Audiophile Fuses

highstream · Jan 5, 2024

JeromeFrancis said:
Hello,
Thanks for the advice, appreciated. The proper direction is from outlet to the device, right? My fuse holder looks like the below , hence i presumed i have to put the fuse in with arrow up. Am i missing any ambiguity here, do i have to test it?
View attachment 122906

Yes, back to front, as the text reads (or left to right looking at it from the right side). With the fuse holder type that sits under or above the AC plug with many components, the industry standard is left to right. That's no matter whether the holder clip opening is facing up or down.

JeromeFrancis · Jan 5, 2024

highstream said:
Yes, back to front, as the text reads (or left to right looking at it from the right side). With the fuse holder type that sits under or above the AC plug with many components, the industry standard is left to right. That's no matter whether the fuse is inserted on top or bottom of the holder clip.

Thank you, very clear.

sbnx · Jan 5, 2024

JeromeFrancis said:
Hello,
Thanks for the advice, appreciated. The proper direction is from outlet to the device, right? My fuse holder looks like the below , hence i presumed i have to put the fuse in with arrow up. Am i missing any ambiguity here, do i have to test it?
View attachment 122906

That is where i start. But I just note that if i get a nasally sound or some other anamoly i go and flip it. I actually had to do this with a silver slug (fuse) that is used in my amp. (Totally legit as the amp has an e-fuse that detects issues and shuts down before a fuse would blow)

highstream · Jan 5, 2024

sbnx said:
That is where i start. But I just note that if i get a nasally sound or some other anamoly i go and flip it. I actually had to do this with a silver slug (fuse) that is used in my amp. (Totally legit as the amp has an e-fuse that detects issues and shuts down before a fuse would blow)

I've found that when it's the wrong or not the best direction the sound seems pinched.

Republicoftexas69 · Jan 5, 2024

highstream said:
I've found that when it's the wrong or not the best direction the sound seems pinched.

Swiss Digital Fusebox eliminates all the directional stuff, and is better than any SR fuse I have ever used.

Carlsbad · Jan 5, 2024

Directional AC fuses, eh....so do you have to sychronize with the positive half of the sine wave?

JeromeFrancis · Jan 6, 2024

sbnx said:
That is where i start. But I just note that if i get a nasally sound or some other anamoly i go and flip it. I actually had to do this with a silver slug (fuse) that is used in my amp. (Totally legit as the amp has an e-fuse that detects issues and shuts down before a fuse would blow)

Ok, the manufacturer put a label with an arrow on the fuse to indicate which way to put the fuse i.e. there is a correct way to install it without the necessity to listen to it and change directionality, am i correct or do you recommend to test manually to make sure?

Thus far, the sound seems to have improved in comparison to the stock fuse. Hence, I believe the directionality is correct, just wanna be 100% certain

.

highstream · Jan 6, 2024

If the sound seems pinched, yes, or to be sure. I had one SR that had the arrow backwards.

christoph · Jan 6, 2024

highstream said:
If the sound seems pinched, yes, or to be sure. I had one SR that had the arrow backwards.

Same here, one of six didn't sound optimal with the recommended direction.

Since then, I always corfirm the labeled direction by listening to both directions just to be sure.

marty · Jan 6, 2024

sbnx said:
I am sure I will get flamed by someone for these comments about fuses. Oh well.

This is the WBF. If you're not getting flamed for comments on fuses, you're not trying hard enough.

JeromeFrancis · Jan 13, 2024

As second feedback after listening to those fuses for a while now (50-60 hours of music played):

I can confirm my initial assessment.
- There is additional layering in the music. I hear nuances, especially in the lower frequencies that were not as distinctive before, the bass is not deeper but more detailed and it decays much quicker.
- Background noise seems to be lower which gives the overall presentation a sense of serenity. I listened to the Cigarettes after Sex - Cry album on vinyl and it was by far the best sound that i have ever heard on any system thus far.

I must say that 3 weeks before the Fuses arrived, I changed preamp (Nagra Melody to Classic Pre) and maybe the preamp just needed some time playing to reach peak performance as well. But the fuse swap had a direct effect on the sound. I can only recommend to try it out for yourself. The difference is staggering.

Kingrex · Jan 16, 2024

I got the Hifi Supreme copper fuses today. I tried both directions. Heard no change. I'm not sure there is much of a difference between these and the stock glass fuse. I guess I will let them play for a couple weeks then put the glass fuse back in. See what I hear then.

highstream · Jan 16, 2024

Kingrex said:
I got the Hifi Supreme copper fuses today. I tried both directions. Heard no change. I'm not sure there is much of a difference between these and the stock glass fuse. I guess I will let them play for a couple weeks then put the glass fuse back in. See what I hear then.

As I recall, the HiFi fuses are not directional by design, but by the process of burn in. That's not uncommon. Worth checking after a couple of weeks.

Kingrex · Jan 16, 2024

Carlsbad said:
Directional AC fuses, eh....so do you have to sychronize with the positive half of the sine wave?

