Your Next Upgrade? (Part 1)

These GUSTARD fuses are replacements/upgrades to factory supplied stock fuses ?

As far as I know, these are upgrade fuses for Gustard branded DACs and Amps. But of course you can use it for other devices as long the rating and size matches.

I just put a 5A one in my P15, and I’m seriously considering selling my SR purple. I’m going to give it another two weeks or so to decide.

I checked Aliexpress site, and there are quite a few Chinese made fuses available. Some of them are pricy too. Did you select this brand based on some positive reviews or their reputation?

I’m only looking for the best bang for buck, hidden gem, and the fuse isn’t a clone.

The reason I picked this brand is because I’ve heard good things about their dacs, the fuse is very cheap, and on the website, they are out right open(presumably) about what is inside the fuse. I wouldn’t go near the expensive fuses on Aliexpress, too much of a risk of being scammed.

1 Like

That makes good sense! I may try one in PST to compare with the Purple. Thanks!

The unit is a 5-sided rigid box screwed together. It is not a stack. I put on a back panel on purpose to keep it square. The internal shelves are sitting on gel pads and serve no structural purpose. It’s like any other box cabinet, just stronger and a bit narrower. It has industrial grade anti-vibration feet that are better that you will see on the vast amount of audio furniture. Acrylic is ideal material, often used for turntable plinths, such as Clearaudio and Vertere. It is laser cut to 0.1mm tolerance.

I would be more worried if I still had Harbeth and their vibrating boxes, but Wilson are rigid. The corner is slightly behind the speakers. The walls are lined with absorbent material. I don’t go loud, but when I have nothing untoward has happened.

I’ve had this turntable wall-mounted, but not allowed here. Townshend products are great for turntables. I used to have this deck on a Townshend Podium. I have another pair of Townshend bars somewhere, I could use them, but can’t find them at the moment. So I used the Townshend springs on their own, on some acrylic coasters.

When I find the other pair of Townshend bars I will take off the feet and screw them to this plinth. It will probably cheer you up as more stable!

1 Like

Please do keep me posted on how it turns out. Caution though, I’d always undersize a fuse instead of going over what the stock fuse is rated.

I ordered a 1.6A so I can compare it with Purple in PST. It will be interesting to find out how good it is based on your review. They do not have many selections that can work in my system.

The reason I said undersize it is because if something goes wrong, you’d lose the fuse, not the gear it’s protecting. That’s all.

My Master fuse should arrive today, and the Gustard fuse I ordered is still in China. Both are “correct” rating. I hope Master is better😂

1 Like

Yup. As much as I like their software, their customer support is nearly nonexistent. Then they feel the need to raise their subscription prices.

No, I’m not dealing with tripe and wasting money on them anymore. Ever since I left them, I have had 20+ days of non-stop, perfectly streaming music via the Cambridge CXN V2 streamer and their StreamMagic app.

1 Like

I’m going to speculate that it will be better at first, then after the master is broken in, and you swap in another whatever fuse, that new fuse just sounded as good or close to it, that is my experience.

I might still bite the bullet to get a Master to try. Whatever the outcome, this is crazy fun!

1 Like

After Al bought my M-1 fuse out of sympathy of my rabbit hole journey, I put back the stock fuse (no break-in). I was surprised how good it sounded after a few days. The sound is not as warm, especially in the mid. Other than that it matches well to M-1 in everything else. So you are right!

I really hope Master will be an obvious winner.

1 Like

If going by SR’s marketing material, their fuses have something to do with the quantum, if that’s true, by entanglement, the moment you put your Master in your gear, my gear would sound instantly better! That’d save me a lot of dough! haha

3 Likes

I will experience the Master power soon, and will report on the other thread.

Hopefully right…untill …

Best wishes

1 Like

Today is the day they gave you right???

Expect initial report by early midevening at latest…right? right :grin:

Patience patience

Best wishes

1 Like

That was my experience as well. I took out the M-1 and put in a Purple. It sounded great. I took out the Purple and put in the stock, again it sounded great. Then I put the M-1 back in, again, great. That ended my interest in high end fuses once and for all. The M-1 stays, and as you know I bought yours for a spare. But that’s it for me.

I am going to experiment with Audiophile scissors next.

12 Likes

So Al…Audiophile scissors…how do these work for audio…
are these Gryphon, or AQ or I dunno…

You tell us
Best wishes

1 Like

I think audiophile roach clips might be the next big step in playback SQ

3 Likes