Audiophile Fuses

[highstream]

So are audiophile fuses really directional? My experiences have been limited and I found them to be marginal improvements compared to cables, room treatments and speaker positioning. I did find that the Swiss Digital Fuse Box made a greater impact sound wise than fuses in my systems. Yet I am not saying they cannot make a difference. YMMV.

Some are directional by production method, apparently having to do with the direction the wire on the spool is pulled. I assume those developers indicate direction on the fuse. In other cases, it's either trial and error or is created from the way the fuse is burned in and used. With the wrong direction the sound will be spatially pinched, vs. the other direction. In principle, the best direction is easy enough to check. However, it ultimately depends on type of fuse holder and how easy the fuse is to get to. For some, it's just pop open the fuse holder in place with a small-bladed screw driver (power disconnected); for others, I've had to pull the component out of the cabinet and, in one case, flip it over. While I've only had one bad experience, with audiophile fuses it's best to be extra cautious, and not just because of the money (one of the better AM beeswax fuses fell apart on me taking it out of the holder to change directions; afterwards, the guy who sold it to me claimed a $40 fuse removing tool was necessary, but that's bs -- it was the fuse construction not the method).

 

[kennyb123]

So are audiophile fuses really directional?

Many have reported that they have found this to be the case. I will admit that I never once tried to see if this was true. My fuses went in and remained oriented the same direction. I sweat a lot of the small snuff with this hobby but this is one that I’ve opted out of.

 

[Geoffkait]

I’m getting deja vu all over again.

 

[Chop]

As we are back on topic (entertaining as the diversion was) here's my opinion on the fuse thing, FWIW.
Yes fuses make a difference. I tried SR Orange against stock fuses and noticed an immediate improvement in "liveness" and soundstaging to the sound. The more I used the better the sound became. This seemed like a no brainer so I now have 4 in the system.
Recently the 2a fuse in my power amp blew because my rectifier died and I replaced it with a normal fuse - I forgot I had a spare Orange fuse. Without the orange I immediately noticed some of the life had gone out of the music. Replaced the stock after a couple fo weeks with the Orange & the life reappeared.
I haven't tried Purple or the SR master fuse but I probably will. So far as I'm concerned its like this: exotic fuses are silly expensive for a fuse, but cheap for the level of system upgrade you get.

Just my experience, YMMV, yada yada yada.

 

[Geoffkait]

At the risk of either beating a dead horse or repeating myself I believe that the whole fuse issue with directionality is merely a microcosm of reality for audio systems. The fuse directionality issue suggests, well, actually more than suggests, that not only fuses are directional but all cables and wires and even power cords are inherently directional. its not really that big a leap, once one establishes in ines mind that fuses really are directional, more accurately the wire in the fuse is directional. You can eliminate the fuse holder as the culprit very quickly since the effects, if any, of fuse holders are unpredictable. Whereas the effects on the sound of fuse direction are predictable, and they are repeatable and transferrable. Furthermore, you don’t even have to invest in expensive fuses, even Bussman and Littelfuse fuses are directional, they just never got the memo.

So where does that leave us? it leaves us with this conundrum: since all fuses are directional, it follows that *all wire* is directional, too. The wire in speaker cables, the wire in interconnects, and digital cables as well as internal wiring of electronics and speakers. Not to mention power cords, HDMI cables. And capacitors, inductors, transformers. Any path of the audio signal. Thus, the “fuse thing” is really a tip of the iceberg.

law of maximization: No matter how much you have in the end you woukd have had even more if you had started out with more.

 

[Republicoftexas69]

As we are back on topic (entertaining as the diversion was) here's my opinion on the fuse thing, FWIW.
Yes fuses make a difference. I tried SR Orange against stock fuses and noticed an immediate improvement in "liveness" and soundstaging to the sound. The more I used the better the sound became. This seemed like a no brainer so I now have 4 in the system.
Recently the 2a fuse in my power amp blew because my rectifier died and I replaced it with a normal fuse - I forgot I had a spare Orange fuse. Without the orange I immediately noticed some of the life had gone out of the music. Replaced the stock after a couple fo weeks with the Orange & the life reappeared.
I haven't tried Purple or the SR master fuse but I probably will. So far as I'm concerned its like this: exotic fuses are silly expensive for a fuse, but cheap for the level of system upgrade you get.

Just my experience, YMMV, yada yada yada.

What I like about the SDFB is there is no directionality and the sound improvements were immediate. Not all can use the SDFB as has been revealed in earlier posts.

 

[Geoffkait]

Hey, I don’t have either one, fuse or SDFB. That’s gotta be better, right? If you don’t like two alternatives, or can’t decide, a perfectly valid option is to eliminate both alternatives. As I’ve oft commented, after much consideration I decided to go even further and eliminate cabling, power cords, house AC. Much less noise and distortion. Less is more.

If thy eye offend thee pluck it out. - Old audiophile axiom

 

[kennyb123]

Furthermore, you don’t even have to invest in expensive fuses, even Bussman and Littelfuse fuses are directional, they just never got the memo.

