Hi $ Fuses

The OP asks, "Anyone have first hand experience with boutique fuses?"  It seems the answer is most of us have no experience with them and probably will never have any experience with them.  We got somewhat sidetracked.

I think I can understand some of the logic surrounding designer fuses.  The fuse, by design, is the lowest gauge wire on the primary side of a circuit.  Increasing wire size in the power supply has often made improvements in sound.  Larger SS high powered amps often have copper bus for the conductors.

In the case of the fuse increasing the wire size is the wrong thing to do.  But I'll bet that isn't what these designer fuses are.  I'll bet they start life as a run of the mill fuse and the contacts are upgraded.  "Upgrading" the fusible element would be just foolhardy.

Ok, cheap mother that I am I'm not going to spend $20 for a fuse.  I'd rather buy a capacitor, or put $20 toward a capacitor.  All these things are personal preference.
 
Grainger49 said:
Ok, cheap mother that I am I'm not going to spend $20 for a fuse.  I'd rather buy a capacitor, or put $20 toward a capacitor.  All these things are personal preference.
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I appreciate Grainger's honesty! This "tweaking" arena brings out our personal biases. To move forward in this hobby we have to be honest, and occasionally flexible. I am also a cheap MF (emphasis mine). I was also a "stubborn" SS guy for years because I was too cheap/scared to look at the expense of trying tubes. I thank Bottlehead for supplying the cure.  IMO all of the "real" audiophiles are. Its takes a ton more work to squeeze great sound from limited bucks! Any idiot can stroll down to their local audio shop, listen for 15min to some big bucks gear, supply the credit card, and have it set up in your living room.



 
I have tried the pretty little fuses, but in my opinion, they don't provide much bang fo the buck. I suspect that re-making the AC contact with the new fuse does as much good as the fuse itself.
 
Installed the "el supremo" fuses last night. Definetely worth the $.  Biggest difference was in the DAC followed by the Preamp. 
 
Grainger49 said:
How much were the "El Supremo" and what differences did you hear?
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$55 per fuse....  I ponied up for 4. 

I'm very pleased with the improvement.  Much more tonight than last night, and tonight I reoriented them correctly (i had them in backwards).  More clarity everywhere, but percussion significantly better.  THe DAC made the most difference (and not suble) followed closely by the Foreplay.  The Paramounts were audible, but more subtle. 

The difference is was about the same as replacing the standard crappy IC that comes OEM with stuff with a very good one.  Knowing what I know now, I would have happily paid more to refuse the DAC and pre...

Tick
 
I am not one to question these things.  I put ArmorAll on my CDs and they sounded better.  I tried green paint on the edges and the indentation near the center.  It made a slight improvement for the better but wasn't worth the bother to me.  (I play so few CDs now with the Eros)

Over on Audio Karma I got in line to try some chips and dots to tune your system.  You placed the chip on your CD player to improve the sound.  A number of tweaks from the same company were circulating and I got nothing from either the chip or dot. 

All that said I wonder about orientation of a fuse.  I do not doubt you heard a difference.  But it still bothers me.  The fuse is in the AC leg.  So the direction of the current reverses every 1/120 of a second (a full cycle is 1/60 of a second).  So if you have it right, 1/120 of a second the orientation is wrong.

This is what I get for trying to figure these things out.  Do trust me, I use a few tweaks I have no idea why they work, but they do.

If you enjoy the sound, that is all that matters.  This is not a flaming kind of site so you will find guys who question here but no one will say you are wrong.
 
ramicio said:
  .  .  .  If you want to give into delusion and pretend that $ automatically = better sound, then that's on you, and it's your freedom to spend your money how you want!  .  .  . 
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Anyone believing that wouldn't be here to start with. 

To me if Tick hears the difference and it is worth the price he should be happy.  I so often see posts that say, "I can't believe my system could sound better."  Followed by, "I upgraded with XX and it was better."
 
I like what I hear, and I'm pleased with the purchase.  YMMV, but IMO if you don't at least try them for yourselves, you're leaving some performance on the table.  My system is pretty resolving and I love the way it sounds, but I know that it can and will be better.  

When I get home today, I'll have a new Pi Audio BatteryBuss waiting for me.  My Mach2 Mac Mini is already DC powered (directly off a 12v battery (connected to a charger)), and from all my research, adding the BatteryBuss will audible improvements.  Also ordered and am waiting for a Firewire 800 cable (built with no power) to go from my music storage drive to the Mac Mini.  Again, I expect additional improvement.  

Everything is relative, but honestly $55 is a cheap night out.  You guys get to gether and decide who the biggest cynic is amonst yourselves and I'll send him a fuse to try for Themselves.  If you don't like, fine send it back to me.  If you keep it, I expect you to post on the board that you have been proven wrong.  
 
The problem with logic is usually that it draws conclusions from premises, which are often untrue in ways that we do not yet understand, or are unable to believe. Not to mention, as statisticians know but are largely unable to impart to others, proving that something is untrue is entirely different from not proving that it is true.
 
Paul Joppa said:
The problem with logic is usually that it draws conclusions from premises, which are often untrue in ways that we do not yet understand, or are unable to believe. Not to mention, as statisticians know but are largely unable to impart to others, proving that something is untrue is entirely different from not proving that it is true.
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Your rock Paul!  That was very ZAMM sounding (Robert M. Persig).
 
Some hear a difference and some don't. Some wants to spend the $ and some don't. So what. Let's agree to disagree.
Roger
 
Paul,  Nicely said.

Ken, glad to hear that your experiment worked out and you like the results.  Just because mine weren't as positive as yours (not negative either) doesn't mean that your results are invalid or due to some psychological effect.

A lot of the AC power related tweaks have great variability in their effectiveness depending on your local power conditions, house wiring, other appliances in the house, etc.

-- Jim

 
This hobby is as much about hanging out with the people who you find to have similar taste, hearing, lusts, etc., as it is about the gear. I think in this particular audio community there is not much point in trying to impose one's own set of boundaries upon others. That's not to say that it can't be the part of the hobby that one enjoys most. I mean, there could be a sort of audio dom and audio sub kind of relationship. I haven't really seen too much of it here, but there might be other forums where an audio top could find an audio bottom. Audio Asylum comes to mind, as it has special areas devoted to the expression of viewpoints in a passionate manner.
 
Ken,

Forgot to add that I think you're going to like that battery buss!  Are you also powering your music storage drive from it?  Can you tell me where you got the firewire cable with the power leg removed?  I can't seem to find the MBS cable anymore.

Thanks,

Jim
 
Doc B. said:
This hobby is as much about hanging out with the people who you find to have similar taste, hearing, lusts, etc., as it is about the gear. I think in this particular audio community there is not much point in trying to impose one's own set of boundaries upon others. That's not to say that it can't be the part of the hobby that one enjoys most. I mean, there could be a sort of audio dom and audio sub kind of relationship. I haven't really seen too much of it here, but there might be other forums where an audio top could find an audio bottom. Audio Asylum comes to mind, as it has special areas devoted to the expression of viewpoints in a passionate manner.
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You just can't help sneaking sex into conversations about audio, can you?  No worries.  It's always entertaining.
 
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