Synergistic Research BLUE fuses
 

Just released. $149.95 each. Better than Black, supposedly. Anyone tried them yet?

$149.95 each?


http://images.cdn3.stockunlimited.ne...le_1710845.jpg

good Lord, I'm already 'black and blue' .........$149 for a fuse, ridiculous

Glad you guys are so open minded. Have I tried them myself? Nope but have I tried fuses half their price and been satisfied? Yes.

Newsflash: bees are able to fly and there are things in physics yet to be discovered.

Joe.......Being open minded has nothing to do with sticker shock. And yes, I have tried upgraded fuses. I use HiFi Tuning Supreme fuses in my C1000C/P, MC2301's, C2300, and MC452. I have also tried them in a pair of MC601's.

HiFi Tuning Fuses Installed

Dan, I appreciate your response. But do you really think the jump from $80 to $150 is significant? I realize that's a loaded question and don't want to derail this thread any further.

Regards,

Joe.......At the time I purchased my HiFi Tuning Supreme fuses five years ago they were $54.00 each, and in some cases I saw them on sale for $49.00 each. Quite frankly I don't care what anyone spends on fuses or anything else for that matter. I only care what I spend.

agreed as well Dan, regardless IMO it's ridiculous as is their marketing hype that goes along with it.

I can say i have tried the SR red and the SR black, and compared to many upgrades in this hobby, they were well worth it. I suspect that fuse upgrades are very component specific in terms of whether it's an upgrade or not. With Audio Research many report it's an upgrade and even the folks at ARC appreciate the importance of the fuse as they make the effort to mark the position it should have when they remove it to pack.

Adam.......I am glad to hear a positive report on the Synergistic Research fuses. I have no reservations with respect to the value of specialty fuses used in audio equipment. I have experienced sonic improvements in my systems with their use. I simply found myself startled at the price of the SR Blue fuse. I have no experience with any Synergistic products so I am in no position to be criticizing the possibility of advanced performance with the use of Blue fuses. None the less, I can't help but wonder how is that price justified in relation to other high performance fuses and their performance gains.

I suspect the answer is that the red and black each sold well, the later at $120 each. So if they believe the blue are much better (and they spent some more R&D dollars to make them) they think that that is what the market will support. The SR fuses are usually sold with a money back guarantee so there is no real risk to try.

Can anyone tell me what SE blue fuses I need to upgrade an ARC reference 5SE and an ARC reference phono 2?
Thanks

Has anyone actually tried the Synergistic Research fuses in their ARC Ref 5se or other ARC Ref gear? What kind of a difference did it make and was it a worthwhile upgrade for the price?

JDandy,
After reading your 19 page thread I was inspired to look at my equipment. I didn't see a spot for a fuse anywhere. My MC8207 has a breaker button, my MX122 and OPPO players have nothing.

I have tried the SR blue fuses on my DAC (TotalDAC d1-12) and amplifiers (VAC 450 Statement monos) with great success. The return on investment was well worth it in my case. YMMV

After checking that the 30-day trial was available in the UK, I have ordered 3 to test in my amps and DAC. Dealer has no stock, so may be some time, but will try and report back my findings.

Of course, in the UK we have fused mains plugs, so that gives even more scope to spend high! I do wonder if the same applies as with wiring looms. All cables the same type from same manufacturer is said to be the best. Now all fuses?

Fuses
 

I have tried all three. Reds were a mild increase upgrade, Blacks were much more so, Blues not so much. I would recommend the Blacks as the improvement quickly noticeable. Better sound stage and clarity, tighter bass.

Arc fuse
 

You need the 5 amp Slo-blo 32mms fuse for each. They are directional!!!

