This tread is 1.5 years old, but it was helpful for me and a few were asking if there had been any updates on this topic. I recently went through a round of tweaks that included the Synergistic Research Black fuses and the ECTs since they were offered at a discount.
I started with the fuses in my P10, BHK Pre, DSJ DAC, external crossover, and amps. I can’t report back that the changes were phenomenal, but I felt there was a slight improvement. I’m writing this a few months after the test, so I’m not remembering the nuances of the improvements unfortunately. I might have been fooled had I done a blind test, but I opted to keep them in these positions vs getting a full refund. In contrast, I did return the fuse I bought for my Peachtree integrated amp, because I didn’t hear the fuse make any difference in that system after several swaps. So, we’ll say (for me) there was a small improvement when replacing multiple fuses in the big rig, but no change when replacing a single fuse in the 2nd system. I haven’t explored differences due to fuse direction, the myraid combos of stock vs aftermarket fuses in different locations or fuse break in time, and I don’t plan to. I mention the fuses as a point of reference.
After those were in for a few days, I added 15 ECTs, spread across 4 different components - a few in the BHK Pre, most in the DSJ, and a couple each in my class D monoblocks, largely following the placement suggestions from the Synergestic Research website and this thread. I’m not going to try to explain the why, but these indeed made a difference in the sound. It was definitely more pronounced in my system than upgrading 6 fuses. The most simple way to describe the change was that some of the edge was taken off the sound, and in a good way. At times I was getting some harsh edges on music at higher volumes in my system. I have the combo of digital sources, class D amps, and electrostats, which at their best are super clean, transparent, etc (some might call this analytical), but a warmer system might be more gentle on the ears with less than perfect material for example.
The ECTs mellowed things out, but not at the expense of detail. A tube buffer can also mellow out a sound, also making it easier on the ears with less than perfect material, but in my experience this comes at the expense of high frequency detail. The ECTs appeared to remove high frequency harshness, but without the expense of detail. In fact (and this might be the most telling anecdote) I actually changed my EQ curve after spending some time with these. I use Dirac for room correction (massive improvement if we’re comparing relative effects), and before I had added in some high frequency rolloff to address some of the harshness at high volumes I was mentioning, but after the ECTs I actually brought the target curve up to be much more flat across a wider frequency spectrum. So I ended up getting a truer sound without what I’m assuming were high frequency noise artifacts interfering in the music.
Were the fuses also playing a part as they settled in? Perhaps. I made both of these changes in quick succession, but the effect of the ECTs were in the “clear improvement” category, whereas I wasn’t as confident with the fuses.
In summary, I was actually quite surprised that the change would be so significant that I’d end up changing my EQ curve to remove what had been a compensation for a system shortfall. As someone with a technical background, I’m still highly skeptical of “UEF nano-particle excitement” & whatever else is being claimed by the manufacturer, but I thought with the free trial I’d give it a go. The results were both consistent with the primary claims (reducing high frequency noise) and were noteworthy enough that I felt compelled to report the findings months later when I found the time to write.
Hope that’s helpful for others.