Audiophile Fuses

[barrows]

Who has compared HiFi Supremes, Furutech, and the Synergistic Fuses? I believe that high end fuses do matter, and have had good results with PS Critical Links, and Furutech (both cryo treated).
BTW, totally agreed on cheap tin or nickel plated IEC connectors, I prefer Furutech high copper content IECs with rhodium over silver plate...

 

[Marcus]

"Who has compared HiFi Supremes, Furutech, and the Synergistic Fuses?"......

I did. In short: Furutech sounded thin and bright, HFT Ultimate' s were very smooth, Supreme's were thin and bright like Furutech and SRQF were airy and open. I prefer (I think they are discontinued) HFT Ultimate and SRQF but Hi-FI Tuning made a new Supreme fuse with Cardas copper - these might be interesting...

 

[barrows]

Thanks Marcus. I have a Furutech (the copper version, blue body) in my DAC, and do not find it thin and.or bright in that component, but have not compared it to anything else. For clarity, did you test the copper Furutech fuses (with the blue body) or the silver ones (with the green body)?

 

[Marcus]

Actually I tried both of them. In my system(!), Furutech fuses are not much better than the stock ones. HFT and SRQF are better in clarity, smoothness, openness and bass.

 

[HedgeHog]

Welp, I've stuff these HiFi Tuning Supreme fuses in my system and it does make a difference to my ear. And, sure enough, one can play with their direction and there's audible differences too. Not that one is bad and the other is good, it's more of a preference thing. One direction has the image slightly wider and flatter...like a very clear photo. The other is slightly narrower (focused?) and instrumental separation, depth, and tonal warmth seems to be more prominent. I preferred the latter.

Now, I wonder if anyone has needed to up their fuse rating for fast blows? Or change from fast-blows to slow ones for pre-pros? My Classe Audio SSP-800 has eaten two 800mA fast-blow fuses already. Of course, HiFi Tuning said their fuses are tested to spec and having two blow must be the problem with the pre-pro. But I've never had issue with the OEM fuse in 5-yrs of ownership. In fact, it's gone back in again.

So should I go to a slow blow type instead?

Thx.
-Hedwig

 

[Steve Williams]

Now, I wonder if anyone has needed to up their fuse rating for fast blows? Or change from fast-blows to slow ones for pre-pros? My Classe Audio SSP-800 has eaten two 800mA fast-blow fuses already. Of course, HiFi Tuning said their fuses are tested to spec and having two blow must be the problem with the pre-pro. But I've never had issue with the OEM fuse in 5-yrs of ownership. In fact, it's gone back in again.

you could always put the stock fuse back in

 

[IanG-UK]

you could always put the stock fuse back in

... well you could, provided that you marked its preferred directionality* before taking it out. Something which is done for you with the HiFi Tuning product, hence its higher cost.

*and its preferred rotational position, something not yet discussed

 

[GaryProtein]

The arrow on the HiFi Tuning fuse is their logo. They do not say it is a direction indicator.

Rotational position???? PULEEEZE.

 

[garylkoh]

Now, I wonder if anyone has needed to up their fuse rating for fast blows? Or change from fast-blows to slow ones for pre-pros? My Classe Audio SSP-800 has eaten two 800mA fast-blow fuses already. Of course, HiFi Tuning said their fuses are tested to spec and having two blow must be the problem with the pre-pro. But I've never had issue with the OEM fuse in 5-yrs of ownership. In fact, it's gone back in again.

So should I go to a slow blow type instead?