Are you saying that Blacks are better than Blues in your case?
__________________
Amp: BAT VK-655SE
Pre-amp/Digital: exaSound e32 w UpTone JS-2 Power Supply; SOtM tX-USBultra w UpTone LPS1.2; Apple Mac Mini w UpTone DC Conversion Kit & UpTone JS-2 Power Supply; Squeezelite w Logitech Media Server 7.9.0
Speakers: Triangle Magellan Cello II
Cables: AudioQuest WEL XLR, AudioQuest Everest, AudioQuest Hurricane HC, AudioQuest NRG-1000, AudioQuest Diamond USB
Rack: Solid Tech Hybrid
Tweaks: Omicron Stabilizzatore Armonico & Gold Evolution SE; IsoTek Sigmas GII w Optimum EVO3; Furutech FT-SWS (R) AC Outlet; Synergistic Research Blue Quantum Fuse

The Blue delivered a significant upgrade over the Black in my Spectral preamp. Here’s how I summed things up for friends back in January a few days after making the swap:

“The improvement in clarity has been something to behold. More of everything is coming forth with greater naturalness. More low level details can be heard along with improved image palpability. Staging is better fleshed our as well.”

While I did not have an SR Black or Red fuse for comparison, I will say that the SR Blue fuse made a huge difference in both my DCS Rossini Player and Rossini Clock. Everything that others have said regarding naturalness and ease of flow is accurate. The SR Blue fuses took what the DCS pieces did well before and expanded upon those strengths in a significant way. Highly recommend auditioning them.

Blue Fuse
 

Yes, have them in my CD, Pass monos 260.8. Made a smoothness difference in the CD, opened up and smooth the amps. VERY satisfied and a firm believer.

I am still waiting...

“Patience” is my middle name. [emoji851]

Shop sound
 

I just got 2 @ $130.00 each, not much off but it all helps.. installed in my ARC pieces and replaced the BLACK fuses!

Late to the game but last Friday I received my Synergistic Quantum Blue fuse. I only ordered the main fuse to see what changes it would bring (or not) for my Yamaha CA-1000... And changes it brought. Compared to my Audio Link fuses (local brand in Qc similar to HiFi Tuning) which affected to tonality of the amplifier and made it more lean sounding, the blue fuse did not change the tonality of the CA-1000 at all. It still is a sweet and warm sounding amplifier. There is an increase in bass weight and instruments are even more life like. I could also perceive a decrease in noise during silent passages. There is more fullness to the music reminding me of my past Mc setup. I noticed also that the highs are more natural, a bit less strident. Essentially, it does not remove anything of the good from the amplifier, but only add up some even better qualities. Those fuses are not cheap though. Now the question is do I go full swing and change all the 7 remaining fuses with the Blue? Humm..

I am contemplating at changing the fuses in my Bryston BDA-3 DAC and Bryston BDP-2 digital player. I wonder which one I should start with for better performance?

I wonder how many DCS Rossini users deploy SR fuses? A pretty trivial proportion, I guess. As a designer of equipment of the highest quality, employing people who are fastidious about the highest quality, DCS must be aghast that their standard DCS kit is significantly inferior to what they might have achieved. Especially given that the capital cost of a "better" fuse probably runs to less than $1 and not $150.

So if DCS regard this as a serious issue I'd guess they should modify their units pretty much overnight. Owners of DCS kit should alert DCS to this misdesign feature without delay.

DCS engineers would need to find a measurable improvement in some aspect of the device’s performance to justify the recurring cost increase of using a specially designed fuse. That, and manufacturing/logistics would also have to find a reliable volume supply of these devices, preferably from more than one vendor. Quality assurance would have to define and run the appropriate incoming inspection process to ensure that the devices met specifications and were uniform over different lots, vendors, and time.

This is what engineering companies do.

The same could be said for vacuum tubes - why doesn’t McIntosh use Gold Lion re-issues when customer preference for these valves is universally positive?

I couldn't quite work out whether your post was serious or tongue in cheek but it nicely summed up the fuse issue.

I'm based in England and know a bit about DCS's R&D and engineering capability and also their location in the Cambridge technology belt where any manufacturing sub-contracting would be straightforward. So capitalising on the huge differences which these fuses make would be something they would, I am sure, be very keen to deliver.

