What amuses me is I usually have to take my system to dinner and a movie before it stops sulking. Sigh.
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Hello Donald. Do you already have your first impressions of the SR Master in the BHK?
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I have been listening to the 2nd Master fuse (used) in system for a few hours. I first started with it in BHK pre to compare with Purple, then I moved it to Lumin U2 to compare with ACME Silver fuse. I want to say the 2nd Master fuse improve the system when placed it at the right place, but it does not improve the system to the same degree as the first one. So, there is a diminishing return on these expensive fuses. Also, SR recommends the first Master to be used in generator and amp; that is easy! But one needs to be careful where to insert the 2nd one based on my listening session.
When first inserted into BHK pre the Master fuse did not help. Even after 30 minutes the sound was a bit veiled and heavy compared to SR Purple fuse. So, I switched the direction of the fuse and the sound was better. Still, Purple fuse gives a more open and cleaner sound, and the treble sounds much to my liking than Master. Both did a great job in providing deep bass, but I felt Purple seemed to give a better definition. Yeap, I like Purple better in pre. Master seemed to make the sound more tube like. I wonder if a system with mainly tubes will it work at all. I tend to think it could make the sound worse, but that is a pure guess.
Then I moved the Master to Lumin U2 streamer to compare with ACME Silver fuse, and here I got a completely different experience. The Master fuse made a striking improvement here. Not only the sound is fuller and bigger, but the details, resolution, and instrumental separation all improved. My wife asked me what I did because the streaming sounds better than a few hours ago. I told her I changed the direction of the fuse (could not tell her I got another fuse 
).
It is interesting that Master fuse did not excel in one gear but did a great job in another in my system. BHK pre with the Purple fuse seems to give me the best SQ match than Master (and others like M-1, ACME, and Orange), and in Lumin U2 the improvement from it was significantly better than others. Go figure!
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Cheap Date!
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I suppose the fuse you purchased second hand can’t match the DAC rate, I guess the MK II would benefit of the Master more than other components.
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I suppose it may give DAC a boost, but MK2 uses a 1A fuse. I will try it there to see how it sound in a later day.
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I love the Master in both my P15 and MK2. Each had a positive impact on SQ, separate as well as together.
Donald, what’s your current fuse in the MK2, please?
I’m curious to learn what step up in SQ a Master would bring as a fuse upgrade to your U2 as part of the digital chain, as digital equipment seems to be particularly sensitive to clean power.
So, do the fuses of the U2 and the MK2 really need to be on par to get best SQ, or can we maintain e.g. a Purple in either the MK2 or the U2?
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I agree with that, and I found the streamer is more sensitive than PST from digital cables, power cord, and fuse upgrades. When I replaced the fiber optic link with Shunyata Omega ethernet, the improvement on clarity and details was amazing. It happened again when I added the AQ Dragon Source PC too.
The Master fuse brings in a different type of improvement. I would say the improvement is more on a analog like and lifelike side of presentation. But at the same time there is a smaller degree of improvement in cleaness and detail (my cables and cord may take care of most of noise cleaning job, So, in a different system without these cables the improvement could be bigger in these areas). With all the improvements lately on the streaming chain, I listen to U2 more often than PST because I seem to be able to listen to it longer than discs. This was not the case in the past.
My Master fuse is 2A, and I suppose I could try it in MK2 which requires a 1A rated fuse. The Master is in U2 for one day, and I expect I may hear more improvement. Later on I will put ACME fuse back and move the Master to MK2 to see what will happen.
Currently I have a AM M-1 fuse in MK2, and it is doing a better job than Purple and stock so far. 
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Nice evaluation trajectory! With the AM M-1 in the MK2 you’re already playing at a high level.
Perhaps a ‘fuse dance’ between the U2 and the MK2 with the Master, the Purple and the M-1 will lead to an unexpected ‘best’ combination.
Happy listening! 
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Glad you found a use for the second master. it. I still can’t figure out why flipping it, moving it never worked for me. It was always a matter of worse or worser yet no matter the length of wait.
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The Master fuse has certainly injected more “flavor” in SQ to my system than any other fuse. When I moved it to a different gear or took it out I was surprised how much effect it had to the sound. So, I can see that it may not be happy in some systems.
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I have been going back and forth between my P20 and MK2 with the Master and M1 because of other changes in cables tip the balance of being nice to too much of a good thing. I finally ended up with M1 in both my P20 and MK2. My new speakers is extremely sensitive to any changes in my system and the Master is just too hot in the upper mids and highs for my taste. The M1 balances my system much better. It is a system dependent thing. My old Infinity speakers no doubt loves the Masters more than any other fuse I tried. It was magical when I had the Infinity’s.
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I definitely agree . . .it’s a system dependent thing. And I find blending Purples and M1s to be a good blend…
Until this morning I needed ONE more fuse for my new DECWARE SEWE300B amp. But then this morning I bought another (I have one) used DECWARE CSP3 preamp with all the mods. I have been hemming and hawing over Master, M1 or Purple for the amp, but with the new sale from SR I went with 3 Purples for the price of 2. I have a Bottlehead preamp I can put the third one in.
Problem solved, wallet very empty.
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I read the Decware blog and Mr. Decware (I can’t recall his name right now) is adamantly opposed to fancy power cables and such. I cannot imagine he feels differently about fuses.
He is no fun.
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I don’t read the Decware blog but I’ve been all over his forums for over 25 years . . . Deckert is sort of fun in his own weird way, playing around with UFO sightings and the movement of water by sound etc. He may not believe in the very fancy power cables that you do or even I do but he does sell decent interconnects, speaker cables, and power cables that aren’t priced in the stratosphere. (I’m tickled that he actually discovered the benefit of using Ohno copper in the last two years), The fact is that his customers won’t buy them. . . they’re cheapskates for the most part and they want the best they can get for as little as they can pay if they aren’t able to get them for free (for the most part).
He believes that room treatment is not only better than ultra high priced cabling but can accomplish more and make the upper tier cabling irrelevant. I have never had a house where I could do what want with room treatment either because of renting or due to spousal guidelines. . . I haven’t been able to put that theorem to the test. I do know that his components are really transparent enough to benefit from the best cabling one can plug into them.
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I disagree with his believe that room treatment can make cables irrelevant. No matter how you treat your room, try using zip cords on every component in your system and see if you are satisfy with the results compared to better cablings. I believe the higher the quality of the cable the better the sound reguardless of room treatment. They are really separate things that can affect SQ.
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Well he just doesn’t believe that super high priced fancy interconnects etc. are necessary with the proper room treatment (and his idea of proper is extensive) . . . he believes the level of cabling he sells is sufficient.
I’m sort of in the middle. I can’t have room treatment so I’ve found really strong benefit from admittedly more expensive cabling than his.
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25% make the components, 25% the speakers, 25% accessories, cables, fuses, spikes, bases, … And 25% the room acoustics and placement. Could you say it like that…
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Those are nice ratios.
I would estimate/opine that 90+% of great sound is composed of three, related elements (in descending order of relative importance):
- Speakers
- Speaker Placement
- Room “acoustics”
Everything else I chase is for purposes of eking out the last bit of incremental performance improvement.
FWIW.
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