Does the quality of a Fuse effect the sound ?

[Spectral Morn]

Once again thanks for the info.


Regards Neil

[Barry]

Good question anyone know ?

Your right about the mains cable thing, the fuse is part of the process...so may have a positive or negative effect. I am not really sure about this...I have only fairly briefly played around with fuses and I did hear the Hi-fi Tuning fuse alter the sound and for the better in my setup. However I must say that the mains cables they make when used didn't sound right in my set up, they made things sound bright.

Regards D S D L

Niel,

My first reaction on seeing this thread was. However on reflection it would seem to be a harmless pursuit and a logical one to follow, if you are perceptive to the audible changes wrought about by changing mains leads.

The important thing to remember is that fuses are used for protection, not only of the electrical equipment but of YOU. NEVER replace any fuse of a given rating with one of a larger rating and NEVER replace a fast blow type (marked with an 'F') with one that is slow blow (marked with a 'T'). Also replacing fuses within a piece of equipment with those not specified by the manufacturer, could well invalidate the warranty. Apologies if I'm coming across as an overbearing nanny, but the safety of you and your family must come before any audible improvements that might be achieved.

Having got that off my chest, there is some interesting chat on:

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/net/net.html
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr...ech&1163625539
http://www.pinkfishmedia.net/forum/s...t=60469&page=3 .

You might like to try:

'Hi Fi Tuning', a fuse which uses silver wire and has gold plated end caps. £25 ea.

or

'Furutech', with rhodium plated caps, silver wire, degaussed and cryo-treated. £40 ea.

'Phonosophie', gold caps, copper on silver wire. £55 ea.

And my 'favorite':

'Isoclean', gold caps, silver wire and claimed to be directional (!)

Barry

[doodoos]

I have a couple of hifi tuning fuses lying about - I can't decide where to place them for best effect. Cd player mains cord, or preamp, power amp or the distribution block where it enters the wall? Maybe I should start at the source and work backwards. Any suggestions?

[Spectral Morn]

Niel,

My first reaction on seeing this thread was. However on reflection it would seem to be a harmless pursuit and a logical one to follow, if you are perceptive to the audible changes wrought about by changing mains leads.

The important thing to remember is that fuses are used for protection, not only of the electrical equipment but of YOU. NEVER replace any fuse of a given rating with one of a larger rating and NEVER replace a fast blow type (marked with an 'F') with one that is slow blow (marked with a 'T'). Also replacing fuses within a piece of equipment with those not specified by the manufacturer, could well invalidate the warranty. Apologies if I'm coming across as an overbearing nanny, but the safety of you and your family must come before any audible improvements that might be achieved.

Having got that off my chest, there is some interesting chat on:

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/net/net.html
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr...ech&1163625539
http://www.pinkfishmedia.net/forum/s...t=60469&page=3 .

You might like to try:

'Hi Fi Tuning', a fuse which uses silver wire and has gold plated end caps. £25 ea.

or

'Furutech', with rhodium plated caps, silver wire, degaussed and cryo-treated. £40 ea.

'Phonosophie', gold caps, copper on silver wire. £55 ea.

And my 'favorite':

'Isoclean', gold caps, silver wire and claimed to be directional (!)

Barry

Hi Barry

You are absolutely right......

NEVER USE, OR REPLACE A FUSE WITH THE WRONG RATING, THIS COULD KILL YOU AND DESTROY YOUR GEAR !

I think a few have maybe miss understood an element in an earlier post. Maplins call their slow blow TIME DELAY I wondered if that was the same as SLOW BLOW...thats all? THe RM200 amp says use slow blow which is what I will use.

Dave (DSJR) was referring to the common practice of playing around with fuse ratings in regard to large items drawing more current via the plug and thus through the fuse. Using larger items such as 13 amp or 15 amp it was felt offered better sound quality. I even remember some advocating the use of no fuse in plugs. I do not, nor, does AOS as a forum recommend such activity...it could be dangerous. If in doubt seek professional advice from a qualified electrical engineer.

If you don't, you do so at your own RISK.

Thanks for the links Barry...


Regards D S D L

[Spectral Morn]

Well that's not a question I can answer really-one man's meat etc.I personally like SCR teflons (can be had from diyhifisupply but they are not cheap! Some say they are the wasp's nipples though) Audionote coppers (from diy hificollective.cheaper than SCR but still not that cheap) Also from collective that I liked were Mundorf silver in oils-very good but perhaps would be a little too far in an analytical and detailed system.If you don't want to spend that much,a good choice would be copper Obbligatos,also from diyhifisupply.All just IMHO,you really need to try for yourself to see what you prefer.Maybe try some cheaper teflons against say a Paper-in-oil (PIO) cap to see which type of sound you prefer.Speaking very generally,PIO's tend to have a more laid-back,more organic sound,teflons being perhaps a little more upfront.You really need to try for yourself.A good source of cheap PIO's is ebay-look for the Russian ones,quite cheap and quite good actually!

