Synergistic Research SR Orange Fuse snake oil ?

1 hour ago, R1200CL said:

I’ve not so much into YouTube sound comparisons, but this one has links below in text that makes you jump directly between fuses tested. 
 

Maybe it make sense for someone. I don’t think I’m able to hear differences on an iPad Pro. So open in YouTube. 
 

In the comment field, one guy believe in putting fuses in the freezer 🥶
 

 

Oh, oh, I certainly hear differences on MacBook Pro+Meridian explorer DAC+HD650! The Verastarr is the winner for me in this comparison. Hard to listen around the low-end overhang of his system (or recording) though.

Another positive review of a fuse. 
https://www.snakeoil-os.net/news/reviews/furutech-audiophile-fuses

Here is the only other reasonable priced fuses I found. Had some good reviews. Not many dealers. 
 

http://isocleanpower.com/product_24.htm

6 hours ago, R1200CL said:

Is this marketing BS or ?

Have they really put circuits inside a fuse ? Power conditioning in a fuse 🤣

 

How do fuses alter the sound of your system?

 

Standard fuses are very simple designs consisting of a pair of endcaps and a wire soldered in between.  Alan Maher Designs turns the standard fuse into a true, non-limiting power conditioner.  Our Harmony Fuse alters the sound of your component by using a combination of the Third Law of Thermodynamics and Ionization.  Our design attaches a negative ionic charge to the positive ionic energy field passing through the Fuse.  By regulating the temperature of the ionic field, we are able to produce a one-for-one ionic cancellation.  In electrical design, harmonics, radio frequency, and static noise are all combinations of a positive ionization field associated with electromagnetic radiation.  By cancelling the field, we can significantly lower EMR’s effect on the internal circuitry of your component.

 

Out-of-the-box our Harmony Fuse will require 60-80 hours for a complete break-in.  When CEF is applied to a circuit, all parts throughout the internal circuity will be conditioned to our noise specifications.  No other product can deliver this level of power conditioning.

 

(CEF: Conductive Energy Field)    ...whatever that means. 

 

https://www.alanmaherdesigns.net/product-page/harmony-fuse
 

And here is a $250 fuse

https://www.alanmaherdesigns.net/product-page/fourier-audiophile-fuse

 

If you want the ultimate snake oil product from this man, read the description here.

https://www.amdesignshealth.com/product-page/harmony-shoe-insert 

 

The harmony fuse would have to be the ugliest fuse on the planet. Synergistic at least make a good looking product in comparison,  so is perfectly flawed. 

That coating on the fuse looks like painted on cow poo, must be that CEF treatment . The etching on the fuse rating  is very much an industry standard, and no distinction between fast or slow either. Just a standard fuse.

To provide that level of attenuation that fuse would get so hot, the holder will melt.

The shoe insert was mildly entertaining placing a conductive material on an insulator, the sock and shoe, kind of inverse capacitor. The same insert is available from the supermarket at least you can trim those.

Don't buy AM designs gear. 

8 hours ago, MarkusBarkus said:

...sounds more like the Third Law of Marketing: There's a Sucker Born Every Minute.

 

I think if one wanted to try a more edge-case approach, some of the pastes/liquids that improve conductivity would be a better experiment.

Guess I'm a sucker then.  I rate the change that this fuse makes.  I get the skepticism though.  I'd love to know why so many like the fuses (me included) - I know that plenty can't hear a difference as well...

Have enjoyed tremendously owning and playing music for @20 years through a McCormack DNA-500 driving a pair of Aerial 10Ts, which "woke up" with the 900 watts into 4 ohms versus some whopper mono tube amps (8 KT88s per side) that preceded it in this challenge.  

Took Steve McCormack's advice and replaced external fuse with a Furutech one and like what it did to the sonics, remember increased transparency and depth versus the stock generic fuse.  Spent the $s because did/do not believe that he is a snake oil promoter and, quite frankly, there was nothing motivating his recommendation other than customer satisfaction in that he didn't sell the fuses.