I used to include cleaning fuses as part of my annual contact cleaning regimen. 50/50 chance of me returning stock fuses to their same orientation. None focus on the fuse proved to be worth the effort, so I stopped doing it. I didn’t start hearing mind-blowing improvements from fuses until I started investing in audiophile fuses.

it leaves us with this conundrum: since all fuses are directional, it follows that *all wire* is directional, too. The wire in speaker cables, the wire in interconnects, and digital cables as well as internal wiring of electronics and speakers. Not to mention power cords, HDMI cables. And capacitors, inductors, transformers. Any path of the audio signal. Thus, the “fuse thing” is really a tip of the iceberg.

I don’t see this as a conundrum at all as I’ve yet to hear directionality have much of a sonic impact one way or the other. There are many things in this hobby that will provide gains if one aims to somewhat obsess over them. Directionality isn’t one that should be high on most peoples’ list in my opinion.

For many years I’ve worn progressive bifocals. One downside is that vision is poor when something isn’t far away enough to be far sight and not near enough to be near sight. As such there have been a number of times that I didn’t notice that a cable actually had an indicator of direction. It wasn’t until some later point after shifting things around that I would discover that I had been listening or watching with a key cable oriented the wrong way. Correcting it has never shown an improvement. Most recently this was with an HDMI cable in my AV system. And prior to that it was with an interconnect in my audio system.

 

[highstream]

I used to include cleaning fuses as part of my annual contact cleaning regimen. 50/50 chance of me returning stock fuses to their same orientation. None focus on the fuse proved to be worth the effort, so I stopped doing it. I didn’t start hearing mind-blowing improvements from fuses until I started investing in audiophile fuses.


I don’t see this as a conundrum at all as I’ve yet to hear directionality have much of a sonic impact one way or the other. There are many things in this hobby that will provide gains if one aims to somewhat obsess over them. Directionality isn’t one that should be high on most peoples’ list in my opinion.

For many years I’ve worn progressive bifocals. One downside is that vision is poor when something isn’t far away enough to be far sight and not near enough to be near sight. As such there have been a number of times that I didn’t notice that a cable actually had an indicator of direction. It wasn’t until some later point after shifting things around that I would discover that I had been listening or watching with a key cable oriented the wrong way. Correcting it has never shown an improvement. Most recently this was with an HDMI cable in my AV system. And prior to that it was with an interconnect in my audio system.

Over the past roughly 10 years, I’ve had I think at least 5 or 6 brands of aftermarket fuses that were by design either directional or nondirectional. Of those, I recall 4 for sure being directional by sound, immediately because it was indicated on the fuse or after use for some time. It’s telling that you speak generally as if you know the subject, yet don’t cite which aftermarket fuses you have used, let alone which directional ones, i.e., those with an arrow or where the developer otherwise indicates the best direction, such as in the direction of the lettering.

 

[kennyb123]

It’s telling that you speak generally as if you know the subject, yet don’t cite which aftermarket fuses you have used, let alone which directional ones, i.e., those with an arrow or where the developer otherwise indicates the best direction, such as in the direction of the lettering.

I have on multiple occasions posted details about the fuses I’ve tried and am currently using. Use search and you will find them. All I did in my last post that you quoted was share my personal observations. This is why this forum exists.

 

[highstream]

I have on multiple occasions posted details about the fuses I’ve tried and am currently using. Use search and you will find them. All I did in my last post that you quoted was share my personal observations. This is why this forum exists.

In the midst of a discussion about determining directionality and the practicalities of it, you feel pressed to undermine it speaking generally — “your experience” — and abstracted from naming specific fuses. To me, that’s not helpful.

 

[kennyb123]

Let‘s see, how many logical fallacies can we count in those two paragraphs? A prize to the winner.

None. I was simply sharing my opinion and backed it with a truthful account of my personal experiences to rebut the argument that this is a conundrum. Sorry that you can’t just say you disagree.

I will stop posting in this thread once you guys stop misrepresenting my arguments.

 

[Geoffkait]

I have the opinion that it’s not worth obsessing over directionality with fuses or cables.

I hate to judge before all the facts are in but it appears that you are the only one obsessing over directionality with fuses and cables. In case you didn’t understand 100% what I meant by the word conundrum, I was referring to your not hearing directionality when most people hear it immediately. Do you believe it’s a conspiracy that more than 120,000 audiophile fuses have been sold?

Directionality is just another one of those semi controversial things that pop up in the audio hobby. Like Schumann frequency generators, Mpingo discs, Tice Clock, crystals, the Green Pen, demagnetizing CDs, the Red x Coordinate Pen, tiny little bowl acoustic resonators.

There are many perfectly valid reasons why some audiophiles don’t get good results with some of these controversial things. Thus, someone claiming he gets negative results can’t claim victory in the debate. It’s a logical fallacy that your negative results means you win. Have you ever heard the expression, you can’t prove a negative? Have you ever heard of an outlier?

A clean desk is the sign of a disorganized mind. - anonymous

 

[wil]

I hate to judge before all the facts are in but it appears that you are the only one obsessing over directionality with fuses and cables. In case you didn’t understand 100% what I meant by the word conundrum, I was referring to your not hearing directionality when most people hear it immediately. Do you believe it’s a conspiracy that more than 120,000 audiophile fuses have been sold?

