Audiophile Fuses

Blue58 · Dec 19, 2017

Sablon Audio posted these comments in the SGM2015 thread,

"Over the past week, I have been playing with an SR Blue fuse in my SGM to replace the earlier Black iteration. Notwithstanding the excellence of the earlier Black model, the new Blue started off at a similar level of performance straight from the box and has evolved considerably over the past 200 hours. The noise floor is now appreciably lower, giving greater tonal texture of the skin of drums and the brushing of cymbals, together with stronger dynamics.

Although I never felt the server to be as power sensitive as say most dacs appear to be, this simple change has given me a bigger uptick in sound quality than any other tweak I have so far implemented on the SGM."

Today I moved a SR Blue fuse with 200+hrs on it into the SGM and fully concur with the above comments. I preferred the Beeswax fuses over the SR Black and thought the SR Blue may still not achieve the tonality I get with Beeswax.
I'm pleasantly impressed with the uptick in performance most notably an even lower noisefloor and a visceral quality whilst maintaining the musicality/tonality of the Beeswax.
I'll have to wait to replace the Beeswax in my amps with SR Blue and report back but in the back of my mind is the thought of the Ultimate Beeswax.
I disliked Black, liked Beeswax, but love Blue.

highstream · Dec 19, 2017

Thanks for the helpful update. There’s now an Ultimate beeswax, so the game (and cost) has gone up a notch on the Audio Magic end too.

Speedskater · Dec 20, 2017

microstrip said:
..........................
From Ralph Morrison "Grounding and Shielding: Circuits and Interference", 6th Edition. And yes, the first edition was much easier to read than the sixth!
.......................................................

I just came across this old post.
The Ralph Morrison books often have three sections. A NEC code section, a theory section and a practical application section. He writes about fields and Maxwell's Network Theory in the theory section. But Henry Ott in his books writes that:

spiritofmusic · Dec 25, 2017

Ultimate Beeswax? Is this linked to all the uber expensive Organic Honey I keep seeing at Whole Foods?

ferrox · Dec 29, 2017

Sidetrack a bit. I bought some SR Black in the past. I followed the rating exactly and guess what? They blew within months. Some friends told me, if I use audiophile fuse, I have to purchase a slightly higher rating than the standard fuse. For example if power supply of my preamp requires 1A, I will have to replace it with 1.2A instead.

The reason is because the standard fuse might have more tolerance than audiophile ones. I think if I am going to try the SR blue, I will have to follow this rule. Otherwise, I will make the audiophile fuse maker richer. Anyone have different opinion? Welcome to share your experience.

Blue58 said:
Sablon Audio posted these comments in the SGM2015 thread,

"Over the past week, I have been playing with an SR Blue fuse in my SGM to replace the earlier Black iteration. Notwithstanding the excellence of the earlier Black model, the new Blue started off at a similar level of performance straight from the box and has evolved considerably over the past 200 hours. The noise floor is now appreciably lower, giving greater tonal texture of the skin of drums and the brushing of cymbals, together with stronger dynamics.

Although I never felt the server to be as power sensitive as say most dacs appear to be, this simple change has given me a bigger uptick in sound quality than any other tweak I have so far implemented on the SGM."

Today I moved a SR Blue fuse with 200+hrs on it into the SGM and fully concur with the above comments. I preferred the Beeswax fuses over the SR Black and thought the SR Blue may still not achieve the tonality I get with Beeswax.
I'm pleasantly impressed with the uptick in performance most notably an even lower noisefloor and a visceral quality whilst maintaining the musicality/tonality of the Beeswax.
I'll have to wait to replace the Beeswax in my amps with SR Blue and report back but in the back of my mind is the thought of the Ultimate Beeswax.
I disliked Black, liked Beeswax, but love Blue.

highstream · Dec 29, 2017

As I understand it from various forums, the more recent SR fuses, not audiophile ones in general, are not built to electrical certification standards and thus need some tolerance, at least 25%. Early purchasers of the Blacks had the same blowing problem using equipment spec values. I asked a dealer about the blue and they said more of the same. I asked SR and they haven’t replied again, as with the Black. I’m guessing they don’t want to take responsibility in writing, but are leaving it to their dealers.

