fuses impact on sonics of a supply

[moray james]

Any comments on different fuse types and how they affect the sound of a supply? Glass vs ceramic and or sand filled. Is this strictly an issue of microphonics? Is there such a thing as a low impedance fuse? What are the mechanics behind fuses impacting the sound of a supply. Are there recommended types of fuses for audio or ultra low noise measurement equipment? Not referring to cryo treated fuses here but fuse style types. Thanks best regards Moray James.

[astouffer]

I don't know whether to laugh or cry...

[Peter Daniel]

James,

You may check this thread: http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showt...ht=#post180927

Those were the times when more serious people were frequenting this forum.

[moray james]

nt

[maxlorenz]

As usual, I agree with Peter. (for what it worths )

Why everybody laugh when something heterodox is investigated?


This is an empyrical hobby. You can't predict everything based on known (or supposedly known) facts.

I've heard that Yves Bernard André (YBA) uses gold plated/ OFC copper fuses, and this man seem to know about sound

Personally I believe everything has a sound. Some parts may have little influence but others may have a big one. It's about experimenting.

It can be very tiring posting on "resistor's sound", "cap's sound" or "wire's sound" threads.

Regards
Mauricio

[Christer]

Fuses are not transparent. Even Randy Slone claims that fuses cause distorsion, so they most likely do, although he probably only advises against using them in the signal path. The primary effect is most likely thermal. A fuse is supposed to melt at a certain current. That means it must get warm already at much lower current, so we are likely to have quite a non-linear behaviour. Compare, for instance, with resistors, that also distort due to thermal effects. The fuse is likely to get much hotter and thus suffer much more from such non-linearities. On the other hand, it is already a very low resistance from the start, so its effect is limited for that reason. Perhaps there are other kinds of thermal effects too?

[richwalters]

Originally posted by Christer
Even Randy Slone claims that fuses cause distorsion

As previously mentioned........ contacts and spring is more likely suspect however That statement needs elaborating..........where exactly in circuit ?

richj

[astouffer]

Until any of you can pass an A-B-X type of test with fuses I'm not buying this nonsense. If a fuse worries you about sound quality then you better not think about the other weak points in the signal path. Lead solder, microscopic wires leading to the chip die, steel wire used in tube pins, aluminum foil in capacitors, etc etc. A fuse is going to be what, a few ohms at most for a very low current. The thermal effect is going to be unmeasurable without using a bridge. Whats 0.05 ohms going to do?

[Christer]

Originally posted by richwalters


As previously mentioned........ contacts and spring is more likely suspect however That statement needs elaborating..........where exactly in circuit ?

richj

In Slones case it was about using fusees at the output of power amps.
Slone is a hardcore if-you-can't-measure-it-you can't-hear-it, so I assume he has measured distorsion in fuses or at least believe it can be done.

[slawney]

AHP makes audio-grade fuses with copper filaments, a resonance-optimized ceramic housing, dampener filling, and gold-plated contact area. These are a very popular tuning accessory in Germany right now, and accepted without much scepticism about their possible benefits, even at Eu9-7 a piece.
What surprised me is the effect they had on one piece of equipment with an ordinary tray-style fuse holder built into the IEC inlet, since I didn't think that without a matching audio-grade holder, these fuses would have much effect. But they did.
On other equipment, I went through the trouble of making a few fuse holders to experiment with. My experiments revealed the importance of contact surface area, material, plating, contact pressure, wire termination mechanics, attachment of fuse holder to chassis, with best results achieved with high contact pressure, copper-plated brass, cylindrical fuse holder with crimp fitting for wiring, and teflon outer dialectric.
Somebody once mentioned that perhaps Furutech or some other company should manufacture an audio-grade fuse holder one day, since the existing options for these are really unimpressive from anything else but a safety perspective. Does anyone know of any audio-grade fuse holder for 5 x 20m fuses?