Hi everyone,
Would exchanging the standard fuse in the RD250A for something like a Synergistic Research Purple fuse make any difference/improvement to the sound?
And of so, what kind of fuse is used in the RS250A.
Best wishes,
Hans
As long as you believe that spending an inordinate amount of money on a fuse makes a difference, you will hear it.
In any real way, no.
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I tend to lean towards that idea, but there are people that know quite a lot about audio and whoās opinion I greatly respect, , like PS Audioās Paul McGowan, who claim that they can hear a big difference with āaudiofileā fuses.
I would like to know of anyone here has had that experience with their 150 or 250.
Hello,
Fuse for RS250A: T3.15AL 250V, Littlefuse
Not tried on my 150. But replacing fuses could yield different results as one did for replacing cables.
Similarly, you may find the results favorable or unfavorable. Itās personal and very much depends on your system and your expectation.
To be honest Mr. McGowan is a very good salesman, but not particularly knowledgeable about audio and will say anything that will sell PS Audio products. Even if it directly contradicts what he was saying just the other day, when PS Audio did not have a specific product to sell.
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Imagine how much copper, how much silicon, gold, etc. is involved in making your product sounding good. If you replace just a few millimeters of wire, what will happen? Things look very different if you replace cheap cables with better ones or when you move around your speakers just little bit. In the past you could buy CD-Rewinders, those fuses belong into the same category (at least for me)
You can also ask what would be the benefit of investing in really good power cables or even something like a Audioquest Niagara when all that power end up going through a tiny bit of cheap wire before entering the device.
Not so surprisingly, there is no benefit investing in Niagara or any product ever made by Audioquest and their ilk either. Seriously., They market a directional Ethernet cable. Just that is enough to know that they should not be given any of your hard-earned money.
They just prey on people who had (depending on where you went to school) either forgotten high school physics, or never took any.
If even 1/10th of what Synergistic writes about their products even made any sense, let alone were true, theyād be lining up for Nobel prizes, not peddling cables.
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ComplĆØtement dāaccord pour les fusibles comme pour tous les accessoires Ć la poudre de perlimpimpin (āsnake oilā) du domaine āidiophileā !!!
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Fair to say this post ended well (not) curious to hear if the fuses do in fact make a difference.
I would still like someone who has in fact tried it, to weigh in on the matter.
I knew this was going to open a can of worms. I respect everyoneās opinion, but I was hoping for someoneās experience in this matter instead of what people believe or think.
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Does T3.15AL or T3.15A make any difference and is this the slow blow version?
Thanks.
I love it!
I would respectfully direct you to my first reply in this thread. People who believe in these things will hear night and day difference, see veils lifting before their eyes, and even their wives will call out from the kitchen wondering what have they done.
Physics, alas, is not a matter of belief. No matter how many fancy fuses you have in your pocket, if you step off a cliff, you will fall down. Same thing with audio reproduction.
Magic is in the music, not in equipment, no matter how much people incompetent at engineering (cough, McGowan, cough) would want to claim otherwiseā¦
Noted Boris. I used to be in your corner, backed by measurements and what have you. Until I actually heard a difference in cables. I had a pair of AQ Golden Gate interlinks and thought ād replace them with Red Rivers. They were almost twice the price, but they sounded worse. First I thought it was my imagination, but then I switched back and my system sounded like before. I asked my audio buddies over to listen. Without telling them my thoughts first and, without sharing our thoughts out loud while listening, we all came to the same conclusions. Iām not talking about veils being lifted, or tears in my eyes, but very small subtle, but still audible differences. Somehow ones ears are able to pick up differences that are hard to measure or maybe almost too small to clearly show up in a graph. I donāt know how, but I pick out the two cables every time. I donāt have the science to back up my claim, which I usually hate, but I hear the differences anyway. On my system, in a quiet room.
Iām not saying that more expensive is better and I think 200 euros for a fuse is close to ridiculous, but still Iām curious to know of anyone tried this and what their findings were. Just out of curiosity. And I people want to spend a lot of money on power cables, interlinks and whatever, and it makes them happy, then why not? I bought a pair of expensive rca cables just because they look so damn good. 
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My general rule is that if the change is in the analog audio signal path, it could alter the sound. I donāt own the 250, but I presume any fuses are to the power supply before the audio path. So unless the current fuse is of an improper manufacturer rating, then save your money.
Alterations in sound using cables are usually done by altering measurable things like the impedance ratingā¦ People sometimes use 110 ohm digital AES cables in place of 50 ohm analog XLR cables. That can alter the sound.
The rest of the stuff is typically cosmetic - like jewelry. If it makes the system look nice to your tastes and you can afford it, go for it. If it is hidden in a rats nest of wires, you may not get the cosmetic value.
Power cables that match the spec requirements will work no matter the jacket on the cables.
We can all agree this topic is the most controversial in our hobby.
My other hobby is cars - racing stripes are often discussed in 0-60 times over there.
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Iāve no doubt that you have perceived some difference, but objectively unless it were a blind test it really says nothing.
As for fuses specifically, they sit before the power supply that converts whatever comes from the wall to DC. Unless Roseās power supply was designed by a stoned first-grader, the only effect a fancy fuse could have would be to make things worth, e.g. if it has variable resistance.
As for AQ cables, it is quite possible that one pair had slightly higher resistance and thus sounded slightly quieter , which is perceived as worse. Even more likely, both pairs are just badly designed becauseā¦ AQ.
I was at Axpona last weekend, visited the Synergistic rooms. The gentleman who was the patent holder, was doing a demonstration of the fuse by using two identical Berkeley Alpha DAC ref series 3.
He did not tell us what the difference was prior to the demonstration. Only to see if a difference in sound quality could be heard.
It was amazing,
how a fuse could bring out the sound like that. you have to try it for yourself.
At the show he said you could try it for 30 days, and return it if you did not hear a difference. As long as you send it back in the same condition you recieved it.
Iām still contemplating trying it out. But $600 for a 2 amp fuse. a lot of RD.
Is a Fuse not something, that protects the device from getting damaged? Means that the Fuse might been used some day and the money is then blown.
I am sure that most people did not invest the same amount in acoustic room treatment, than they spent on little things like Fuses, expensive cables.
Depending how large the āmust haveā factor is, we all suffer from some sort of psycho-acoustics in one or another way (including me sometimes).
Yes that is what a fuse does. And thatās the chance you take. The only reason Iām still contemplating it.
There was 10 of us in the demonstration room. Every one had the same reaction to the difference in SQ.
all positive. Quite a few had been sold that day.
He also carries other fuses for less $$.