I suspect you will immediately hear a difference. The absorber has no break in period and is easy A vs B. Even can let someone else remove and replace. Me I hear it even when between speakers at the P20 it changes the sound. If you need to know placement is right feel for the center Phillips head screw of the toroidal transformer on. Outside bottom floor. Goal is to have sheet edge at distance that equall bisects the screws head center.
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Curious to see if you prefer the absorbent sheet more on digital than analog, or the other way around.
Al,
Thinking about this. Perhaps fuses have directionality but the labels are not keyed to it. Funny thing I clearly hear a night to day difference flipping a single fuse. If you’re unit needs two and they are not synchronized in directionality. Flipping both Dual mono fuses would give same very similar sound since it is Stereo. Thus I would only flip one fuse at a time. Yeah more complicated but there’s now four choices on directionality but only three will give different sound. And only one will be best sounding.
The law of probability at work. Audio tweaking obviously is never as simple as it seems, since it can be confounding unless you break it apart into the simplest form.
@aangen your next troubleshoot step is flip one fuse left or right. Then Listen. then flip both fuses and listen. You will then have listened to all permutations.
More “numbers”.
Adding 1, 2 and 3 M-1 fuses.
A) M-1 vs stock fuse in P20, playing records only.
B) A + M-1 vs Purple in BHK Pre, playing records only.
C) B + M-1 vs Purple in SPP, playing records of course
‘- is for deterioration
= is for no improvements
‘+ is for subtle improvement
++ is for improvement
+++ is for remarkable improvement
The score at the bottom shows the average improvement, I found that the third M-1 can provide the biggest improvement to sound focusing only to analog rig.
This chart comes with less time listening because the result is more evident but take it with a grain of salt, the third fuse is still burning in so next days can change what I’m hearing.
One more thing, despite a correct discipline of a tweak at a time I’m also introducing the Vmax absorber 3M sheet on top of the P20, so any further sound improvement might be affected by different factors. Sorry for this urgency that makes my evaluation less objective but you know how curiosity killed the cat!
At the and of the day: the third M-1 is not only a keeper for analog chain, is my favorite!
| M-1 King | 1 M-1 | 2 M-1s | 3 M-1s |
|---|---|---|---|
| VINYL | VINYL | VINYL | |
| White noise/Hum | = | = | + |
| Background | ++ | ++ | +++ |
| Neutralness | + | ++ | ++ |
| Image precision | ++ | +++ | +++ |
| Soundstage depth | = | = | = |
| Soundstage width | + | + | ++ |
| Separation | ++ | +++ | +++ |
| Voice | + | ++ | +++ |
| Hights | = | + | = |
| Basses | ++ | +++ | ++ |
| Presence | + | ++ | ++ |
| Transient | ++ | ++ | ++ |
| Clarity | + | ++ | ++ |
| Airy | - | = | + |
| Detail | + | ++ | ++ |
| Unveil | = | = | = |
| Realism | + | ++ | ++ |
| Calm | ++ | ++ | +++ |
| Control | + | ++ | +++ |
| Engagement | ++ | ++ | +++ |
| 1,05 | 1,65 | 1,95 |
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It sounds like I need to order a 3rd M-1, even though I am all digital. The Ultimate Primer fuse in my DS hampers the overall SQ towards warmer/darker side, I think. M-1 sounded brighter (not bright sounding) and more detailed in comparison.
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Don’t know if my pleasure comes from 3 M-1s in the system or from the SPP unit with on board the third King. Too many variables to take into account, what I know is that playing records now is as engaging as ever.
Sounds like the 3rd King works well. If next week you still feel the same, or better, please share with us. There may be a few more orders of M-1 from folks here. 
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I didn’t change the fuse directions because I wanted or needed to hear something different. I did it out of curiosity. I don’t hear a difference at all so I am going to leave it alone. One at a time is something someone other than me can mess with. It’s an Fing fuse.
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More like kung fused… 
Best wishes
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After two weeks of breakin the fuzes sound pretty darn good in my Ethos!
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Glad you were able to come to acceptable terms with the M-1 fuse. I don’t understand it, but for some reason multiple M-1 have undesirable characteristics at times during there burn in. which is much more than a single M-1 fuse. But still better than what the purple fuses torture one with.
It’s interesting that I find that one M-1 with all the other after-market fuses in the system being Purple sounds fantastic. I’m inclined for the nonce to just leave this configuration in place, the blend and balance seems great. In time I’m sure I’ll be unable to resist the temptation to try another M-1 but so far just one in the P15 seems to be like Goldilock’s porrige.
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I have had both the Purples and M1’s in for sufficient burn-in time in the P20, BHKPRE, DACSR, and PST.
Yes, both fuse groups sound different after burn-in. After adding more M1’s, they have not wavered from their group characteristics which are not unlike those from good vintage tubes…warm, deep, resolving, with the added bonus of a better delineated sound stage. However, this came with a naggingly nasal mid bass. Dchang05 was kind enough to offer that the P20 em absorber sheet could be the culprit. I took it all out and the mean sheen went away. I am too lazy to try different sizes and I like what I hear now. It’s interesting that I heard little or no difference when I put the sheet in the P20 but was surprised how it changed after its removal. This is not a negative reflection on your good work and I believe in em absorption. So now I am torn between an all Purple or all M1 setup. I am not in favor of mix and match. There are enough variables with other tweaks, tubes, and cables. The Purples are detailed, fast, with tighter bass. The M1’s are detailed, warmer (in a good way) with better imaging. Pick your poison or wait a couple days for this to change again for some reason.
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If you have analog components like the SPP I suggest you to give the M-1 a try, I found it revelatory more than on digital rig. And I can’t imagine how great it would be with your FR30s.
I preferred too the P20 without 3M sheet but lastly I added the tuning ring tweak and it made a lot of difference re-bringing the magic I was listen to since I added 3 M-1s. Now sound is balanced and warm, detailed and open, even in the bass area. Voices and instruments separation are the best qualities, again. With a so silent background that makes the image so realistic.
It was a trial and error process, it took a few steps, finally I’m having what I was looking for. Engagement!
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The P20 power cord tuning ring and absorber sheet over half toroidal with multiple M-1s. Can give faster tighter bass and better balance than purples. I still have one purple left in my system on digital stream though. It can be difficult to achieve balance you want. The test is a week or two later to see if you still like a tweak.
I have no tubes in my system though, so those with BHK electronics may get more tubiness than palatable with absorber and Multiple M-1s.
Just do not ask the same friend that trash talked your system back!
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The M-1 fuses and absorbent sheets have similar sound characters I felt. Are the M fuses doing some noise cleaning like 3 M sheet? I do not know. But with multiple M-1s, the adjustments (smaller sheet and tuning ring reposition) I made are the best I heard from the system. So, both can live together happily. Without these adjustments, the sound could go towards the warmer side, and mid/low ambience could be too strong.
I listened to an Il Volo CD “Grande Amore” that I have ignored for one year, and I was so surprised how smooth and deep the sound is. It was sounding edgy and noisy the last time. My system sounds so much better now. The M-1 fuses and @vmax tweaks helped no question. Like vmax said, a solid-state system may work even better.
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Where can one purchase these 3M sheets?
Digikey or mouser.
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