I’m a few days into burning in a blue in a DirectStream dac, in place of a beeswax, which I preferred over the Black. Improvements in a few ways were immediately obvious. However, I’m not convinced yet that it’s a step foward, or even an equal, in tonal accuracy - big for me - and the soundstage seems a liitle farther back, not so immediate, thus far. Have to see how things develop.

Blue58 · Dec 29, 2017

highstream said:
As I understand it from various forums, the more recent SR fuses, not audiophile ones in general, are not built to electrical certification standards and thus need some tolerance, at least 25%. Early purchasers of the Blacks had the same blowing problem using equipment spec values. I asked a dealer about the blue and they said more of the same. I asked SR and they haven’t replied again, as with the Black. I’m guessing they don’t want to take responsibility in writing, but are leaving it to their dealers.

I’m a few days into burning in a blue in a DirectStream dac, in place of a beeswax. Improvements in a few ways were immediately obvious. However, I’m not convinced yet that it’s a step foward, or even an equal, in tonal accuracy, and the soundstage seems a liitle farther back, not so immediate, so far. Have to see how things develop.

I’m detecting a little ‘matter of factness’ To the Blue fuse after living with it for a week and will swap them over with the Beeswax next week to assess their character. It may be the Blues are great, but not for all components. Keep us posted Highstream.
Blue58

Blue58 · Jan 1, 2018

Well, tonight’s listening is a surprise. It sounds like the Blue fuses opened up and now the presentation is more relaxed, bigger soundstage depth and the occasional treble spotlighting has gone. I feel no need to try the Beeswax back in.
So for anyone else trying SR Blue fuses, hang on in there closer to 300+ hours and see what happens.
Cheers
Blue58

spiritofmusic · Jan 1, 2018

Hmm, I think you’re going to need (yet another) second opinion, Barry LOL. Fancy a return visit from me?
Are you REALLY sure you’re going to decline those Beeswax Ultimates? Those bees worked hard for your ultimate listening pleasure, is this how you repay them?

highstream · Jan 1, 2018

Blue58 said:
Well, tonight’s listening is a surprise. It sounds like the Blue fuses opened up and now the presentation is more relaxed, bigger soundstage depth and the occasional treble spotlighting has gone. I feel no need to try the Beeswax back in.
So for anyone else trying SR Blue fuses, hang on in there closer to 300+ hours and see what happens.
Cheers Blue58

Glad you posted that (not that it changes my immediate plans). In yesterday's video blog, Paul McGowen spoke of a customer's system setup in Taiwan with big Infinity speakers he was asked to fix that was "impressive but not right." That's how I've been thinking about the Blue fuse in the DS dac as its first week nears an end: impressive in clarity and lateral staging, but about ~1/3 of a tone elevated, sound stage back a little more than it should be per recording and overly echo-y, and a gloss on piano keys as if it was delivering overtones or a recording of a recording (piano = my primary test for tonal accuracy and timbre). Overall, weak on emotional draw (another way of saying "matter of factness"). I made the beeswax to blue switch while feeding the dac via coax from a cheap Sony BR player that has a nice sense of warmth, while my Oppo 203 has been off getting modded. It's due back Thursday, so I'll see how the next stage of burn in and listening develops.

ayreman · Jan 3, 2018

I want to try a bunch of these fuses:
http://www.littelfuse.com/products/fuses/cartridge-fuses/5x20mm-fuses/285.aspx
in my system. Problem is I can't find anyone who'd have these in stock and the lead time is minimum 8 weeks. It gets worse: the minimum qty you can buy is 100 fuses!
I need ideas on how to try both rhodium and gold-plated versions out without waiting for 2 months and without buying 100 pcs of each(!) value. Anyone can help?

Tango · Jan 10, 2018

My agent just gave me two of these to try in my monos. He put the Black into my monos fromthe start so I cant tell how the Black sound. Lets see if the Blue are as claimed.

