Synergistic Red Fuse ...


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?
oregonpapa
Earlier in this thread there was discussion of audio  equipment designers and builders regarding the use of premium fuses in their products. Of course the verdict is mixed among them.  There's a review of the highly praised French made TotalDACd1-6   on the 6 Moons review site. The Manufacturer offers the SR Quantum 20 fuses as an  upgrade in his DAC.  He believes that it is a clear improvement of the stock fuse. I don't know if he's aware of the Black fuse or not.   So some builders believe in these fuses and some don't. This review also offers interesting discussion/comparison  of the R2R ladder vs Delta Sigma topologies. 
Charles, 
oregonpapa, I enjoy hearing you have had and liked the Atma-Sphere gear. Like with any other amp but, perhaps OTL's especially, having a good (impedance match and) power match is vital. Yeah, for me, the transparency and tonal quality they bring, especially in the midrange is addictive. The speed at which they work is also quite remarkable.

I may just stay right where I'm at for a long, long time yet...

I don't know how this fits in other than to say that soon after I got my Marantz Reference components (after break in), I swapped out the stock fuses for HiFi Tuning fuses and after break in, the sound did improve. It was not on the level of going to Darwin ICs or Zu Audio SCs but there did seem to be a more resolving nature but as I said, not on the level of the cable swaps. 

It got me closer to a cleaner event and in the end, it's all I ask for in this hobby. I don't want anything that leads to a sideways change, just a cleaner and clearer one. 

Everything is system dependent as I had to remove some Herbies footers from under my speakers for a tighter and more focused sound, return a SteinMusic speaker match for doing really nothing, remove some Mad Scientist black discs from my amp's speaker output posts for the same reason, and a few others that don't come readily to mind. 

Heck, even power cords made a bigger difference than the fuses. I know I"m limiting myself to what I've experienced but I'm really quite satisfied with what progress I've made and don't begrudge anyone who claims to have better results. Hats off to anyone who's happy and it'd be nice to see less of a polarized nature to all of this.

All the best,
Nonoise
Whitesox wrote,

"I guess from the number of folks on this thread who find the fuses, etc. improving their system, I think that is just great. They don’t cost much and if they, like speaker cable elevators, do something to improve the sound of their system, then what the hell, go for it. I do advice you to turn in your "BS filter" to what is being said in an advocacy of these tweaks and understand that folks like GK, who chimes in on this post with baffling assertions coming from the realm of pseudo-electronics, have economic skin in the game to entice you to try the expensive stuff they peddle."

Uh, oh, I’m getting a bad feeling.

geoff kait
machina dynamica
advanced audio conceits

I am delighted to hear all the  favorable views about tweaks and my only point is to give them a try so long as you can get full refund, which I did with my red fuse.  The dealer who sold it to me noted that he had "sold thousands of them few few returns."  This audio market is rampant with folks selling tweaks of unfathomably dubious usefulness, one of which is a frequent poster on this thread who makes completely absurd claims, so my best advice for my beloved fellow audiophiles is get a grip on your  audio neurosis and just sit back and enjoy the music.   I just got a new release of 1976 Stan Getz recording today and it is fantastic.  Fuses are the farthest thing from my mind right now....