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I have not heard this particular complaint before, audiophile fuses not doing their job. With no mention of the actual fuse used, or verification that the user used the correct amperage and blow types...though this concern over audiophile quality fuses may be "real," emotional bias/"belief" sticks out also for me. At any rate, in the many years since this post, wouldn't we have heard a lot more about these issues if they were prevalent?
My experience is also otherwise. I have had several audio fuses from several companies blow over the years, all caused by shorted rectifiers, usually when I forgot to change to a cheap fuse when trying an unknown rectifier...especially vulnerable, very early European GZ32 types@#$%^ But any rectifier can short, so I am usually careful.
Like Lon, I prefer audiophile fuses. Glass fast blows are clear, but I find them tinselly and audio fuses smoother. My top dollar limit, and favorites for transparency, were Synergistic Reds bought on sale. With my bias for smooth and fast transparency, without color, the SR Red stands out to me over HiFi Tuning Supremes and Gold, Furutech, or AMR, Create and other variations of Rhodium/gold plated fuses. Interestingly, the SR Red is also the least directional of those I have tried, where others are pretty different one way than the other. My next favorite are HiFi Tuning Silvers. Though not quite as nuanced and extended, articulation, spacial clarity and detail are really good...and they are relatively inexpensive, usually on sale @ partsconnexion...
With a batch of rectifiers I wanted to test that were questionable, I decided to try a Radio Shack slow blow glass fuse in my Torii, but with tuning stickers...
I had been modifying my quite transparent Gustard x20pro, and several previously skeptical folks modifying the same DAC really liked the sonic improvements with specific uses of WA Quantum stickers. So I ordered some, and agreed. Cap and chip stickers were quite obvious...too much for me as-is. But cutting them into small pieces and spreading them around by-sound, I found the very fine detail and space I wanted without going too far.
I ordered a WA fuse sticker at the time to try. I was also testing some Telos Quantum, and some experimental stickers a guy sent to test. To me, the WA were exceptional at fine detail and space, with a good balance but weighing on the airy/fine detail side. The Telos were quite good at increasing signal density and weight, but too dense and focussed for me overall...not enough of the very fine information I like from WA. The prototypes were in between.
Testing different arrangements on fuses, changes were audible, enough so to be able to easily choose favorites, and to realize the cheap slow blow fuse with stickers taped on made a respectable audiophile fuse. I ended up with half of a round Telos sticker, and a half WA taped on the glass with a thin strip of white electrical tape. I figured the tape might damp the glass a bit, while also making the stickers removable should a fuse blow. I suspect the slow blow might also help the "tinselly" effect of fast blow glass, with more mass to the conductor, and maybe less resonance. Cardas contact enhancer on the ends helped a little too.
Using this fuse happily for quite a while, I decided to do some tests in the Torii today. I have a Synergistic Research Red with a WA sticker. It is nicely revealing of nuance and high space, very slightly smoother, and with a bit more defined bass. But my stickered slow blow is similarly revealing of fine detail and close elsewhere...perhaps a touch better at some areas of textures and subtle ambient information. It shows the smooth weight and density of the Telos sticker, and fine detail and space of the WA.
PSAudio sent me some replacement fuses after doing some repair work on my P5. I wondered if they were Schurters. I find these smoother than fast blow glass, and clearer than radio shack ceramic, but not as good as others I have tried. Changing from it to a SR Red in the P5 was clarifying to be sure here.
I don't know if there is a way to get single Telos stickers. I do like the combination of a 1/2 Telos and 1/2 WA but would not buy a box of Telos stickers to do it. I do hear everything in my system, and so can't say how this experience would translate elsewhere, but for $8, a WA fuse sticker may be worth a try, perhaps making a cheap slow blow pretty nice, and using tape rather than the sticky back of the sticker, they are easy to move to another fuse.
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