Years back, took a similar recommendation from the owner of Northern Sound who recommended a particular power cable with three heavy wires and magnets at each end for a Wadia 861i that I had for a number of years.  Again, he didn't sell them.  He had significant Wadia products experience.  At the time, he admitted that he had no idea why, but they somehow lifted the performance of the player.  Tried one, had a couple of others to swap out, a magic dust one from Shunyata (that smoothed out the edges of a Theta Gen V that preceded the Wadia), a Kimber Palladian with big resonance killers, and a Synergistic with active shielding...some of the mondo cables of the day.  The one with the magnets did open up the players with more clarity and dynamics than the others.

Interestingly, have friends and family members who wouldn't notice the differences and others like my son, a classically trained vocalist with great ears, that could immediately.  Same young man picks up a glass of wine and can describe in detail all the flavor and aroma elements in the glass and others might say when pushed, oh this is smooth or fruity or deep and end it there.  

Finally, will share an observation that one of the local electronics gurus who worked with audio and instrument related electronics proposed, resonances in his view impacted electronic circuits significantly in a way similar to musical instruments.  Damping them, tuning them or otherwise managing them in a sympathetic ways would increase musicality.  He created tunable power and audio cables and other implements to tune musical instrument resonances. Believe he was onto something (he was well beyond feet for components) that might explain why some of these "tweaks" can have positive impacts.  

Me, I'm done with tweaks.  Gonna go play some guitar.

1 hour ago, 57gold said:

 

Finally, will share an observation that one of the local electronics gurus who worked with audio and instrument related electronics proposed, resonances in his view impacted electronic circuits significantly in a way similar to musical instruments.  Damping them, tuning them or otherwise managing them in a sympathetic ways would increase musicality.  He created tunable power and audio cables and other implements to tune musical instrument resonances. Believe he was onto something (he was well beyond feet for components) that might explain why some of these "tweaks" can have positive impacts.  

 

Me, I'm done with tweaks.  Gonna go play some guitar.

Yes. Parasitic behaviours of electronic parts create a cacophony of audible 'distortions' which can easily be heard if a setup is 'transparent' enough - which can send one into a tweaking frenzy as bad as any "tube roller" would succumb to, 😁.

The real trick is knowing when one is getting closer to making a rig subjectively transparent, versus merely smearing various types of makeup on - the latter can be fun, and exciting; but ultimately is just running in circles, when the real pleasures lie in hearing the unvarnished content of the recordings, in as pure a form as possible ...

Well ,

I can only say my experience:

Two years ago i purchased a Gustard i2s converter to use with i2s connection to my Terminator and was recommended to get the HIFI Tunning copper FUSE, so i just followed what some people suggested to me and i jumped, so bottom line i did not like the Gustard even with the fuse in it, so i sold it and keep the fuse and it has been in its box since then, i did not want to sell it cause im in Mexico and shipping to USA or another part in the world would have costed me what the fuse costs.

Now i have the PH SR4T and i have been thinking if changing the fuse for that one in its box and yesterday after many months i did, WOW yes it is a better sounding SR4T now, lucky the SR4T fuse is the same specs as the one i had on hand, now i will save some money to  change the fuses on both my SR5T and SR7T

Hope this be useful for those skeptics like my self

1 hour ago, mikicasellas said:

Hope this be useful for those skeptics like my self

Do you have a friend that can change a fuse?

If so, have them put both fuses in a hat, then pick one without looking at the label and install it.  Then see if you can hear a difference without looking in the hat.

On 5/12/2021 at 4:41 PM, fas42 said:

Where changing a fuse may change the sound, but not actually tell you the full story, is that removing and inserting the parts is refreshing the metal to metal contacts on the ends - contact noise may in fact be the main factor in the situation. To get around this to some degree, do some experiments where the fuse is swapped for a week without touching it, then swap back to the former for a another week; back and forth a couple of times - if there is a pattern, then this should reveal it.