Am sure it comes down to nothing more than cost. They probably get the private-labelled tubes from JJ or EH for <$20/ea. GLs would likely be about twice that. Including replacements (warranty), it could come to a significant number at the end of a year.

Hifi enthusiasts are absolutely free to chose how to spend additional funds on component alternatives.

When that is in relation to a GL valve (c.$40) versus a stock valve (c.$20) in a Mcintosh amplifier which might retail at $10k, a couple of valves of discretionary spend doubles the valve cost and adds less than 0.5% to the overall component price (though possibly 5% if one uses a retail:component cost ratio of 10:1 which I understand to be common).

When that is in relation to a special fuse at $150 versus a stock fuse at $1 in a DCS player which might retail at $20k, one fuse multiplies the fuse cost by 150! It might not impact the overall component price by anything much different that the valve differential. So if consumers are happy to pay that, fine. it would be interesting to know DCS's views on the issue.

Ian - I was totally serious.

What we do as hobbyists with system optimization tweaks is totally disconnected from the reality of audio engineering and manufacturing.

The standard of proof in audio engineering and manufacturing is substantially higher than it is for audio hobbyists who only need to satisfy themselves that the change they made in substituting a valve or a fuse is worth the investment.

I have no doubt that the people substituting SR Blue fuses for bog standard OEM fuses are hearing an improvement.

So to be clear I am not belittling their pursuit of better sound. Far from it.

I know there are things I hear that I don’t understand or can’t measure. It’s part of the fun of the hobby.

I do seek to understand what makes things ‘tick’ and try to separate real improvements from illusory ones.

My other point was about supply chain - for a manufacturer surety of supply is critical, along with the reliability and consistency of the component. That’s what will drive a manufacturer to use a certain part over one that, to some people’s ears, may sound better.

I gave up... And now there are Orange fuses!

I was able to find 3 Blue fuses on the used market with the right ratings for my amplifier so I jumped on this opportunity to tweak it a bit more. I installed them on the power supply board of my Yamaha CA-1000. Synergistic's logo pointing from left to right is the directionality of the fuse, so I installed them in the direction of the fuse rating markings on the board. I did so because the last fuse I installed on the amp board I noticed that it sounded better when in the same direction of the markings. I applied the same logic and so far it does not sound any worst than before so I will leave it as it is for a while. I will let the fuses properly setting in before concluding on the sound improvement.

EDIT:
My tech confirmed to me that these fuses are necessary only for the protection of the relay... No audio. Meh. But, I realize that only 5 out of 8 fuses are actually needed for the audio path. Right now I have 5 blue fuses installed so I may just sell them and get 5 orange instead. Live and learn.

EDIT 2:
I learnt that out of the 3 fuses on the PS board, only 1 is not in the audio path so I removed the Blue and sold it. While the 2 others are not directly in the audio path, they do supply current to the audio boards. Not sure if my mind is tricking me at this point, but I feel the amplifier to sound cleaner with more extended bass. Highs seems to have more sparkles. The difference is not night and day as with my other Blue fuses upgrades but still I like what I hear. They are keepers.

And two more Blue fuses now installed, but this time on the amplifier boards. Only one fuse is missing at the moment but I will order a new one since they are on sale until March 31st.

At first after I installed them, I tried a few of the tunes I listen to when I make changes in my system and I almost always listen for the change in the bass region. The difference was not earth shattering but I could hear a bass more delineated and tighter. But... After listening over a longer period with some other material, I can say that there is a definite improvement in all areas. Soundstage is wider and deeper, more air around the instruments, much less sibilance in vocals along a cleaner presentation. Everything just sound more real and believable. The finer threads of the brush over the cymbals are easier to follow and have so much more definition. And this is still with a not so expensive USB cable from the source to DAC. I just wonder how all this will sound when I received my Kimber KS-2436 Ag USB cable. And then the Orange, is reported to be even better than this! Thumbs up!