Directionality is just another one of those semi controversial things that pop up in the audio hobby. Like Schumann frequency generators, Mpingo discs, Tice Clock, crystals, the Green Pen, demagnetizing CDs, the Red x Coordinate Pen, tiny little bowl acoustic resonators.

There are many perfectly valid reasons why some audiophiles don’t get good results with some of these controversial things. Thus, someone claiming he gets negative results can’t claim victory in the debate. It’s a logical fallacy that your negative results means you win. Have you ever heard the expression, you can’t prove a negative? Have you ever heard of an outlier?

A clean desk is the sign of a disorganized mind. - anonymous

Simpleton questions:

When a fuse is marked with an arrow, what exactly is it referring to? Toward the component’s innards from the wall? (And isn’t current traveling both directions anyway?)

Assuming there is in fact a correct direction, how does one know what direction that is in your typical fuse holder?

Also, how do the worker bees affixing the little arrow stickers to thousands of Audiophile fuses even know the correct direction?

For anyone wondering, I am not a troll.

 

[highstream]

Simpleton questions:

When a fuse is marked with an arrow, what exactly is it referring to? Toward the component’s innards from the wall? (And isn’t current traveling both directions anyway?)

Assuming there is in fact a correct direction, how does one know what direction that is in your typical fuse holder?

Also, how do the worker bees affixing the little arrow stickers to thousands of Audiophile fuses even know the correct direction?

For anyone wondering, I am not a troll.

Good questions. Direction is back to front on screw-in holders and left to right, looking from the back, on pull-out shelf type holders. These are industry standards. Be aware though that occasionally the label is put on backward and so the arrow or lettering points the wrong direction vis a vis best sound. I and a few others have had this experience with an SR fuse.The soundstage seeming pinched led to reversing direction and discovering the error..If there’s no arrow, I’ve found that putting the fuse in in the direction of the lettering almost invariably works best (sometimes that’s what the developer intends but doesn’t say). For fuse purposes, think of direction in the sense of power flow, from the wall or conditioner to the component.

If I recall correctly, there’s a post on this thread not too long ago that discusses how directionality might be coming about in the production process. It has to do with how the wire is drawn in its production and thus wound on the spool, and how it's then being drawn while producing fuses.

Reversing direction is the best way to check, especially where direction is not indicated or unknown. Some fuse makers, such as Audio Magic, say that directionality of their fuses is created by use. Again, reverse to check if in doubt.

 

[Geoffkait]

SR says you should always try their fuses both ways, i.e., you can’t always go by the direction of the lettering. The diode symbol that’s looks like an arrow on HiFi Tuning fuses is not (rpt not) intended to indicate the correct fuse direction, it’s only there so when flipping the fuse you can remember which direction the fuse was in up to that point. Many other audiophile fuses have no arrows and no lettering. Yet they are directional. So, obviously in those case you need to test sound for both directions. As I’ve oft commented, when someone has more than one fuse in his system he should try both directions for the fuses - one at a time.

“Correct direction“ of a fuse is toward the speakers, for speaker cables, which have two wires the correct direction of both wires is toward the speakers, same for interconnects. When the wire is pulled through a die during manufacture the metal crystals are forced back like quills on a porcupine. Apparently the audio signal prefers to travel in the same direction as the quills, not against them. Less resistance, for one thing, I.e., a better conductor. The wire is physically and electrically asymmetrical.

Some cable manufacturers control directionality so they mark their cables with arrows, which should point toward the speakers. If cables aren’t marked with arrows, guess what? Try them both ways.

 

[Geoffkait]

Wil wrote, When a fuse is marked with an arrow, what exactly is it referring to? Toward the component’s innards from the wall? (And isn’t current traveling both directions anyway?).

Now we’re getting somewhere. I have been waiting for someone to ask “why are fuses and cables directional since current travels both ways.“ The answer is because the current traveling toward the speakers on any fuse or wire is what causes the speaker diaphragms to move OUT or IN. You can ignore the current when it’s traveling in the opposite direction, away from the speakers. That’s why I said in my last post that both wires + and - of any cable should be controlled for directionality.

Not to make too fine a point of it, but technically current doesn’t travel in both directions in an AC curcuit, it’s the *electrons* that travel in both directions. Current is a scalar quantity, a calculated quantity based on the number of moving electrons (charge carriers). That’s why current has no direction. Yes, I realize it’s called Alternating Current.

 

[dcathro]

Interesting thread, but I am glad I have no fuses

 

[Geoffkait]

So here’s a question for y’all, why does directionality for fuses make such a big difference in the sound? After all it’s such a tiny wire in both length and diameter. Is it because the wire diameter is so small that when it’s pulled through the final die the deformation of the metal crystal structure goes all the way through the wire, whereas for larger gauge wire the deformation occurs mostly on the surface and just below it? Thus, more moving electrons are affected, whereas for larger gauge wire only electrons traveling near the surface would be affected.

 

[Geoffkait]

Interesting thread, but I am glad I have no fuses

Hey, me either! High five!