An ordinary day suddenly my attention was on the topic "fuses".
So I decided to privately do some tests for my personal "knowledge" and curiosity and mostly for fun.
I bought different types of them, with glass and ceramic containers, with soldered leads and regular ones and some even with golden ends (brand Schurter, a couple of bucks each).
The argument "fuses costing 20/40/80 bucks each" I don’t even consider it because IMO it is the least justifiable highly-priced object ever.
My results FWIW were the following: replaced on the AC mains of any devices I did not seem to notice any difference other than maybe pure suggestion, therefore of any real interest and then I left just the pre-existing ones.
The only point in which I believe I detected a difference is when the fuse is placed in series to the tweeter of my loudspeakers.
I tried different types replacing the existing Bussmann audio grade ones and those that I am "sure" sound better than ever are a type of glass with leads bought on AE for few cents each (at the center of the picture).
Maybe is there a technical reason for this?
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Putting a fuse in series with a loudspeaker drive unit will give strange results. The resistance of a fuse changes with the current flowing - after all in order to do its job it has to get hot enough to break the circuit. So there will be a drive level attenuation at least. A kind of level compression.
At one stage I owned a pair of Magneplanar MG1C panel loudspeakers. They has a fuse protecting each speaker. I fairly soon after buying them shorted the fuse out, and got a much improved sound quality. Probably for the reason above.
At one stage I owned a pair of Magneplanar MG1C panel loudspeakers. They has a fuse protecting each speaker. I fairly soon after buying them shorted the fuse out, and got a much improved sound quality. Probably for the reason above.
Well... it is. Sound outdoors is not "dead" as some believe. Have you ever heard the magnificent reverb you can get in a forest? It's much richer and louder when there is fog, compared to dry hot air. Not to mention how much snow will affect sound outdoors.
I have kept the fuses in my own Magnepans for safety reasons, since I have bypassed the passive XO and connected them directly to the amps. It has saved my ribbon tweeters a couple of times.
Anyway - if the current is high enough for the fuse to start increasing its resistance, the speaker will start to compress. I would think that will happen on some Magnepans, since they use rather low XO points and 1st order filters. On my own system, crossing over at 2 kHz 96 db/oct on the mid, a 4 amp fuse will not make a difference I think (or hope).
I agree with what you say.
In my quoted reply I was sharing thoughts about a specific element: the possible influence of air humidity rate on a couple of specified sounds which instead they had not been specified elsewhere.
I know well the outdoor sounds, and still I do not believe that the air umidity rate may influence the sound of flowing water of a waterfall.
That water of that waterfall just creates that umidity rate.
Sure, the waterfall will put water into the atmosphere.I agree with what you say.
In my quoted reply I was sharing thoughts about a specific element: the possible influence of air humidity rate on a couple of specified sounds which instead they had not been specified elsewhere.
I know well the outdoor sounds, and still I do not believe that the air umidity rate may influence the sound of flowing water of a waterfall.
That water of that waterfall just creates that umidity rate.
But the transmission of sound in air does depend on humidity, more so at higher frequencies.
https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/effects-of-temperature-humidity-live-sound/
That's why you can buy a jar of rain from the Taylor Swift concert for the low, low price of $250... to recreate that perfect live performance environment (and sound) at home.
https://consequence.net/2023/05/taylor-swift-fan-rain-water/
https://consequence.net/2023/05/taylor-swift-fan-rain-water/
Mechanical connections can be problematic. Dirt and oxidation can cause failures. Soldered connections will not fail like this.
My preamp used to have several plugs in the audio chain to facilitate swapping boards. I had trouble with a couple of these connectors and eliminated most of them by soldering the wires directly to the board. The bugs went away.
@ItsAllInMyHead
I'll add - "On May 26, 27, and 28, NJ Governor Phil Murphy has declared that the official state sandwich is now called the Taylor Swift ham, egg, and cheese. There has long been a debate in Jersey over whether to call a ham sandwich a Taylor ham or a pork roll."
I'll add - "On May 26, 27, and 28, NJ Governor Phil Murphy has declared that the official state sandwich is now called the Taylor Swift ham, egg, and cheese. There has long been a debate in Jersey over whether to call a ham sandwich a Taylor ham or a pork roll."
Mechanical connectors, connections, mostly metals;-) sound like scrap metal compared to soldered connections, regardless of price - my experience;-)
In most cases, it is also a summation of solder joint/crimp - metal - junction - metal - solder joint/crimp. This also means more solder joints, for example.
In most cases, it is also a summation of solder joint/crimp - metal - junction - metal - solder joint/crimp. This also means more solder joints, for example.
Connectors were originally based on convenience of assembly, dissassembly, and servicing ability.
Ironic that these days it's hardly worth the trouble to service things designed to fail and be tossed out for something else.
In my early years, prior to me becoming a Service Tech, I had a second job to boost my income.
I was a highly-trained audio salesman for an audio salon.
By being highly-trained, I had to know things like specific technical details of all the audio equipment for sale, and had to ask specific questions of customers to guide them in their purchases, thus pretty much insuring their satisfaction.
Things like the type of music they liked, volume levels, room attributes/furnishings, and more.
Owners manuals were kept with each piece on display for reference to specifications, and to show the customer.
It was a great job, and I also soaked up a lot of education along the way, giving me an edge to this day.
One day, I walked into several other audio stores, browsing, and curious of how they handled customers.
Naturally, a salesman would leach onto me in hopes of making his commission and a sale.
I chose a stereo receiver, a Pioneer SX-727, and asked the salesman what was the Capture Ratio of it's FM tuner section (which I already knew of course).
I got a blank stare.... and some idiotic reply which meant nothing related to my question.
Other stores gave the same deer-in-the-headlights effect.
It's all about collecting a paycheck, and not doing your homework.
Worse even today.
I was a highly-trained audio salesman for an audio salon.
By being highly-trained, I had to know things like specific technical details of all the audio equipment for sale, and had to ask specific questions of customers to guide them in their purchases, thus pretty much insuring their satisfaction.
Things like the type of music they liked, volume levels, room attributes/furnishings, and more.
Owners manuals were kept with each piece on display for reference to specifications, and to show the customer.
It was a great job, and I also soaked up a lot of education along the way, giving me an edge to this day.
One day, I walked into several other audio stores, browsing, and curious of how they handled customers.
Naturally, a salesman would leach onto me in hopes of making his commission and a sale.
I chose a stereo receiver, a Pioneer SX-727, and asked the salesman what was the Capture Ratio of it's FM tuner section (which I already knew of course).
I got a blank stare.... and some idiotic reply which meant nothing related to my question.
Other stores gave the same deer-in-the-headlights effect.
It's all about collecting a paycheck, and not doing your homework.
Worse even today.
All I can say is that like you, my mind is filled with arcane technical knowledge, and specific technical details and specifications; as well as hundreds (thousands) of specific building code requirements over five counties and specific structural requirements for civil structures, electrical power requirements and transmission methods, electrical codes, etc etc etc.
And you know what? In today's world, all that and $6 will get me a cup of coffee at Starbucks.
I'm King Turd of Crap Island when it comes to collecting and repairing old audio equipment, as well as doing high end custom designs and builds. Like my neighbor says, I build the nicest equipment that nobody wants.
And you know what? In today's world, all that and $6 will get me a cup of coffee at Starbucks.
I'm King Turd of Crap Island when it comes to collecting and repairing old audio equipment, as well as doing high end custom designs and builds. Like my neighbor says, I build the nicest equipment that nobody wants.