I used a HiFi-Tuning fuse, from Germany. The short-circuit was created by an after-market umbilical for Pass that a lot of people use, which blew up the power supply. The worst part is that I actually replaced the stock fuse with that one right before attempting to plug in that umbilical. How stupid, I know.
And since I brought it up, Pass also said the following regarding those after-market umbilicals:
We've seen this more often than you might imagine
Bottom line: quality control comes with the negotiated price, and I negotiated too low. So blame me solely again; no need to name that brand. To the contrary, let's simply count what it would take to assert correctness of connectivity in that cable, and please check my math:
1) pin-to-pin, 25 times (they are DB-25 connectors); plus
2) Mathematical sum of 25, to make sure that no pins on the same end are accidentally connected to another (e.g. solder traces accidentally dropped onto the connectors); I can even settle for a smaller number if we think there is no chance of two pins situated far away from each will ever cross; plus
3) Multiply that by 2, for two connectors