Brownsfan...eloquent comment, no doubt that one. No anger, no vehemence, just straight from the heart and very well put.
A good nature with writing skill...impressive.
A good nature with writing skill...impressive.
Hi-Fi Fuses - SNAKE OIL? - or something in it?
There's a lot of chatter about the benefits of those high prices gold plated fuses with silver conductor etc. etc. all over the web and the consensus ranges from FANTASTIC!!! to much more subtle observations.
It makes sense to me, epseically in light of spending lots of $$$ on good power cables, that having a skinny piece of aluminum conductor in a glass tube (i.e. a cheap fuse), in the power loop would be detrimental to the performance of the components.
I decided to revamp my DIY power supply I'd built for the Cambridge Audio 640p phono stage and DACmagic in order to test this out - and since it's a DIY project there is no UL Certification to void.
First, I bypassed the fuse link completely to confirm there would be an improvement and give me the best benchmark to compare against - YEP - BIG DIFFERENCE - much more this, that and the other :-)
So then I started looking for hi-fi fuses - WOW!!! - talk about pricey.
Two fuses for the power supply was going to cost $120+ AND I thought I'd probably have to buy a better quality fuse block to make the most of those fuses.
Then a moment of enlightenment - most power supplies and conditioners are protected by pushbutton breakers and not fuses.
I found breakers of the required current rating and installed them into the power supply. I imediately noticed that there was no deteriation in fidelity when compared to the same unit with the fuse link bypassed - GREAT!.
On reflection, the fuses I had in place were rated at 3 amps - so they use a pretty thin fuse wire in them. If I had used a fuse of a higher rating, i.e. it uses a thicker conductor, then I believe that there would be less of a difference between the fused and bypassed implementations
SO - do the expensive fuses work?
Well the empirical evidence out there would suggest they do
- I do know the cheap fuses are not good!
I know bypassing them does improve the sound - a lot in my case
- BUT THAT'S NOT SAFE FOR ONGOING USE
I know breakers work as good as bypassing the fuse
- BUT MESSING WITH A POWER SUPPLY VOIDS UL CERTIFICATION - NOT GOOD!
- FYI a couple of licensed technicians I know WILL NOT change the design of a power supply at all.
I believe the amount of benefit is related to the fuse rating
- but don't go replacing 3 amp fuses with a 20 amp fuse - that's not safe either.
Whilst looking for fuses I discovered AMR Gold fuses priced at $20/fuse.
Now that's definately more affordable than most others at 3-4 times their price.
One supplier I know of in the US is Avatar Aacoustics
If you have had experience with quality fuses please share - especially if they are "modestly priced" i.e. $20-$30 per fuse. And please provide a source :-)
Also, can anypne confirm that Slow blow fuses are better than regular?
And Remember - IF YOU AIN'T LICENCED - GET A TECHNICIAN!
Many Thanks
It makes sense to me, epseically in light of spending lots of $$$ on good power cables, that having a skinny piece of aluminum conductor in a glass tube (i.e. a cheap fuse), in the power loop would be detrimental to the performance of the components.
I decided to revamp my DIY power supply I'd built for the Cambridge Audio 640p phono stage and DACmagic in order to test this out - and since it's a DIY project there is no UL Certification to void.
First, I bypassed the fuse link completely to confirm there would be an improvement and give me the best benchmark to compare against - YEP - BIG DIFFERENCE - much more this, that and the other :-)
So then I started looking for hi-fi fuses - WOW!!! - talk about pricey.
Two fuses for the power supply was going to cost $120+ AND I thought I'd probably have to buy a better quality fuse block to make the most of those fuses.
Then a moment of enlightenment - most power supplies and conditioners are protected by pushbutton breakers and not fuses.
I found breakers of the required current rating and installed them into the power supply. I imediately noticed that there was no deteriation in fidelity when compared to the same unit with the fuse link bypassed - GREAT!.
On reflection, the fuses I had in place were rated at 3 amps - so they use a pretty thin fuse wire in them. If I had used a fuse of a higher rating, i.e. it uses a thicker conductor, then I believe that there would be less of a difference between the fused and bypassed implementations
SO - do the expensive fuses work?
Well the empirical evidence out there would suggest they do
- I do know the cheap fuses are not good!
I know bypassing them does improve the sound - a lot in my case
- BUT THAT'S NOT SAFE FOR ONGOING USE
I know breakers work as good as bypassing the fuse
- BUT MESSING WITH A POWER SUPPLY VOIDS UL CERTIFICATION - NOT GOOD!
- FYI a couple of licensed technicians I know WILL NOT change the design of a power supply at all.
I believe the amount of benefit is related to the fuse rating
- but don't go replacing 3 amp fuses with a 20 amp fuse - that's not safe either.
Whilst looking for fuses I discovered AMR Gold fuses priced at $20/fuse.
Now that's definately more affordable than most others at 3-4 times their price.
One supplier I know of in the US is Avatar Aacoustics
If you have had experience with quality fuses please share - especially if they are "modestly priced" i.e. $20-$30 per fuse. And please provide a source :-)
Also, can anypne confirm that Slow blow fuses are better than regular?
And Remember - IF YOU AIN'T LICENCED - GET A TECHNICIAN!
Many Thanks
- ...
- 220 posts total
Well, with respect to the bulk tape eraser, I can imagine that demagnetizing the CD can have an effect on the laser since the laser beam is electromagnetic in nature. Charge, mass and spin. I think the issue is magnetism as opposed to static electrical charge, another problem, which can be death with using anti-static spray or an ionizer like the one Mapleshade used to sell or various Tourmaline based devices, among other things. |
Light isn't really affected by magnetism; otherwise magnets would look blurry or distorted. Gravity and a change in medium, ie. air to water or to vacuum are the only things we know of today that affect light's properties. And I have heard the magnetism theory before too which would have to apply only to any metallic inks used in the labels on CDs since the reflective material used inside the CD is typically Aluminum, except for some special Gold sputtered CDs. The difference that I hear after demagnetizing a CD is like the difference between a dirty stylus and a clean one on a record. The music becomes clearer and eliminates what sounds like mis-tracking on a record. I bought the bulk tape eraser in the mid 90s just for kicks after reading an article about it. I figured that I would take it back the next day for a refund. I never expected to hear a difference. |
Tonywinsc, Since you opened the door,.... Several years ago I experimented with a bulk tape eraser and compared the final product to that of a CD spun on a Bedini Ultra Clarifier. (Both sides spun and treated.) I preferred the final sound product of the Clarifier over the bulk tape eraser. Here is the simple explaination of how a Bedini Clarifier works. http://www.google.com/patents/US5487057?printsec=abstract&dq=bedini . |
- 220 posts total