I used to pull out fuses and clean all contact points as part of my annual contact cleaning endeavor.  I use the ProGold products - first using their cleaner, then applying their contact enhancer.  I always hear a slight uptick in sound quality from doing this.  Or maybe I imagine it as in the scheme of things the impact is very subtle - probably because I do this annually.  
 

On a scale from 1-10, I’d say the sonic impact of cleaning every metal part in my system is a 1.  Swapping in an Orange fuse - I’d rate that an 11 - maybe even higher for other fuses, like even the Blue or Black because they initially harm the sound quality.

http://www.stereotimes.com/acc082912.shtml
 

On 4/10/2021 at 9:06 AM, R1200CL said:

I’ve not so much into YouTube sound comparisons, but this one has links below in text that makes you jump directly between fuses tested. 
 

Maybe it make sense for someone. I don’t think I’m able to hear differences on an iPad Pro. So open in YouTube. 
 

In the comment field, one guy believe in putting fuses in the freezer 🥶
 

 

I imported this into Audacity and chopped up and randomized the tracks for playback in Foobar with it's ABX comparison plugin. I would be willing to proctor some double blind listening sessions for anyone to see if preference tracks when you don't have the answer key available.

2 minutes ago, MarkusBarkus said:

I love DIY Home Cryo. I've been testing on various gin and tonic combos all summer.

 

@plissken I would enjoy a system comparison at room T. and then the same rig set-up in a meat locker, if your butcher is a flexible guy. 

Hell, my butcher is offering to serve up a side of beef right in your house.

On 8/8/2021 at 4:04 AM, R1200CL said:

 

Thanks for sharing those videos!   No risk whatsoever to Synergistic in this - and while I don’t know anything about Gene other than what was mentioned in the videos, I can’t imagine that he would take Ted up on his challenge.  

I'm hoping Gene takes up the dropped gauntlet... it would be EPIC.

4 hours ago, Jeremy Anderson said:

I'm hoping Gene takes up the dropped gauntlet... it would be EPIC.

I hope he would too and Ted can do it all blinded to what product is in use...

To anyone that listened to Ted's video: If you can't hear how shitty that room is, it's incredibly reverberant, you need to get your ears checked.

It is like putting an expensive stereo in an airplane hanger,

35 minutes ago, JoeWhip said:

It is like putting an expensive stereo in an airplane hanger,

They have an active room treatment system that can be powered off/on.  It wouldn’t do them much good to evaluate this stuff in a room that didn’t need help.  Plus I think it’s grasping for straws to pick on the room.  The above metaphor is way over the top given how clear and articulate his voice was presented in the video.  It would be laughable to say it sounded like he was speaking to us from an airplane hanger.  

I have heard their demos. Not impressed. BTW, I would never try to draw conclusions from a you tube video. My point was the size of the room vis a vis the equipment. If you dig their stuff, good for you. It is great to have choices.

12 hours ago, kennyb123 said:

They have an active room treatment system that can be powered off/on.  It wouldn’t do them much good to evaluate this stuff in a room that didn’t need help.  Plus I think it’s grasping for straws to pick on the room.  

Why not turn on the "active room treatment" when shooting the video. How is it grasping at straws to listen to that the video and immediately realize that room sounds like shit?

Joe and I picked up on it right away. How about all the other people here with super hearing?

Keeping this thread on track

I've just replaced all my SR Blue Fuses with Orange. If you have a system that is resolving enough to hear the differences then the Orange is a great upgrade. Money well spent. 

On 8/17/2021 at 6:59 AM, ASRMichael said:

Keeping this thread on track

 

I've just replaced all my SR Blue Fuses with Orange. If you have a system that is resolving enough to hear the differences then the Orange is a great upgrade. Money well spent. 

This ☝️ is really the point. Power is difficult to diagnose, apparently, but when you get it right, it's absolutely positively "money well spent." All the qualities kick in–dynamics, transparency, coherence, extension, tonal body, bass definition, etc.