Thx.
-Hedwig

Be careful when changing fuse ratings. Your SSP might have had an IEC-rated fuse and you replaced it with a UL-rated fuse and it's blowing. Or the I^2 t value of the fuse is wrong. See my previous post here:
http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showt...-mikey-likey-)&p=176340&viewfull=1#post176340

 

[Steve Williams]

Be careful when changing fuse ratings. Your SSP might have had an IEC-rated fuse and you replaced it with a UL-rated fuse and it's blowing. Or the I^2 t value of the fuse is wrong. See my previous post here:
http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showt...-mikey-likey-)&p=176340&viewfull=1#post176340

Gary

that post of yours came immediately to mind. It really is one that should be read by all

Thanks Gary

 

[DaveyF]

Last month I was looking at some HiFi Tuning fuses for my CAT. The particular fuse that i wanted was out of stock ( fuse value that the preamp requires). The vendor...Music Direct, would not sell me a different value fuse. ( which i appreciated, even though I had not asked for a different value). So, BIG +1 on what Steve and Gary said above.

 

[HedgeHog]

Be careful when changing fuse ratings. Your SSP might have had an IEC-rated fuse and you replaced it with a UL-rated fuse and it's blowing. Or the I^2 t value of the fuse is wrong. See my previous post here:
http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showt...-mikey-likey-)&p=176340&viewfull=1#post176340

Thx, Gary.

Since this was an old post, I'll update by saying the tech @ Classe told me to purchase the wrong type. Even though his email said fast blow, he really meant slow blow.

Anyway, I've had the slow blow type in since and it's been fine. Empirically, the fuse was audibly different when switching "direction". And the improvement was less audible in power amp applications, in my case.

Cheers,
Hedwig

 

[RadioWonder]

I call this the Ultimate Cheap Sonic Upgrade... Purchase some Brasso Metal Polish and polish all your Stock Fuse Ends... Lowers the noise floor...
Just do not use Brasso on any Silver fuse or silver male AC Plug...

For another sonic upgrade use Fo.Q TA-32 Tuning Tape on the Glass or Ceramic portion of the fuse... 1.5 turns of TA-32 on the fuse body will give you better macro and micro dynamics with an increase in transparency...
http://www.foq.jp/foqhp_e/product/ta32.html

 

[cuntigh]

A well informed man on audiophiles fuses is Scott Berry who builds the Computer Audio Technology DAC. He tried about every fuse on the market for his DAC and in the beginning he stopped on HF tuning Supreme and put that model in his stuff. Recently he changed for german ones named "Padis".
They supply Furutech it seems, but for much less money. They are not really equivalent to Furutech who customize them.
Scott says they are clearly better than the Supreme (in his system).

 

[Sablon Audio]

A well informed man on audiophiles fuses is Scott Berry who builds the Computer Audio Technology DAC. He tried about every fuse on the market for his DAC and in the beginning he stopped on HF tuning Supreme and put that model in his stuff. Recently he changed for german ones named "Padis".
They supply Furutech it seems, but for much less money. They are not really equivalent to Furutech who customize them.
Scott says they are clearly better than the Supreme (in his system).

I can second that recommendation and like them also. They seem quite directional and the presentation will sound bigger / more open when you get it right.

 

[bonzo75]

I can second that recommendation and like them also. They seem quite directional and the presentation will sound bigger / more open when you get it right.

What about Synergistic Red, heard they are the best

 

[cuntigh]

What about Synergistic Red, heard they are the best

Never heard them myself but Scott Berry did. He says they are the best soundings at that time. The discussion was 6 or 8 months ago. He thinks the difference in sound between SR Red and Padis doesn't really worth the difference in price.

 

[Sablon Audio]

Several years ago, i spent some time with a dealer friend in Kuala Lumpur evaluating different fuses and the best by a long shot was a platinum model from a company called Infinity Power. It was miles better sounding than their rhodium and palladium models but at @$120 each it takes some bravery or foolishness to buy given their sacrificial nature. To complicate things further, they're quite difficult to find and were iirc fast blow only so you'd need to guess an uprated value to avoid releasing their precious purple smoke with a current surge upon powering up. For those happy to make such an investment, I've also heard good feedback on the Audio Horizons platinum model but am personally otherwise happy with Padis and the matching rhodium iec inlet / fuseholder from Furutech.

 

[Kingsrule]

is there a source for PADIS in the US or Canada?

 

[cuntigh]

is there a source for PADIS in the US or Canada?

Ebay