Had a look ALI....wow some dear parts on these sites...we shall see.


Regards D S D L

[DSJR]

I should add that legislation has been tightened up somewhat since those heady days of the eighties when I did unmentionable things in the interests of getting cleaner sows ears out of dirty sows ears. I then discovered that well designed and stable kit working well within its capabilities is fairly if not totally immune to all this foo...

Neil, there is a difference between slow-blow (delay) fuses and anti-surge types, the latter being ok for switch-on surges and the former taking a little longer to blow, if memory serves. Have a look on the RS site for the specs of each 20mm type and see if it makes any sense to you.



I'm deeply suspicious of silver wired fuses with gold end caps etc. Why not just get a cheap pack of new ones and replace them every few years as they sometimes fatigue for no reason - A&R A60 amps of yesteryear were notorious in our area for popping line fuses for no real reason. NOT a good idea to replace with higher rated ones as any protection offered was removed.


P.S. Quick story which I've told elsewhere. back in the mid nineties, Audiolab started getting 8000P's and 8000M's back with blowing mains fuses (the ones on the back). Thorough testing showed nothing whatever to be wrong with the amps (and they were VERY thorough back then). Another manufacturer making mono amps started to fit 5A slow blow fuses on the back, rather than the 3A they'd previously used for similar reasons. A client was in the habit of turning on his system on Friday nights and then switching off on Sunday nights as he never had the time during the week to listen. One night, one of the power amps' rectifiers failed and went short. The fuse didn't blow, the supply caps melted, taking the other caps with them and the thing caught fire, burning the board out of recognition. Fortunately the casework contained the damage, but the amp was a complete write off, as well as the speaker drivers. getting a replacement power amp was a bit of a problem, but the manufacturer coughed up in the end..

I must admit, this experience as the supplying dealer, coupled with the arrogance of certain well known manufacturers who still seem to refuse to stabilise their products better and requiring them still to be left on for "days" before they come on song, makes me despair of parts of the dwindling UK audio industry. My very humble stereo warms up in minutes and apart from the CD player, is stable very quickly indeed, the CD player taking an hour or so for the soundstage to fully develop, as happened with all machines using the old 16 bit Philips architecture I found.

[Ali Tait]

Yes good advice chaps.Donlt mess with fuses unless you know what you are doing! Neil,yes can be pricey,but how much would you spend on NOS valves? To my ears different cou0pling caps can effect a greater change to the sound than new valves can.

[Ali Tait]

Neil,try searching ebay for pio caps from Russia.These are cheap and pretty good.I currently have 4 in my 813 amp.

[Spectral Morn]

Your right Ali about the NOS valve thing, though in my own case I have never done this...to much like antiques and unlike them(antiques) valves being used have a finite life (see my KT88's self destruction). Any NOS I have, I got from my Dad...FREE !

I think another piece of advice is worth mentioning here tooNEVER LEAVE A VALVE POWER/INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER ON UNATTENDED. A VALVE COULD FAIL, AND BLOW YOUR AMP UP.....Neil listen to this....please.

Solid state gear is less prone to these issues but if its very old and heavily used it might be worth thinking again about leaving it on too. Problem with amplifiers is when they go they can and do take out speakers as well.

Yes I will have a look/and think about the capacitors....


Regards D S D L

[Mike Reed]

Well, I'd never thought of that advantage of a valve amp. That it would be turned off when not required. Thought this was a DISadvantage!

Of course, one wouldn't normally leave a valve amp on any longer than necessary by dint of its power consumption and, I imagine, heat dissipation in warm summer weather.

Solid state, however can be and often is left on, and in the case of Naim kit, SHOULD be left on 24/7 if received wisdom is followed (with the possible exception of power amps.).

There have been cases I've read of where amps. have gone tits-up and blown speaker units, but I wonder about (a) those occasions involving a valve amp. and (b) what ghastly state of service must the amp (s) have been in.

I've read of surges, both meteorlogically or generator induced, blowing stuff up.

I've blown tweeters by overdoing the volume on low-power amps.

I'm sure there are as many other causes of hifi disasters as are caused by keeping a stable s/s amp. at a stable and constant temperature for long periods unattended.

Another point on fuses. It's a pity they're such a safety issue, as they don't half restrict the sonic capabilities of good kit. However, polishing them (or sanding, or whatever) can only improve this aspect; likewise the holder if accessible. I guess using these patent cleaners (De-oxit, e.g.) could work well, though I haven't tried. Contacts are contacts, after all!