Audiophile Fuses: Worthwhile or "Snake Oil" ?

[Truth71]

Inetrested in what forum embers feel about this topic. Any benefit to replacing stock fuses, and if so with what brands? Or, is it "snake oil"?

[AnotherJohnson]

If you can hear the difference between $100 power cords and $2000 power cords, or between $5 duplex outlets and $500 duplex outlets, then you are a good candidate to hear the difference between the stock specified fuses and audiophile grade aftermarket fuses.

I think this is one of those YMMV issues.

[admin]

Agree with AnotherJohnson. Personally, I've never heard any difference between stock vs "fancy-schmancy-cryogenically treated-unicorn horn plated-shaman blessed-audiophile" fuses. But that's just me.

[toprepairman]

It's a bit like 'bypassing a 2uF capacitor with an extra 0.15uF capacitor or extra thick multicored power cables, or is that a bit sacreligeous on here, (thinks premier 8).

[AnotherJohnson]

It's a bit like 'bypassing a 2uF capacitor with an extra 0.15uF capacitor or extra thick multicored power cables, or is that a bit sacreligeous on here, (thinks premier 8).

[Big Dog RJ]

Yeah, this is a good one!
Just two weeks ago, one of our guys required two large fuses for his VAC monoblocks. He ordered the original fuses directly from our VAC importer for Aus, and they arrived within a week. In the meantime, there's this other crazy chap that thinks no end to highend... if he drank coffee out of a cup that said "made in the Swiss Alpines with pure Silver" he'd bet his life that his coffee tastes better in that particular Alpine silver mug compared to any regular damn mug...

So before those original VAC fuses were delivered, he was pestering us to try these very very top notch- audiophile grade highend fuses, claiming that they will blow our socks off, simply because they cost $200 each... uh?

So just for the sake of trials, we tried them! In fact they weren't too bad... but did they blow our socks off? Nah. Did they feel truly highend? Nah. Were they worth $200? Hell nah! When the original fuses were delivered (total cost plus shipping $40) those $15 original fuses actually blew our socks off, and that's all she wrote!

Moral of story: don't get carried away by snake oil... far too much of this stuff is out there!

OTOH! If you can actually hear a significant difference, that is an actual improvement over any of this fancy stuff then by all means, go for it! Aftersll it's your hard earned money not ours, whatever floats your boat..

Cheers! Enjoy those fine tunes.
RJ

[roberto]

I am with you RJ...fancy fuses? I always put my money on things that I do heard, and stay away of very expensive little things where I can't heard. Trained ears are a must when the sound quality is subtle. But, fuses making a huge difference? My ears are not that good perhaps.

Happy listening!

[AnotherJohnson]

… if he drank coffee out of a cup that said "made in the Swiss Alpines with pure Silver" he'd bet his life that his coffee tastes better in that particular Alpine silver mug compared to any regular damn mug.

Don’t be too hasty dismissing the effect of the mug on the flavor.

I’ve found Americanos and Dopios to be tastier in thin porcelain compared to thick ceramic.

Also, many caviars have better flavor served with a pearl spoon compared even Alpine silver spoons.

I wonder what makes snake oil taste best?

[Big Dog RJ]

Ha! Good one AJ mate!

Yep, agreed on that. Anyway the point I was trying to make... regarding the fancy stuff & snake oil, it's definitely out there and there are many dealers / sellers who would argue in the high court that such gizmos make a "huge" difference.

Apart from top grade fuses... well that's the thing! As long as they're top grade and recommended by the manufacturer of that particular brand and are the OEM type, those are the ones to use!

As I mentioned before though, if one can tell the difference between these variants, and it contributes to a positive difference in their systems then by all means use them!

On a similar note; when Nordost released its QX4 units, which included another version called the QX2, I was very hesitant to try them. Over a period of nearly two years of trials and private demos, I thought they certainly could be onto something. QRT- Quantum Resonant Technology... definitely sounded like major snake oli! This thing is supposed to control those stray magnetic fields caused by power transformers and so on... they tighten the soundstage and gets things more focused, without causing the soundstage to collapse or musician's to wonder... whatever!

Anyway, I thought I'd give it a go, and oh! There was some thing definitely good going on but not sure exactly what though. Nordost claims to try more than one unit, including their individual units where these plug straight into power boards... that was getting a bit crazy though and these items weren't too affordable either.

Anyway, I just settled for two of their items, the Qbase8 power board and the QX4. They do make a positive difference in my particular setup and I can definitely hear it, plus it's also tangible. Whether it was worth the extra spend, most probably yes, since it's contributing positively but in terns of actual dollars, it's too expensive in my opinion.

That's enough of such gizmos for me, and I'm content with them but I can't see the justification to spend thousands more just for single QX2 or QKore1 units, it's very costly.

