fuses work in the area that is most important to how the ear hears. transient function. Thus, fuses seem like an anomaly, with regard to how much they can change the sonic result in the given piece of gear.
The thing that really drives that home for the intrepid audio designer, is when they replace the fuse in their own designs, for, lets say, a piece of high grade hollow copper, that is the same dimensions as a fuse.
The first time they do it, they get a look on their face like
. As in 'holy mother of god' kind of look. the higher the transient current draw of the device, the more effective this change is. For the sake of argument, like that of a 200w/pc classic class A/B amplifier design. To do this in a controlled testing environment, just see if a fuse has an effect, or not.
this is why John Curl (only that the discussion has taken place, personally, with him) has always preferred circuit breakers over that of fuses. The non linearity and the choking of transients by the given fuse, and the resultant coloration...is a serious problem.
Some say that one can design their way out of it, but the simpler the circuit, the better the sonic result, so this quandary of fuses being a major sonic choke point tends to rear it's head.
When looking at a more inexpensive way to replace a fuse, look for high copper content end caps, with non magnetic construction, and ceramic body, silver plating, etc...if at all possible. Solid copper tin plated or silver plated non magnetic fuse holders, with minimal and solid contact area, etc.
Three contender brands, that have such designs in their catalogs... are cooper/bussmann, littlefuse, and schurter.
When you purchase a top level 'audiophile' fuse, all this work as been done, and to add..that the fuses are custom designed and executed beyond the basics (as mentioned above) being done right.
Fuses also possess a lifespan, with regard to their sonic contributions. Like a tube, their lifespan is dictated via how hard they are driven. And that their sonic characteristics change over time, like that of a tube. This is due to the thermally sensitive resistive filament in the given fuse. That the given overall level of transient stressing in the current (amperes) domain...ages the filament.
For example, that if one wanted to win best of show at the given show and was close to achieving this, changing out the fuses in the given piece of gear, right before the show, is a big enough change that one might win best of show.
All over changing a fuse.
A cheat, with is
dangerous and illegal (for all the right reasons), would be to, at the given show, change out the fuses for a set of hollow copper rods that are the same size as the fuses. This can be more than enough of a change in the sonic characteristics of top level gear...to warrant a best of show award.
