View Full Version : Audiophile fuses
vintagesteve
02-11-2018, 19:31
Moved from Private Exhibitions
Barry
Sorry, am I missing something now, are we led to believe that fuses affect the sound of a hifi system? Well glory be. Not knocking this sale, or the seller, or the buyer BTW, just amazed at the notion. The signal has passed through, and will pass through many centimetres if not metres of copper wire and thin copper tracks on its way from the recording studio microphone to the speakers in 'your' lounge. How's a centimetre of gold supposed to improve the sound? Heck, there are resistors of many thousands of ohms in the way of that signal!!
Moved from Private Exhibitions
Barry
Sorry, am I missing something now, are we led to believe that fuses affect the sound of a hifi system? Well glory be. Not knocking this sale, or the seller, or the buyer BTW, just amazed at the notion. The signal has passed through, and will pass through many centimetres if not metres of copper wire and thin copper tracks on its way from the recording studio microphone to the speakers in 'your' lounge. How's a centimetre of gold supposed to improve the sound? Heck, there are resistors of many thousands of ohms in the way of that signal!!
Not only do people say they can discern an improvement with them over the sound of a standard fuse but also that they can distinguish between the signature of different brands of audiophile fuse, and between which way round the fuse is orientated in the holder. Oh and they burn in as well, sounding better with use.
Make of that what you will.
Not only do people say they can discern an improvement with them over the sound of a standard fuse but also that they can distinguish between the signature of different brands of audiophile fuse, and between which way round the fuse is orientated in the holder. Oh and they burn in as well, sounding better with use.
Make of that what you will.. Would like to hear a blind test on fuses !
Not something that bothers me if folk think it works then fine by me. Some say a fuse is a fuse. Some say a cable is a cable etc.
Some say mains treatment is bull. Same with isolation or otherwise of kit.
It's up to the individual imv
Not only do people say they can discern an improvement with them over the sound of a standard fuse but also that they can distinguish between the signature of different brands of audiophile fuse, and between which way round the fuse is orientated in the holder. Oh and they burn in as well, sounding better with use.
Make of that what you will.
People say they've seen UFOs, ghosts, Bigfoot and the lo hness monster too
walpurgis
02-11-2018, 20:31
I can even tell by listening if they're in the right way round. The good ones are directional you know. :)
People say they've seen UFOs, ghosts, Bigfoot and the lo hness monster too
They are a lot more interesting than fuses though.
As long as folk know that on this site folk have the right to talk about them and what they hear without fear of insults.
That's the ethos
They are a lot more interesting than fuses though.
More believable too IMO.
More believable too IMO.
Get an airline pilot drunk and ask him what he's seen, that made me think.
Moved from Private Exhibitions
Barry
Sorry, am I missing something now, are we led to believe that fuses affect the sound of a hifi system? Well glory be. Not knocking this sale, or the seller, or the buyer BTW, just amazed at the notion. The signal has passed through, and will pass through many centimetres if not metres of copper wire and thin copper tracks on its way from the recording studio microphone to the speakers in 'your' lounge. How's a centimetre of gold supposed to improve the sound? Heck, there are resistors of many thousands of ohms in the way of that signal!!
I've noticed a discernible improvement with fuse upgrades.
They work on my amps and Dacs.
do we really need fuses now we have consumer units? its the latter that always trips out first these days isn't it?
Stratmangler
03-11-2018, 09:16
do we really need fuses now we have consumer units?
While we have ring mains electrical circuits the answer is yes.
The fuse is there to protect the cable, not the device on the end of it, so the device should also have power protective fuses fitted internally.
its the latter that always trips out first these days isn't it?
No, it's the RCDs that trip.
If your consumer unit trips you need to get a Sparky in, pronto!
The fuse is there to protect the cable, not the device on the end of it, so the device should also have power protective fuses fitted internally.
No, it's the RCDs that trip.
If your consumer unit trips you need to get a Sparky in, pronto!
lol thats what i meant,if theres a problem with the cable would it not trip the RCD's first?
Probably but not 100%.
I don't have modern electrics so in my case a fuse wire would have to blow. Otherwise, fire in the hole!
spendorman
03-11-2018, 09:39
Although! There's a benefit in checking the condition of fuses and fuse holders in equipment. I have found corroding fuse holders in Rogers JR149 and Quad 405. So bad in the 405 that one side of the fuse holder had completely separated.
Stratmangler
03-11-2018, 09:56
lol thats what i meant,if theres a problem with the cable would it not trip the RCD's first?
Yes, but that's not the same thing.
You've just mentioned a faulty cable.
If the cable is not faulty, and the device on the the end develops a fault and goes into runaway, then you'll have a power lead that gets hot pretty quick.
It's to stop the cable getting hot why fuses are fitted.
If you have too much current running through a 3Amp rated cable for long enough you end up with something akin to an electric heater element.