Tang

NorthStar · Jan 10, 2018

Tango · Jan 10, 2018

Initial impressions. The Blue fuses are very very quiet..obviously more quiet than the Blacks. The beat, the rises are more pronounced...making music more an act of musicians? Tone changes. I hear less treble in tone. Lost micro details. Son House's guitar sound less steel stringy..some might like it, I dont. Other sound attributes I didnt mention mean they have insignificant or no differences to my ears. Overall, good first impression and promising fuses. Worth keeping in the system and give them more time to open up. Last time, I tried different fuses, they were in my monos for only a few songs.

Kind regards,
Tang

Audiocrack · Jan 11, 2018

Tango said:
Initial impressions. The Blue fuses are very very quiet..obviously more quiet than the Blacks. The beat, the rises are more pronounced...making music more an act of musicians? Tone changes. I hear less treble in tone. Lost micro details. Son House's guitar sound less steel stringy..some might like it, I dont. Other sound attributes I didnt mention mean they have insignificant or no differences to my ears. Overall, good first impression and promising fuses. Worth keeping in the system and give them more time to open up. Last time, I tried different fuses, they were in my monos for only a few songs.

Kind regards,
Tang

Tang, does your last sentence imply that you tried the Audio Refine fuses briefly and did not like what they were doing in your system?

Audiocrack · Jan 11, 2018

Blue58 said:
Well, tonight’s listening is a surprise. It sounds like the Blue fuses opened up and now the presentation is more relaxed, bigger soundstage depth and the occasional treble spotlighting has gone. I feel no need to try the Beeswax back in.
So for anyone else trying SR Blue fuses, hang on in there closer to 300+ hours and see what happens.
Cheers
Blue58

So just to be sure that I understand you correctly: does this mean that after burning them in you prefer the SR Blue fuse to the beeswax fuse, also from a tonality point of view?

Blue58 · Jan 11, 2018

Audiocrack said:
So just to be sure that I understand you correctly: does this mean that after burning them in you prefer the SR Blue fuse to the beeswax fuse, also from a tonality point of view?

Yes I do prefer them over Beeswax but only after 300+ hrs.
Tang is correct in his assessment so far but needs to keep them in until those lower mids bloom and tonality increases to balance the pure treble.
I only have the one fuse in my SGM at present and hope to achieve similar results when I replace the Beeswax in my tube amps but, as always, there may be a component system synergy going on.

Blue58

Audiocrack · Jan 11, 2018

Blue58 said:
Yes I do prefer them over Beeswax but only after 300+ hrs.
Tang is correct in his assessment so far but needs to keep them in until those lower mids bloom and tonality increases to balance the pure treble.
I only have the one fuse in my SGM at present and hope to achieve similar results when I replace the Beeswax in my tube amps but, as always, there may be a component system synergy going on.

Blue58

Thanks much for your quick reply.

Tango · Jan 11, 2018

Audiocrack said:
Tang, does your last sentence imply that you tried the Audio Refine fuses briefly and did not like what they were doing in your system?

Yes, Rudolph. I tried Audio Refine but they sounded below the Blacks that I had been using in most aspects. Personally I was not very patient so I took them off after four or five songs. I admit I wasnt fair to them. But when I put the Blues in, they were obviously above the Blacks on the aspects I mentioned and interesting enough to keep them in. I hope they will improve with more run in time as Blue 58 found in his system.

Kind regards,
Tang

Audiocrack · Jan 11, 2018

Tango said:
Yes, Rudolph. I tried Audio Refine but they sounded below the Blacks that I had been using in most aspects. Personally I was not very patient so I took them off after four or five songs. I admit I wasnt fair to them. But when I put the Blues in, they were obviously above the Blacks on the aspects I mentioned and interesting enough to keep them in. I hope they will improve with more run in time as Blue 58 found in his system.

Kind regards,
Tang

Ok, I understand. Of course all fuses need to be played in so a comparison between fully played in black fuses and new Audio Refine fuses is - like you already stated - not fair. Anyway, hope for you that you are going to be happy with your blue fuses.

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