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Post by milsap195 on Dec 30, 2013 0:57:57 GMT -5
Has anybody messed with hifi tuning fuses, any improvements?
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Post by repeetavx on Dec 30, 2013 1:31:05 GMT -5
Not yet, but it's something I'll try next year.
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klinemj
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Post by klinemj on Dec 30, 2013 9:14:56 GMT -5
No - and no plan to. I can't think of any reason why that could possibly help sound.
Mark
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Post by Boomzilla on Dec 30, 2013 9:33:38 GMT -5
Haven't tried them and I'm skeptical that they'll make any difference at all. On the other hand, the place that sells them online offers free trial period and you can return them if you hear no difference. Why not go for it?
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DYohn
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Post by DYohn on Dec 30, 2013 10:20:25 GMT -5
Snake. Oil.
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KeithL
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Post by KeithL on Dec 30, 2013 10:24:21 GMT -5
"Tuning fuses" can be either the worst snake oil imaginable - or just something with incredibly low likelihood of working  IF you amplifier has speaker fuses (fuses between the amp output and the speaker), then those fuses can introduce extra impedance - which will slightly reduce damping factor. As such, changing them may change the sound very slightly (some speaker manufacturers used to recommend removing output fuses and replacing them with metal jumpers). However, VERY FEW amplifiers have output speaker fuses these days; although you might find them on some older units. (Also, removing the fuse reduces your safety factor, and any fuse which retains that safety factor will still affect the impedance.) IF, instead, your amplifier has "rail fuses" (fuses on the DC power supply rails feeding the power amps), those fuses could affect the impedance of the power supply - again, by a very tiny amount. However, this effect, if any, has been compensated for by the decoupling capacitors on the power rails - which are part of the design. Also, again, the fuses are there to protect your amplifier and your speakers, and removing them will abridge that protection; any replacement fuses that provide similar protection will almost certainly have an equal impact on the sound ( IF there is any). IF, like most modern amplifiers, the fuses are on the AC POWER LINES, then they are before the power supply, with all of its filtering and regulation - and any effect they have on the sound coming from the speakers is... well... all in your head. The effect of a mains fuse being there, or not being there, is trivial - and cannot possibly effect the performance of any but the worst possible design. (I - or any decent engineer - would have difficulty deliberately designing an amplifier with a power supply so poor that changing the power fuses would affect the sound). Save your money; buy a new CD or record instead..... Has anybody messed with hifi tuning fuses, any improvements? |
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KeithL
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Post by KeithL on Dec 30, 2013 10:38:46 GMT -5
The short answer there is "psychology". Someone wrote a book a while ago about wine tasting. He took the same wine and put it in two different bottles; then told people one was "an expensive wine" and one was "a cheap wine"; not too surprisingly, most people were quite sure that the expensive wine tasted better. (And, my point, if he had been doing his "taste test" in a store, many of the people who did the taste test would have paid the higher price for the "better" wine after deciding they liked it better - and they would have been quite convinced that they had "independently decided which one they preferred". A true cynic might even suggest that, if they enjoyed the wine from the expensive bottle more, that they had indeed "gotten their money's worth".) By offering a free in-home trial, these guys are bolstering your TRUST in them, which makes it more likely that you will believe what they claim, and so expect their product to work. This, in turn, makes it more likely that you will imagine you hear a difference. Beyond that, by getting you to request the shipment, fill out forms, wait for the box to arrive, unpack the box, and install the fuses, they are "enlisting you in the process"; you have expended effort in service of hearing their product, and so you will want it to work to justify that effort. In short, offering that free home trial makes it quite likely that they will sell product to many of the people who try it - totally independently of whether it "works" or not. (After all, I'm sure their fuses do work - probably at least as well as any other 50 cent fuse - so it's very unlikely that anybody will decide that their fuses sound worse, and much more likely that you will imagine some subtle, intangible "improvement".) Haven't tried them and I'm skeptical that they'll make any difference at all. On the other hand, the place that sells them online offers free trial period and you can return them if you hear no difference. Why not go for it? |
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Post by ludi on Dec 30, 2013 16:11:03 GMT -5
A while ago I blew a fuse of one of my Magnepan 1.7s, due to accidentally selecting the speaker volume setup of my UMC-1  . I had to buy a new fuse anyway, so why not get audio fuses? Also because these fuses are in the primary audio path I guessed it might help. I bought some AHP fuses. I heard (imagined?) a very slight improvement.  On the left the orginal one, on the right the AHP fuse. |
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Post by whovous on Dec 30, 2013 16:18:44 GMT -5
The new one is much more attractive. Points for that.
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klinemj
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Post by klinemj on Dec 30, 2013 16:29:00 GMT -5
If they glowed blue...now that would be cool...
Mark
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Post by 1960broookwood on Dec 30, 2013 18:13:13 GMT -5
I've changed the fuses in all my speakers and most other components to a ceramic type and I can hear a difference either real or imagined--but I go to the parts crib and purchase them for cost--a buck each or less.
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Post by mgbpuff on Dec 30, 2013 18:18:57 GMT -5
If your equipment is still under warranty and this matters to you, I would not change out any fuses unless they blew and then replace with the exact same type and manufacturer.
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Post by Boomzilla on Dec 30, 2013 19:41:25 GMT -5
The short answer there is "psychology"...By offering a free in-home trial, these guys are bolstering your TRUST in them, which makes it more likely that you will believe what they claim, and so expect their product to work. This, in turn, makes it more likely that you will imagine you hear a difference. Beyond that, by getting you to request the shipment, fill out forms, wait for the box to arrive, unpack the box, and install the fuses, they are "enlisting you in the process"; you have expended effort in service of hearing their product, and so you will want it to work to justify that effort. In short, offering that free home trial makes it quite likely that they will sell product to many of the people who try it - totally independently of whether it "works" or not. (After all, I'm sure their fuses do work - probably at least as well as any other 50 cent fuse - so it's very unlikely that anybody will decide that their fuses sound worse, and much more likely that you will imagine some subtle, intangible "improvement".) So this is why Emotiva offers home trials?  |
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