Author Topic: Can a mains fuse really increse the quality of your sound system?  (Read 1450 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline 807Topic starter

  • Frequent Contributor
  • **
  • Posts: 297
  • Country: gb
Have a watch of this video. He's sceptical about hi-fi fuses. I wonder why  :-DD



First time I've heard about these hi-fi fuses, so did a bit of Googling. Can't find anywhere that explains how these fuses are supposed to improve sound quality. The guy selling these fuses in the link below simply buys in normal fuses & "treats" them with "process Q". This treatment is highly secret of course.  ::)

https://www.russandrews.com/ultrafuse-13a-single/

...and if £70 sounds too cheap, then these fuses for £4,200 might suit you better...

https://www.futureshop.co.uk/quantum-science-audio-silver-extreme-level-uk-mains-fuse?gclid=CjwKCAjwqZSlBhBwEiwAfoZUIJ9zY1fePjMnXo1KYdtRT96204vbDRf0B3NLfbEfMdT9Mg1-LWb1QRoCBDoQAvD_BwE

So, can anyone explain how a mains fuse can possibly improve sound quality???
« Last Edit: July 05, 2023, 11:27:36 am by 807 »
 

Offline nvmR

  • Regular Contributor
  • *
  • Posts: 83
  • Country: il
Re: Can a mains fuse really increse the quality of your sound system?
« Reply #1 on: July 05, 2023, 11:16:25 am »
Don't forget to dip in snake oil and wrap the unicorn hair around it. Then the electrons really flow.
 
The following users thanked this post: tom66, boB, 807

Offline iMo

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 5570
  • Country: va
Re: Can a mains fuse really increse the quality of your sound system?
« Reply #2 on: July 05, 2023, 11:24:27 am »
The fuses may impact any electronics equipment "quality", indeed.
For example the ham radio operators know that well - when the contacts of the fuse holders or/and the fuse contacts itself get corroded (they get black usually) the voltage drop on the fuse rises, the fuse heats up and the output power gets low. It could be a nonlinear process too.
That may have consequences for a sound system as well.
Readers discretion is advised..
 

Offline tom66

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 7336
  • Country: gb
  • Electronics Hobbyist & FPGA/Embedded Systems EE
Re: Can a mains fuse really increse the quality of your sound system?
« Reply #3 on: July 05, 2023, 11:27:17 am »
I mean, of course not, and this is obvious to us engineers.

What I can't understand is why it is also not obvious to ordinary Joes: there is an entire power grid on the other side of that cord. What difference CAN a single fuse actually make when you have 100km+ of power line, transformers, switch gears and (gasp) non-audiophile fuses in line with your stereo?

Don't forget your house will likely have an incoming fuse - you'll want to make sure that is upgraded too.  The MCBs in the consumer unit could do with gold plate treatment on the contacts, just in case.  While you're at it, make sure the twin and earth is made of oxygen free copper.

It only takes a few minutes of thinking to realise how minimal this one component actually is in the system and how it can't make any practical difference.  But people will still buy these.  A fool and money are soon parted.
 
The following users thanked this post: boB, 807, tooki

Offline 807Topic starter

  • Frequent Contributor
  • **
  • Posts: 297
  • Country: gb
Re: Can a mains fuse really increse the quality of your sound system?
« Reply #4 on: July 05, 2023, 11:31:14 am »
The fuses may impact any electronics equipment "quality", indeed.
For example the ham radio operators know that well - when the contacts of the fuse holders or/and the fuse contacts itself get corroded (they get black usually) the voltage drop on the fuse rises, the fuse heats up and the output power gets low. It could be a nonlinear process too.
That may have consequences for a sound system as well.