Not sure how well this picture will paste. This is what grain looks like when wire is drawn. Wire most definitely has a directional structure to it. You may say its AC so who cares. But the electeons are walking in the wire inches per second. Yes that is right. Inches. The work is in the magnetic field around the wire. Its not so much the electon itself. I don't know all why you can hear the directional grain of wire. But you can see it and hear it.
With a fuse, your hoping the manufacturer is consistent enough with their process that that spool they draw from is always 1 direction. As in, what happens when they change spools. What direction is the new spool. And how is the fuse handled to maintain the direction before they apply the label. If the fuses all fall into a bin, then tumble through a shaker to a tray for printing, who knows what direction the label is in relation to the wire inside.

highstream · Jan 16, 2024

Kingrex said:
Not sure how well this picture will paste. This is what grain looks like when wire is drawn. Wire most definitely has a directional structure to it. You may say its AC so who cares. But the electeons are walking in the wire inches per second. Yes that is right. Inches. The work is in the magnetic field around the wire. Its not so much the electon itself. I don't know all why you can hear the directional grain of wire. But you can see it and hear it.
With a fuse, your hoping the manufacturer is consistent enough with their process that that spool they draw from is always 1 direction. As in, what happens when they change spools. What direction is the new spool. And how is the fuse handled to maintain the direction before they apply the label. If the fuses all fall into a bin, then tumble through a shaker to a tray for printing, who knows what direction the label is in relation to the wire inside.

Interesting post. If you're correct, then I assume those that are directional try to control for spooling in the production process. However, as some of us have found with SR, there are breakdowns either there or in labeling.

Kingrex · Jan 16, 2024

highstream said:
As I recall, the HiFi fuses are not directional by design, but by the process of burn in. That's not uncommon. Worth checking after a couple of weeks.

Per my post above, all wire is directional. If its slow drawn copper it will have low crystals and a very distinct grain orientation. What is unknown is whether HiFi Supreme keep track of the direction before labeling. If they don't, it will be a lot more work figuring it out with monoblocks. No other equipment of mine takes a fuse. Everything has a circuit breaker.

Kingrex · Jan 16, 2024

highstream said:
Interesting post. If you're correct, then I assume those that are directional try to control for spooling in the production process. However, as some of us have found with SR, there are breakdowns either there or in labeling.

If the ends are stamped. As in one end says 250 volt 4 amps and the other says nothing, I bet the internal wire is the same direction. Especially if you get wire from the same batch. From a manufacturing process it would only make sense the tool is dropping the 2 ends from different slots, inserting the wire into the tube and welding the ends on. I looked at the label on my Hifi fuse. I didn't pay attention to the endcaps. Maybe I should look.

Kingrex · Jan 16, 2024

Whats important about the picture is the crystal structure. As you slow the draw the crystals become long and far fewer. Every crystal is a boundary. As you reduce those boundaries, the conductivity of the wire becomes measurable higher. As in, slow drawn wire with say 40 crystals per foot is as conductive as tough pitch silver wire. Tough pitch copper wire has about 1700 crystals per foot. I assume silver would have about the same.

Carlsbad · Jan 16, 2024

@Kingrex I"m a physicist. and I've seen the simplfied explanation you are giving. Not a fan of it.
Fuses are neiher copper not silver. They have to be a low melting temp wire with high resistivity, usually a lead/tin allow. I don't know what audiophile fuses use but they have to be electrically the same so they heat up and blow at the correct current. It would much surprise me if the manufacturing process for small batch fuses maintained wire directional orientation.

But it doesn't cost anything for you to tinker with it. Best of luck.

Jerry

Kingrex · Jan 16, 2024

Carlsbad said:
@Kingrex I"m a physicist. and I've seen the simplfied explanation you are giving. Not a fan of it.
Fuses are neiher copper not silver. They have to be a low melting temp wire with high resistivity, usually a lead/tin allow. I don't know what audiophile fuses use but they have to be electrically the same so they heat up and blow at the correct current. It would much surprise me if the manufacturing process for small batch fuses maintained wire directional orientation.

But it doesn't cost anything for you to tinker with it. Best of luck.

Jerry

Maybe this is a lie. Don't know. General published sales jargon about the fuse.

The HiFi Tuning Supreme Cu Fuses utilize pure copper caps and melt wire, and are soldered with HiFi Supreme's own Supreme solder, which is a silver/copper/gold mixture.

All wire should melt reliably at a given temp and current. I can't see anything special about tin or lead. Copper is a much better conductor. That would say to me the wire would need to be of a smaller gauge to melt at the same temp as tin or lead wire would melt at. But all wire will melt.
Come to think of it. Years ago I busted open a 200A bussman cartridge fuse. I remember a thin flat, looked to be pure copper plate with a dense perforation pattern. All of that potted in sand.

All wire is drawn. I don't think any is poored into a mold. It is therefore going to have a grain.

How they are assembled I do not know. Could be machine. Could be hand.

I'm not a physicist. Just a lowly master electrician for 28 years.

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