I haven’t looked inside my Melco N1A. My Melco dealer told me the fuse is not easy to change, maybe that was what he meant.
I also have the Melco N1A and contacted Melco direct regarding the size/amp of fuse. Was advised they are not intended to be replaced and are soldered to the board. Pity as I’m sure the SR orange fuse does make a difference. Use an orange fuse in my Isotek mains cable for the N1A.
What is the point in a soldered fuse? If it blows, how exactly are you going to replace it?
3 Likes
A few days ago I installed an SR orange fuse in my BHK preamp, replacing an SR black fuse from two or three years ago.
At first, I noticed that there was better separation between instruments; but overall the sound was flabby. After a few hours, things tightened up, but the sound was not anything to write home about –pleasant enough but not a significant improvement.
Last night, while listening to a very familiar piece of music, everything fell into place. It was like listening to an FM radio and you realize that it isn’t dialed into the station perfectly. You turn the dial, maybe go past the right point, and finally get it dialed in perfectly; “Ah, that’s it!“ I literally sat up in my chair and took notice, the difference was so significant. Everything was just right; soundstage, instrumental timbre, the works. So, please don’t ask me why, but fuses do make a difference. As I recall from a while back, the SR black was an improvement over the stock fuse, and the orange is definitely a step up from the black.
2 Likes
The Orange is 2 steps up from the Black. It is 1 step up from the Blues, which I replaced them all with Oranges. If only the Oranges were not that much better, but unfortunately they are considerably better. Fortunately my preamp, phono stage, and power amp does not have replaceable fuses, so I save a little there. It’s like it never ends. Every time SR comes out with a new fuse, it’s better. At some point, it should reach the peak and start going downhill. Maybe the Orange is the peak, no?
1 Like
I chose to skip the Blue fuses, just because I didn’t feel like paying for another tweak so soon. Now that the preamp fuse seems to be broken in, I’ll add the Orange fuses to my BHK 250. (I got that nice three for the price of two promotion that SR was running in December.)
BTW, what component(s) do you use your Orange fuses in?
I first use the Orange in the Aurender. It uses 2 2amp fuses but I couldn’t compare it to the Blues because the Blues I had there blew out on me one time when I turned on power to the unit. I put in HiFi Tuning Supremes in place of the Blues and it hasn’t blown since. So there it wasn’t that close. The Oranges were a lot better, not close. I also change the stock fuse in the power supply to the Matrix and heard a little improvement there also. Then I replaced the Blues from the DS, DMP, and the P12 with Oranges. That might be a combined difference since I didn’t change 1 at a time, but the improvement was quite noticeable. It just seems like I hear more music and more exciting sound with the Oranges. I can’t explain why that is.
I forgot to mention I started replacing the stock fuses in all my components with HiFi Tuning Supremes when I found out how much it improves the sound. Then I found that the SR Blacks were even better so I got all Blacks. Then I tried a Blue and found that was also better than the Blacks so I got all Blues. Now it’s the Oranges that are better sounding. So it goes.
Three guys in my local hifi group have reported that the Orange fuses seem to pop more easily on inrush than the Blue.
I also had one blow on start-up even though I doubled the fuse capacity (with the Preamp mfr’s blessing, of course). I sent it back for a refund.
Anybody have similar experience?
1 Like
Blue, orange or black?
Wait till you switch to PLAID…Going Plaid
4 Likes
Just wait until the polka dot model releases!
2 Likes
If they do, I’ll be the first to try it.
They actually do have a polka dot fuse, but they’re very rare and are reserved for special customers…
1 Like
I was just sitting here bored to death at my computer so I decided to order one for my preamp. 5 minutes of excitement! Now I’m bored again :^ /
Only sold to fans of Jimmy Sturr!
If you buy 11 more, you’ll have gained an hour of non-boredom.
I’m not that bored :^ )
Plus the 144 variations/combinations of direction amongst all 12 to test (if I did my math correct).
Anyone ever try the Telos Audio Design Quantum Fuse?
I had never heard of them. When I looked them up, I read their detailed discussion of what they do to their little fuses before we get them. Quite involved description; I could barley keep both eyeballs going in the same direction as I read it.
Please let us know what you think.
BTW–out of sheer quarantine boredom, I replaced the fuse in my DSD with an Orange.
I was surprised. Delightful improvement across the board.
Worth the $108 I paid and the 15 minutes it took.