[PinotBob]

Chris at VH Audio said that he will be carrying the HiFi Tuning silver fuses very soon.  Has anyone tried these so called "HiFi" fuses?  I have never removed or replaced the fuses that came with my Mono Extremes (4 years old now).  Just wondering if they are hype, or actually change the sound.   

[maxwalrath]

Would you like to know from people who have actually A/B'ed fuses?  (Just thought I'd save you some trouble  and a quick 10 page thread in case the answer is yes) 

[DeanSheen]

There is a review of some 'phile fuses on 6moons.

$25/ea

The thought did cross my mind but I decided not to.

Ask Klaus?

[Wolfman]

I haven't tried the ceramic fuses,but a while ago I found someone on A'Gon selling Silver wire Xindac fuses. As these were only $10/fuse,I thought what the heck. These were glass fuses,with Silver fuse wire inside,capped by Gold plated ends. Correct 6.3,5 x 20mm.

They took about 1 week to break in,with that week going by slowly and me thinking I had made a terrible mistake. Bass mostly disappeared,and highs were rolled off.       After about a week,the Bass came back not only stronger and just as defined than ever(which is saying something on these amps),but the highs were just a bit more extended,and perhaps a bit airier,however I was relying memory,you know how that goes. Definitely not any worse. Certainly much more pronounced than you would think from a simple fuse change. My 2c.

Seller has disappeared off A'Gon. Cattylink(http://www.cattylink.com/) lists the fuses,but their webpage is in process of being upgraded and the link to the fuses doesn't work yet. I haven't emailed them to check.

Amps are Mono Extreme SEs.

However,I always wondered about ceramic fuses. Just how the heck to you know which one blows? Blackened/darkened fuse body? Glass body is easy.

Anyways,count me in the believers camp. Probably will try out the ceramics at some point,but 8 of them will cost.

[satfrat]

I bought 12 Isoclean fuses @ $25 each 3 years ago and not only was there a clarity gain in my 2 Butler amps, I quicky realized that these fuses were indeed directional as I had them in backwards the first time. At that point I had extended clarity but at the expense of some brightness. I got back in there and switched all 12 fuses and the brightness went away but the clarity remained. No way are they worth $25 each but they do indeed work. What really turned me off was Isocleans recommendations in the included instructions to change these fuses every 3 months.  I don't think so. And for todays price of $37 something??? Those fuse caps better be solid gold for that price. 


Cheers,
Robin

[reflex]

Many years ago there was a power amp that was recommended by an audio reviewer, though his recommendation was qualified.  He said you must change out the 2 amp speaker protection fuses for 5 amp's.  I was able to get said amp for demo and took it home, stock fuses in place.  It was inferior in all ways to the amp I had at the time (the same reviewer's previous pick as "best for the money").  I happened to have some 5 amp fuses on hand and changed them out...now the order of preference changed completely.  And not just by a small amount...this new amp was totally better than the amp I owned.  Hard to believe the difference the fuse value made.  Looking at the fuses it would be hard to tell a difference in wire gauge.  These were just everyday run-of-mill fuses, too.

Makes me tempted to say the hell with the warranty and just drop in some high value fuses in the signal chain and see what differences I hear.  Unless the amp developed a problem, there should be no harm to doing so.

[Paul_Bui]

Hi Reflex and Robin,

Thanks for the good tips.  Robin, could you tell by looking at an IEC jack, making a triangle with 3 prongs, what you think the right direction for the HFT fuses?

Will try using some higher amp value fuses.  It sounds promising.  BTW, adding a few HFT fuses after getting the PSA PPP made me think that those fuses work very well with PPP.

Paul

[satfrat]

Hi Reflex and Robin,

Thanks for the good tips.  Robin, could you tell by looking at an IEC jack, making a triangle with 3 prongs, what you think the right direction for the HFT fuses?

Will try using some higher amp value fuses.  It sounds promising.  BTW, adding a few HFT fuses after getting the PSA PPP made me think that those fuses work very well with PPP.

Paul

I'd frown upon changing the values of them fuses w/o at least running it by Klaus. As for the direction of the current, I used a meter,,, actually a neighbor of mine with the meter came over and tested out the circuit. I had all 12 backwards,,, 6 channels= 6 circuit boards=2 fuses per board on my Butlers. I matched up the fuse values on mine.

Cheers,
Robin

[djbnh]

 

Many years ago there was a power amp that was recommended by an audio reviewer, though his recommendation was qualified.  He said you must change out the 2 amp speaker protection fuses for 5 amp's.  I was able to get said amp for demo and took it home, stock fuses in place.  It was inferior in all ways to the amp I had at the time (the same reviewer's previous pick as "best for the money").  I happened to have some 5 amp fuses on hand and changed them out...now the order of preference changed completely.  And not just by a small amount...this new amp was totally better than the amp I owned.  Hard to believe the difference the fuse value made.  Looking at the fuses it would be hard to tell a difference in wire gauge.  These were just everyday run-of-mill fuses, too.

Makes me tempted to say the hell with the warranty and just drop in some high value fuses in the signal chain and see what differences I hear.  Unless the amp developed a problem, there should be no harm to doing so.

Hi Reflex and Robin,

Thanks for the good tips.  Robin, could you tell by looking at an IEC jack, making a triangle with 3 prongs, what you think the right direction for the HFT fuses?

Will try using some higher amp value fuses.  It sounds promising.  BTW, adding a few HFT fuses after getting the PSA PPP made me think that those fuses work very well with PPP.

Paul

I'd frown upon changing the values of them fuses w/o at least running it by Klaus. As for the direction of the current, I used a meter,,, actually a neighbor of mine with the meter came over and tested out the circuit. I had all 12 backwards,,, 6 channels= 6 circuit boards=2 fuses per board on my Butlers. I matched up the fuse values on mine.

Cheers,
Robin

I personally would not change the value of the fuses. For example, I've had a single instance in which 2 fuses went at seemingly the same time in one of my Mono Extremes. I'm unsure of the reason (went to dedicated lines subsequently and been nothing but greatness from those amps since then), yet glad I had the protection of the fuses (even if covered under warranty, it's not inexpensive to ship mono amps back to Indy; plus, there's time w/no tunes!). Furthermore, I value the value of Klaus' products and his good will, and I'd not want to have to tell Klaus, that due to tampering with his products by swapping in non-standard rated fuses, that I'd fried my amps. I believe manufacturers select product fuse ratings for qualified reasons, but maybe I'm wrong.

Caveat emptor.