounding fuses in the world. Yours in music, Ted Denney III Lead Designer, Synergistic Research Inc.
That’s weird. I thought SR didn’t believe in fuse directionality. Ergo, the lettering direction would be irrelevant. The lettering direction would help figure out which way to flip the fuse when listening for proper direction, preventing the fuse from looking symmetrical. But the direction of the lettering would not be consistent from fuse to fuse if one were hoping the direction of letters was the tipoff.
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