HFT and SR fuses both had obvious directional issues with them. The AH fuse is the first that doesn’t I’ve used. Simply superb fuses.
This is alone intriguing, further begging the question as to what any of these fuses do.
Does anyone know of someone who removed the fuse holders in a piece of equipment and replaced them with a short bit of good quality wire?
There is a convo going on in the Audiogon forums about the SR Red fuse that has morphed into the new Black fuse if anyone is interested. Some of the claims of holy grail sound improvement is off the charts. I don’t know how a measly little fuse could cause such a stir,but some people are dancing in the streets… 
https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/synergistic-red-fuse?sort_order=asc
Typical audiophile hyperbole.
Then again, perhaps the fuse sounds better than straight wire; the fuse itself process the signal.
With this much excitment over a fuse, it is astounding any survive purchasing a new preamp or DAC.
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Elk said Yes, others report directionality in fuses as well.I understand your trepidation on technical grounds in accepting that fuse orientation might have an effect on sound quality. If you have the time, you might want to wade through the following: http://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/82496/studies-on-residential-power-line-noise-part-7-hifi-tuning-and-isoclean-fusesWhile 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.
In addition, HiFi Tuning has a similar study, which I can’t locate at the moment. The gist of both is that orienting a fuse in one direction versus the other results in a lower noise measurement.
Yes, I have seen these as well as others. Leaving aside issues with respect to the test methodology, there continues to be no credible explanation as to directionality in an AC circuit. Again, I do not dispute what people report they are hearing. If one finds a fuse sounds different one way or the other that is great.
I also continue to find interesting that no one, at least to my knowledge, has opened one up and found anything other than a wire. And no, I am not going to spend the money to pull them apart. Unicorn glitter is a pain to clean up.
At the risk of doing what the above captions, I’m not disputing the lack of directionality in an AC circuit. However, have you ever considered that a fuse may act differently electrically when oriented one way versus the other? Just food for thought. Not trying to be argumentative.
Joe,that is a fair question. But on the other hand,if all of the wiring inside a component is not ‘all together’ wired in the same exact direction —> right down to the molecular crystal structure, would not that affect the sound quality also,for better or worse? How a 1/2 inch piece of wire not directionally aligned correctly can change the sound of a component when the rest of the wiring is not intentionally directional, is beyond me. Just saying.
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Mark, quite honestly I don’t know why, but it does make a difference. I can tell you that I’ve tried all three types of the HiFi-Tuning fuses (Gold, Silver and Supreme) and in each case the sound was subtly but noticeably and repeatably different when the orientation of the fuse was reversed. There have been a couple of studies that I’m aware of that indicated one orientation of the fuse yields lower noise measurements than the opposite. I’ve read anecdotal evidence from not only other members of our hobby but reviewers such as Myles B. Astor (Positive Feedback) and Robert Deutsch (Stereophile) who reported the same thing.
Yes Joe, this hobby we all love so much is an enigma at times.Trying to sort through it is part of the joy though.
I’ve always been a skeptic on directionality but I also recognize that we don’t understand everything that is going on at the deepest levels. A couple of quantum mechanics courses in college forever disabused me of the notion that the real world has to make sense on an intuitive level. People whose observations I respect hear differences and stranger things have turned out to be true. I’m not going to say they’re wrong just because I don’t understand why. But I sure would appreciate an explanation that makes sense (and just labeling something a “quantum whatsis” doesn’t count).
Nicely put, Steve. I’ve been involved in this hobby of ours for close to 50 years and something I’ve taken away is that just about everything has an effect on what we hear. And though I can’t explain a good deal of it, I think that’s more our level of understanding than anything else.
My but this has gotten attention again.
I have long ago stopped trying to understand what my ears hear and just enjoy the results.
oddeophile said My but this has gotten attention again.Indeed.I have long ago stopped trying to understand what my ears hear and just enjoy the results.
I respectfully withdraw from this dialogue because I’ve seen it too many times on too many fora.
The “unicorn glitter” remark, however, was uncalled for in my opinion, especially from a “Forum Leader”.
There are plenty of claims that the directionality of wire makes a difference. It’s conceivable that being drawn thru a die is a directionally asymmetrical process. One cable maker I know can’t get the raw wire manufacturer to consistently label the direction the wire was drawn so he listens to each new batch of wires before he makes audio cables (and/or power cords) from them. Also many manufacturers (AudioQuest included) label the preferred direction of their cables.
FWIW I don’t mind the “unicorn glitter” remark - I took it as a humorous version of “FM”.
My problem is the terminology that a lot of audio fuse makers use - the phrase “direction of current” that some use isn’t well defined - at least nominally the current flows both directions on both legs of the circuit every cycle. “Direction of power” could make a little more sense to me - if I had a plausible explanation above and beyond the phrase it’s self.
The thing that drives me nuts when people ask “which direction is best” is that personally I’d try a supposedly directional thing both ways and see which I liked better. Without a sound description of the process involved I don’t see why one would assume that the direction that sounds best to one person would sound best to the next - or why what sounds best in one system would sound best in the next.
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As regards the last paragraph you’re correct Ted. Every single fuse except the AH fuse I’d used stated they were directional. Reading various forums yielded just the statement you made above. What’s good for one guy the next hated. Again, FWIW the AH fuse I tried both ways in my amp, the first component I used them in. It sounded exactly the same both ways.
Ted Smith said T- I took it as a humorous version of "FM".My problem is the terminology that a lot of audio fuse makers use - the phrase “direction of current” that some use isn’t well defined - at least nominally the current flows both directions on both legs of the circuit every cycle. “Direction of power” could make a little more sense to me - if I had a plausible explanation above and beyond the phrase it’s self.
The thing that drives me nuts when people ask “which direction is best” is that personally I’d try a supposedly directional thing both ways and see which I liked better. Without a sound description of the process involved I don’t see why one would assume that the direction that sounds best to one person would sound best to the next - or why what sounds best in one system would sound best in the next.
Snipped out some remarks. Don’t know what “FM” means but I am familiar with wire manufacturers who take the direction that their wire is drawn seriously. Could be a marketing gimmick but I don’t think so. I realize there are some “snake oil” sellers out there but what I’ve found is that they are much less present than is popularly thought.
Still offended by the cavalier attitude of some remarks made by persons who perhaps haven’t bothered to try things because they “already know” that it doesn’t make a difference.
Sad.
Ted Smith said Also many manufacturers (AudioQuest included) label the preferred direction of their cables.Isn't this because the screen may be lifted in one end to avoid ground loops?
Then the directionality simply would be to label which end of the cable the screen is connected,
Some manufacturers definitely hook the screen up asymmetrically, but other cables are labeled explicitly for wire directionality, including most of my AQ cables: “Because all drawn metal is directional, all audio cables are directional. AudioQuest analog and digital audio cables are all controlled for correct directionality. Please use the cable with the arrows pointing from source to receiver or component.”
As are Shunyata cables. All of mine are directional.