Strange Fuse Effect

[daytona600]

How much does that stuff cost, Scott?

Marco.

£ 74.99

works on any electrical connection

http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue20/walkersst.htm

That's what I'm trying to determine... Scott's claiming that it's cheaper than buying audiophile fuses, so I'd like to see the evidence. I guess it depends on how many bog standard fuses you're upgrading or replacing.

Marco.

i my old life used to work for the largest fuse supplier in europe
small electronic fuses are pence each £40/per 1000
audiophile fuses are £30-40 each just a OEM fuse bussmann/littelfuse/ferraz etc with silver end caps
industrial fuses with silver elements & end caps about a kilos each & hundreds of amps are £ 40

[Marco]

£ 74.99

works on any electrical connection

That's less than I thought - and I presume you sell it? How easy is it to apply neatly, and how quickly does it take to dry/set?

My understanding is that the better 'audiophile fuses' use copper, and sometimes silver, filaments, as well as gold-plated/copper and/or silver end caps. That's likely to be where the most noticeable sonic improvements will be realised, but at considerable cost!

However, I guess that the best fuse is no fuse, but safety must always come first.

Marco.

[doodoos]

£ 74.99

works on any electrical connection

http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue20/walkersst.htm

That's what I'm trying to determine... Scott's claiming that it's cheaper than buying audiophile fuses, so I'd like to see the evidence. I guess it depends on how many bog standard fuses you're upgrading or replacing.

Marco.

i my old life used to work for the largest fuse supplier in europe
small electronic fuses are pence each £40/per 1000
audiophile fuses are £30-40 each just a OEM fuse bussmann/littelfuse/ferraz etc with silver end caps
industrial fuses with silver elements & end caps about a kilos each & hundreds of amps are £ 40

Looks like Silclear contact enhancer which costs $35. Messy stuff though.

[Ali Tait]

Buy some of this-

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Certified-...item234df76076

A couple of cans can will last you a lifetime.

[Jimbo]

That's less than I thought - and I presume you sell it? How easy is it to apply neatly, and how quickly does it take to dry/set?

My understanding is that the better 'audiophile fuses' use copper, and sometimes silver, filaments, as well as gold-plated/copper and/or silver end caps. That's likely to be where the most noticeable sonic improvements will be realised, but at considerable cost!

However, I guess that the best fuse is no fuse, but safety must always come first.

Marco.

Interesting Stuff Marco when you drill down into the detail on fuses. There are 3 in the back of my Croft Amp all T3.12amp so not easy to get audiophile versions!

Considering the mains supply and other parts of the amp are protected with these fuses there must be an influence on performance. Begs the question going to so much effort with plugs, sockets and power leads etc if it all ends up flowing through a crap fuse installed in the equipment itself this must be something that needs looking at?

When the Croft S7 amp fuse blew the amp still gave a very distorted output to the speakers. I am not a techy so might be wrong but this would suggest electricity flowing through these fuses is cetainly influenced by the fuse and hence the quality and construction of the fuse could be paramount.

I think there was a discussion on Stans DACS benefitting from better fuses and their influence on SQ so if there were any high quality T3.12amp fuses out there I would very much like to try them!

[brian2957]

I fitted one of these into my Beresford Capella last night http://markgrantcables.co.uk/shop/in...roducts_id=467
Initial impressions are a slight improvement in focus and detail . Good value at £6 IMO.

[Jimbo]

I have had a look at the construction of the T3.12a fuse that came out of the Croft and believe it had nickel end caps with a straight fuse wire of undermined material.

Other fuses I have seen conforming to the T3.12a spec have a curly wire used as fuse and the ones I had from Maplins are nickel capped with a straight fuse wire with a blob in the middle.

Ok so they all do the same thing but I bet one sounds better than the others.

I will try and find some other fuses for this specification manufactured from better materials etc such as the Mark Grant fuses but it may be difficult to get anything better.

[Desmo]

I have had a look at the construction of the T3.12a fuse that came out of the Croft and believe it had nickel end caps with a straight fuse wire of undermined material.

Other fuses I have seen conforming to the T3.12a spec have a curly wire used as fuse and the ones I had from Maplins are nickel capped with a straight fuse wire with a blob in the middle.

Ok so they all do the same thing but I bet one sounds better than the others.

I will try and find some other fuses for this specification manufactured from better materials etc such as the Mark Grant fuses but it may be difficult to get anything better.

If you are doing this trial, then I suggest that you try and get hold of ceramic fuses as well as the more common and cheaper glass bodied type. It's no coincidence that the 'hifi' variety are usually ceramic bodied....

[Marco]

Interesting Stuff Marco when you drill down into the detail on fuses. There are 3 in the back of my Croft Amp all T3.12amp so not easy to get audiophile versions!

Considering the mains supply and other parts of the amp are protected with these fuses there must be an influence on performance. Begs the question going to so much effort with plugs, sockets and power leads etc if it all ends up flowing through a crap fuse installed in the equipment itself this must be something that needs looking at?

Indeed, which is why I attended to that area of my system FIRST before investing in 'fancy' plugs, sockets and mains leads!

Look, the fact is that the best fuse is no fuse (all fuses are sonically a bad idea), but safety MUST come first before sound quality, so what you're doing by upgrading from bog-standard internal equipment fuses is minimising the effect of the bottleneck, by reducing resistance and impedance, as far as it is possible and safe to do.

If you want to hear more of what the effect of having no fuse is like, bearing in mind that I do NOT recommend doing this other than as a quick experiment, then try fitting a fuse with an uprated amperage value, such as a 5 or 10A one, in place of the 2 or 3A item that's currently fitted.

I guarantee you'll hear an immediate sonic improvement, simply because you're diluting the effect of the bottleneck, created by the lower-amperage fuse, through reducing resistance and impedance, and crucially, allowing the amp to draw more current when the music signal demands, the effect of which should be audible in any high-resolution system.

*HOWEVER*, and I must stress this.... THE CORRECT RATING OF FUSE, FITTED BY THE MANUFACTURER, SHOULD BE REFITTED AT ONCE, after the experiment has been conducted. AOS OR I TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY INCIDENTS THAT SHOULD OCCUR IF ANY UPRATED FUSES ARE USED IN EQUIPMENT PERMANENTLY.

'Audiophile fuses' of the correct value, whilst not providing the same effect as uprated amperage ones, will address the piss-poor construction of bog-standard fuses, and the sonic degradation that occurs as a result, by reducing resistance and impedance, through their construction with better materials (end caps and filaments), which offer superior conductivity. Therefore, those are the SAFE option to choose, simply by replacing the existing fuses in your equipment with them, observing that the same type and value is selected, as was originally fitted by the manufacturer.

In your circumstances, with your Croft, I've had a quick search and Hi-Fi Tuning do a 3.15A (T), for time delay (as opposed to quick blow), shown here: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hi-FI-Tuni...item5b01808136

Those should be safe to use (although check first with Glenn), or see if the same company produce the 3.12A fuses you currently have fitted in your amps.

Marco.

[Marco]

If you are doing this trial, then I suggest that you try and get hold of ceramic fuses as well as the more common and cheaper glass bodied type. It's no coincidence that the 'hifi' variety are usually ceramic bodied....

Yes, that's a good point. It depends on how much you want to spend at once. Fitting ceramic fuses, as opposed to the more common glass ones, will give you a taster of what a 'full blown' audiophile fuse will do

Marco.