The connected device might not cause the trip to go until the issue has gone too far, thats why the fuse is in the device as well. Horses for courses.
What about 'audiophile' RCDs - do they exist?
Stratmangler
03-11-2018, 20:00
What about 'audiophile' RCDs - do they exist?
I'd be surprised if Russ Abbot doesn't have them :smoking:
I'd be surprised if Russ Abbot doesn't have them :smoking:
See you jimmy
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20181103/611fecc70a8e8685ac52697876d768da.jpg
The thing that amazes me is how a fuse in an AC plug can be directional.
The thing that amuses me with all these power cords, plugs, conditioners and fuses is the fact that they are all pointless as the transformer "alters" the electricity going into the device anyway.
Basic electronic principle-
As well as stepping up (increase) or stepping down (decrease) a signal voltage, transformers also have one very other useful property, isolation. Since there is no direct electrical connection between their primary and secondary windings, transformers provide complete electrical isolation between their input and output circuits and this isolation property can also be used between amplifiers and speakers.
This negates any perceived difference in sound from any device before the transformer, this is an inescapable fact.
Yet people hear the difference...
Have some direct experiece myself in this area.
The thing that amuses me with all these power cords, plugs, conditioners and fuses is the fact that they are all pointless as the transformer "alters" the electricity going into the device anyway.
Basic electronic principle-
This negates any perceived difference in sound from any device before the transformer, this is an inescapable fact.
Yet people hear the difference...
Have some direct experiece myself in this area.
They may genuinely believe that they do.
Bit like religion really, it makes people happy to believe something that defies science and logic.
I don't mean that in an offensive way to either religious people or fuse devotees
Light Dependant Resistor
04-11-2018, 08:28
The thing that amuses me with all these power cords, plugs, conditioners and fuses is the fact that they are all pointless as the transformer "alters" the electricity going into the device anyway.
Basic electronic principle-
This negates any perceived difference in sound from any device before the transformer, this is an inescapable fact.
However the transformer couples due to electromagnetism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorentz_force similarly couples
what exists, be it in a perfect world, a pure sine wave, or other deviations from ideal, to the secondary winding(s).
Deviations from ideal do not disappear in the process of coupling,
They may genuinely believe that they do.
Bit like religion really, it makes people happy to believe something that defies science and logic.
I don't mean that in an offensive way to either religious people or fuse devotees
It isn't like religion. Fact is we are all capable of hearing an improvement or a difference in the sound that is not actually real. It's our brain that decides what we have heard and our brain will incorporate other influences besides the actual soundwaves reaching the ears to construct 'what we hear'. So just having the knowledge that we have changed the fuse (or made some other tweak) will mean that we hear a difference even if the actual output of the system remains exactly the same.
Added to which even if you have not changed anything play the same tune again and you will not hear it exactly the same due to how the hearing process works.
This effects everyone not just those who want to believe which is why scientific studies demand some element of blind and/or double blind in their procedures otherwise they are not considered valid.
Personally I use the following criteria if doing a sighted evaluation;
1) I hear a night and day difference - there probably is a very small difference.
2) I hear a very small difference - there's almost certainly been no change.
i agree with you macca,an interesting session testing interconnects i had recently,1 i made myself,the other highly regarded,the difference was clear when i knew which was which,when swapped and i listened blind i couldnt tell which was mine or the other.this was repeated about 6 times.
i agree with you macca,an interesting session testing interconnects i had recently,1 i made myself,the other highly regarded,the difference was clear when i knew which was which,when swapped and i listened blind i couldnt tell which was mine or the other.this was repeated about 6 times.
I've had the same experience. Doesn't stop me buying interconnects though :doh:
anthonyTD
04-11-2018, 10:28
The link below is one explanation of why things happen, its not related directly to Audio, but I hope it helps in understanding why things that shouldnt make a diffrence" actualy can, [whether it makes sense to you as an individual is up to you, and your thought process] If your not familiar with the original Double Slit experiment, then I strongly advise anyone interested' to seek it out.
Its thought provoking either way!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUt7sXE_KS0
I've had the same experience. Doesn't stop me buying interconnects though :doh:
doesn't stop me making them either :D
I've had the same experience. Doesn't stop me buying interconnects though :doh:
Same here - doesn't stop me making my own interconnect though; for the simple reason I refuse to pay the absurd price charged for so-called audiophile cables.
The thing that amuses me with all these power cords, plugs, conditioners and fuses is the fact that they are all pointless as the transformer "alters" the electricity going into the device anyway.
Basic electronic principle-
This negates any perceived difference in sound from any device before the transformer, this is an inescapable fact.
The only isolation a transformer provides is isolation to direct current. An ideal transformer couples by electromagnetic induction, but all transformers suffer from parasitics: winding resistance; leakage inductance; inter- and intra- winding capacitance as well as core losses. All these affect the transformer performance.
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