As I remember, the screws holding the top down are 4-40. Not very long either, maybe 1/2".
Fortunately these screws are not critical, so if you do lose one there is no great rush to replace it.
J.P.
Polyglot said Fuses matter a lot, don't skimp on them and try the newer ones like Audio Horizon Platinum Reference and Audio Magic Premier w Beewax. The effect is at least as strong as upgrading the power cord. AH fuse has a much better midrange and more natural (hard to image but IME true) than the already very good SR Red, which easily beats the older HiFi Tuning Supreme.@polyglot, can you tell us more? If you've tried both the SR Red and AH fuses I'd be very interested in hearing more about the comparison. I was about to purchase the Reds, but I think I'd like to hear a bit more about this.
tony22: the SR Red is excellent (absolutely much better than the HiFi Tuning Supreme)…until you have heard the AH Platinum. IME the AH Platinum does not have that very slight harshness and betters midrange to high. Since these fuses are around a hundred bucks a piece, I recommend trying several out as they do make much more impact than a better power cord. I am going to order the AM Beewax to check how different that is compared to the AH Platinum.
P.S. The AH Platinum should be burnt in by now so I tried the combinations of AH+AH (F1, F2) , AH+SR, SR+SR, SR+AH and come to the conclusion in my system that SR Red in F1 and AH in F2 has, for my ears, the best sonic results. YMMV
Stay away from IsoClean (cheap at $50), you get perceived clarity, lot of highs, but nowhere the resolution and texture as with SR Red nor AH Platinum.
IME those fuse upgrades are much better than upgrading to even a mid level power cord.
Polyglot, a combination?!
Nothing is ever simple, is it? After the holiday activities are past, please tell us what each of these brings to the DS. I’ll say I’m curious!
Happy Holidays all!
Are both DS fuses actually active?
gordon said Happy Holidays all!Are both DS fuses actually active?
Ho Ho Ho. I thought only one was too, fuse bay 1 whichever one that is… Can’t remember if it’s the one closest to the chassis side or the other one.
Yep, only one fuse is used in the DS, the PWD had a separate fuse/transformer for the digital and analog cards. The DS’s analog card uses a spare supply on the “digital” fuse/transformer and the “analog” fuse is an unused spare.
Ted Smith said Yep, only one fuse is used in the DS, the PWD had a separate fuse/transformer for the digital and analog cards. The DS's analog card uses a spare supply on the "digital" fuse/transformer and the "analog" fuse is an unused spare.Ted
which fuse is which in the DS?
They are labeled on the board - I don’t know if there’s only been one version of the board, but on mine F1 is marked DIGITAL (which is used) and F2 is marked ANALOG (which isn’t used.)
Thanks Ted, another DSD user recommended to replace both fuses.
IME the AH Platinum yields better mid and “sweeter” high frequencies.
I agree. Through my whole system each component showed a marked improvement over Red fuses in all categories we hold dear with audiophile electronics.
I believe you guys saying that the AH Platinum fuse is better than the RED fuse. I am using 9 RED fuses among my system and is tempted to try the AH. However, there is a BLACK fuse now from Synergistic and they say it is a BIG improvement over the RED. So has anyone tried the BLACK fuse and compared it to the AH yet?
I plan to get the BLACK as I can get discount on them.
It is good to know that I only need ONE fuse for the DS as I have put two RED fuses on there right now. How about the PWT? Do we actually need one or two fuses?
Go for it. I’ve had my personal fill with SR fuses with the SE20 then the Red fuse. Both were brightening and causing my system to sound electronic in nature. The AH fuses are superbly analog snd natural with a huge open pure sound stage. To my knowledge the AH fuses are the only ones with a patent pending for the design. I could be wrong there but the design how they work to block very high and extremely high frequency to attenuate them I believe is what is the reason. They work superbly in my system and far more real sounding and live without the discontinuous upper mids to top end that both the SR20 and Red fuses have.
Coupled with Shunyatas magnificent Sigma PCs I am trying out have elevated my system to highs I could never imagine. And I was using a full loom of reference level Kibg Cobra CX cables before. The Sigmas are astounding. Both the PWT and DS have been elevated to all new levels since I’ve been auditioning them.
dts said How about the PWT? Do we actually need one or two fuses?Only one fuse in the PWT is active.
Do the AH fuses claim to be direction sensitive?
No. Sound the same either way in my rig.
Elk said :)Good to know but I've found that Hi-Fi Tuning fuses do sound better one way than the other. I've yet to replace the fuse in my PSA DS DAC because the first screw on the bottom of the casing became gnarled and haven't gotten it out yet.
Other types may not sound any better one way or the other.
Yes, others report directionality in fuses as well.
While I will never argue with others’ subjective experiences, my rational objective engineering side has a great deal of difficulty accepting that a non-rectifying component is directional in an AC circuit - where the current flow is equal in both directions.