Cheers, RJ

[AnotherJohnson]

Yes, we are on the same page, though your experience base and eloquence shine.

I was reading an article about pandemic controls on your island nation. Being a Tennessean(where personal freedom is sacrosanct), I was stunned … I hope the good results the politicians believe will follow, will follow. Of course the reliability of the report may be suspect. But it sounded draconian.

You are in our thoughts and prayers.

[roberto]

Ok, here is my opinion, and what I did...

Fuses are rated to have a certain current and any rated current excess will burn the fuse, right? What I did might not sound right, but when you have a short, the current drained is up ten times or more, the current passing through. So, I did increase on each fuse .5A more and had a listening. Then a miracle occurs. Got better stage stability, more clear the higher passages of the music and for sure, if any short happens, I am protected too.

My preamp and power amp sound great and I do not know if I am violating something. I measure the current passing through the fuse...so .5A did a difference in my ears, and the cost is nothing. I never had a service issue so far, and if a short circuit arise like a shorted capacitor or a tube in short, the current drained will be more, so the fuse will act.

Manufactures play safe. I understand that too. And they do have a reason why they are using that protection fuse value there...but I am a little courageous. And the result worth it in my system. If you try it, it would be under your responsibility and your decision to do it. All what I am saying is that my system liked not to be too struggled with the current passing through into the fuses.

Happy listening!

[AnotherJohnson]

If you can hear the difference between $100 power cords and $2000 power cords, or between $5 duplex outlets and $500 duplex outlets, then you are a good candidate to hear the difference between the stock specified fuses and audiophile grade aftermarket fuses.

I think this is one of those YMMV issues.

Well … much to my chagrin, I find myself among those who are hearing power conditioners, power regenerators, and power cords. It’s an uneasy feeling … is my mind going? Or are the new listening data real?

I have been thinking about fuses. The ideal fuse would have zero impedance and would fail reliably when it’s nominal type and value specs were present.

If a power cord can make a difference, surely a line fuse can too.

[Joe Appierto]

Should you decide to explore this avenue, the P12 might be a likely candidate as it sits in front of most (all?) of your equipment.

[AnotherJohnson]

Should you decide to explore this avenue, the P12 might be a likely candidate as it sits in front of most (all?) of your equipment.

Yes, some of the denizens of the PS Audio Forum are all over the idea of tweaking the P12. They say it’s a rabbit hole. I’m thinking it starts with Ra, but the third and last letter is not b.

It has been interesting to see that other people are describing what I am hearing too.

[Joe Appierto]

I purposefully chose the roadway analogy and avoided the negative connotations of Lewis Carroll's fantastical novel. As you have read the threads then you know that the two most popular candidates for the P12 cost $200 for the Synergistic Research Purple and $300-$330 for the Audio Magic M-1. Not an insignificant financial investment.

These guys have been around the block and they seem to feel it's a worthwhile investment.

[AnotherJohnson]

I purposefully chose the roadway analogy and avoided the negative connotations of Lewis Carroll's fantastical novel. As you have read the threads then you know that the two most popular candidates for the P12 cost $200 for the Synergistic Research Purple and $300-$330 for the Audio Magic M-1. Not an insignificant financial investment.

These guys have been around the block and they seem to feel it's a worthwhile investment.

Yes, my first thought was of Lewis Carroll too. Some of us are mad as hatters. I wonder what sort of fuse Hg would make. Not a good once since it’s already liquid at room temperatures.

.

[Joe Appierto]

Not to mention poisonous should it accidentally break open.

Are you leaning towards giving an aftermarket fuse a shot? I've used them in some equipment since I read Myles Astor's Pr. 140 review way back when. What I've used (still do) are the old school and much less expensive HiFi-Tuning brand.

[AnotherJohnson]

I am still wrapping my head around the characteristics of a fuse. It is a harder problem than it looks to be.

If the audiophile variety are hand made, their cost could be justified.

Another approach would be to get rid of the fuse (bypass it). Of course if you need it, you’re screwed. But maybe the time in Nirvana would be worth it.

Edit:
I see that Roberto is using larger amperage fuses. So that’s safer than bypassing, but would void any warranty if it were known by the manufacturer.

[AnotherJohnson]

Joe, or others who have tried fuses …

What’s the order of benefit?

P12 first, but after that? Amp - preamp - source? Or other?

[Joe Appierto]

You're going to get a bunch of opinions, naturally. For me the biggest impacts in descending order were preamp, integrated, power amp and finally speakers (the QUADs).

If I'd been able to get into the DS DAC I think that would have been 2nd but it's just a guess.

EDIT: The two best power conditioners I had (The PowerWing II and the Shunyata Hydra) both used the Carlingmagnetic circuit breaker and the other two don't use fuses.