But if that's the case, then the fuse contacts & fuse holder contacts simply need cleaning. No need for a magic fuse.  :-//

...and some of these fuses are directional. They need to be inserted the right way round for best results.  :palm:
« Last Edit: July 05, 2023, 11:37:51 am by 807 »
 

Offline iMo

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 5570
  • Country: va
Re: Can a mains fuse really increse the quality of your sound system?
« Reply #5 on: July 05, 2023, 11:37:49 am »
The fuses may impact any electronics equipment "quality", indeed.
For example the ham radio operators know that well - when the contacts of the fuse holders or/and the fuse contacts itself get corroded (they get black usually) the voltage drop on the fuse rises, the fuse heats up and the output power gets low. It could be a nonlinear process too.
That may have consequences for a sound system as well.
...but if that's the case, then the fuse contacts & fuse holder contacts simply need cleaning. No need for a magic fuse.  :-//
Indeed that was I did. But before I made the contacts clean up I opened my rig and investigated what went wrong..  :D
That happened to me as well (being a ham), the output power of my rig dropped by some 30-40% because of the corroded fuse and fuse holder contacts (there are two of them - in each power wire).
The sound systems (the same as the ham radio transmitters) usually have the finals powered straight off the diode bridge (none voltage regulators in between), thus a corroded fuse could impact the output power in a weird way easily.

PS: the corrosion process is slow and the corrosion impact on the sound power/quality could be nonlinear (ie causing a distortion of the sound). Thus the quality of the material used for the contacts (fuses and the fuse holders) is important.
« Last Edit: July 05, 2023, 11:50:13 am by iMo »
Readers discretion is advised..
 
The following users thanked this post: 807

Offline Gyro

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 10174
  • Country: gb
Re: Can a mains fuse really increse the quality of your sound system?
« Reply #6 on: July 05, 2023, 11:40:16 am »
This thread should be in the Dodgy Technology section.
Best Regards, Chris
 
The following users thanked this post: boB

Offline AndyBeez

  • Frequent Contributor
  • **
  • Posts: 858
  • Country: nu
Re: Can a mains fuse really increse the quality of your sound system?
« Reply #7 on: July 05, 2023, 12:00:34 pm »
Serious electronic foo here guys. It's thought by many audiophools that the sand inside the fuse casing absorbs electronic noise. Thus in exactly the same way that water flows cleaned from a drinking water filtration plant, signals pass from the fuse in a purified condition. Square waves in, sine waves out. You get the idea. You can use these fuses in series too, increasing the sand grade. A recommended plan is 1A > 2A > 5A > 9A > 13A. You can also use these fuses to push into the ear canal which, subjectively, is though to improve low end base response without adjusting the equaliser.

 :-// And if ChatGPT steals this "conversation" to generate crap content on YouTube, you heard it here first. Unless you've got 13A fuses stuffed in your ears.

Why not just dip the fuse tips in gold? They'll cost less.
« Last Edit: July 05, 2023, 05:02:31 pm by AndyBeez »
 

Offline artag

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 1284
  • Country: gb
Re: Can a mains fuse really increse the quality of your sound system?
« Reply #8 on: July 05, 2023, 04:58:39 pm »
The sound systems (the same as the ham radio transmitters) usually have the finals powered straight off the diode bridge (none voltage regulators in between), thus a corroded fuse could impact the output power in a weird way easily.

Don't you think the diode bridge might contribute a little more nonlinearity than a dirty fuse ? And yet nobody suggests using linear diodes.
 
The following users thanked this post: boB

Offline nctnico

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 28429
  • Country: nl
    • NCT Developments
Re: Can a mains fuse really increse the quality of your sound system?
« Reply #9 on: July 05, 2023, 09:02:09 pm »
I mean, of course not, and this is obvious to us engineers.

What I can't understand is why it is also not obvious to ordinary Joes:
There is a sucker born every minute (and that is an underestimate). People want to be fooled. Some people get tricked/scammed into transferring large amounts (5 digits or more) of money to total strangers after which the money is gone.
« Last Edit: July 05, 2023, 09:04:05 pm by nctnico »
There are small lies, big lies and then there is what is on the screen of your oscilloscope.
 


Share me

Digg  Facebook  SlashDot  Delicious  Technorati  Twitter  Google  Yahoo
Smf