I purchased a pair of SDFB's in January and this is the text of my latest email to Mark reporting my experience. You can also read my initial thoughts on the Audiogon thread. Same username.

I've had the speaker amps powered on for 10 days straight now. The best description I can give would be the SDFB's modify the sound akin to a sampling rate upgrade from 44.1 to say 96kHz. Everything is cleaner and more detailed. Soundstage is wider, deeper and taller. Cymbals sound more like cymbals. Imaging is sharper and sounds project forward into the soundstage like never before. If the soundstage is not flat in the recording, it comes through now. Decay is more apparent due to the lower noise floor. The sound is now finally coherent. When I first listened with the SDFB's plugged in it did not have the coherency top to bottom as after 10 days of burn-in. I'm pretty sure the Paradigm Active 40v2 speakers are maxed out performance-wise with these. With my Job 225 amp & Ascend Sierra Towers w/ RAAL tweeters I can probably discern more of an in improvement in bass frequencies, but I suspect the 40v2's have reached their potential. If anything, they now sound closer to what I would expect from good quality mid/near-field studio monitors (e.g. ATC, PMC, K&H) in regards to detail retrieval. The 40v2's are never going to compete with the transient response of RAAL tweeters or my Rythmik F12 subwoofer which has servo technology to reduce distortion.

Once I get my other 2 channel system out of storage I will order an SDFB for the Job 225 amp and compare. However, the amp + speakers + sub for that setup cost me $5,000 versus the $1300 paid for the 40v2's so it's not really a fair comparison.

https://positive-feedback.com/reviews/hardware-reviews/swiss-digital-fuse-box/

Since I sold an amp, and my taxes are paid, I purchased an SDFB for my P15. Mark says they are really busy after the review, a good thing, so I'll be patient.

I've had my SDFB in place for a few weeks now and can report that it is a welcome addition to my chain.

To my ears, I've experienced increased clarity, expanded soundstage, and possibly deeper and more musical mid-bass.

Unfortunately (or not), I installed the unit in the midst of burning in new ZSTYX speaker cables, and as many of you know well, it's difficult to differentiate which components are responsible for sonic changes when you have multiple new components in the chain.

Also, as excited as I am to explore the possibilities of incremental upgrades, I find myself frustratingly uninterested in A/B testing once I feel I've made an improvement, meaning I have little desire to re-install the stock fuse into my UFO amp and perform some critical listening. As soon as I installed the SDFB, I did experience an upgrade in sound, which went on to improve in the coming days and weeks, as Mark said it would.

Maybe I will go back eventually and listen to my rig without the SDFB. For now, I'm happy with my purchase!

I wanted to finish my impressions of the SDFB now that burn-in is mostly complete. Most of the extra brightness I was hearing before is gone and what still remained is not irritating at all. There was one thing that sill puzzled me. On a number of large orchestral works, when there was a large dynamic swing, I was hearing something like the air in a large hall, only it had a different sound than air in a hall. There was still some excess high frequency energy that colored the overall tone, yet generally sweet and tuneful. Out of curiosity about this phenomenon and the general frequency of this tone, I decided to buy a  Vera-Fi Puron. I suspected it would be a likely candidate to tame these frequencies. The differences I heard when first installed were easily noticed but it took a couple days to really shine. The SDFB/Puron combination is an excellent pairing. The Puron enhances the strengths of the SDFB.

This strange sounding air now began to actually sound like the air in a large hall. The see through quality of the soundstage improved. In the process of upgrading my system over the last few years, one sure area of improvement usually involved a larger, sometimes huge soundstages, even if not always well defined. Now what I hear with orchestral works are the sounds of various instruments playing within a large hall. The boundaries of the space is immediately clear with the first note played. This is a real qualitative difference in sound.

The moral of the story is, if you have an excellent system using fuses for protection and are curious to explore if there is a reasonably priced way to take your system to another level, the SDFB shows the real limitations that fuses have on the sound. If you don't have any power conditioning prior to your system, the Puron lowers the noise floor, allowing more low level detail to be heard. In my system, the combination of the two has me seriously considering end game.

*** I originally was going to make this a comparison between the SDFB and the Synergistic Research Master fuse. I put about 150 hours on the Master fuse, and at that point in burn-in, had some of the qualities of the SDFB but it still had a brightness that I had trouble listening through. I no longer have any motivation to see if the fuse becomes more listenable with more burn-in. The SDFB sounded superior at installation and with enough burn-in, quite superior. I am happy just listening to music rather than spend any additional energy on the comparison.

I should know soon. It will be replacing my favorite fuse, the Audio Magic M-1 in my P15 regenerator. That fuse in that component seemed to deliver what everyone here talks about the SDFB delivering. Additionally I have a handful of Shunyata Research "Defenders" in the system which give my system what persons here describe as the results of the Puron, so I've quite an amazing level of sound for the SDFB to live up to (and I am going to be using the same high quality power cable I have been using for both sides of the SDFB which will be a leveling playing field in that aspect, I did not order a "Pigtail.")

Both SDFV and Sluggo (shipped separately) should arrive tomorrow. I'll get them installed by the end of the weekend.

I've emailed Mark but that was my own choice. For one, it influences everything in my system. For another, it had what I consider the best fuse in it (my system has this fuse and Purple fuses within it) and so would offer the best challenge. And thirdly, it was the one that would be easiest to install and support the SDFB to.

I’ve been using silver sluggos for a little over a month now. I posted my initial impressions, towards the bottom of page 5, which remain the same. I’m not sure if Mark is carrying them yet, but I also gave a link there to where I got mine, if not. They were less than $40 shipped for a pair. Lately I’ve been using a 12au7 with adapter in the amps input and it gives a more open and detailed sound. I may try putting the gold plated copper back in to see how it plays with this tube swap.

I think these take a fare bit of time Lon, even with burned in cables, which makes some sense when you consider that thick slug of metal.

Here is my first real evaluation after quite a few weeks of heavy play and experiementing.

My power path right now, all parts are upgraded with receptacles, filter caps, wires, etc…. Between wall and a 5 amp Fusebox, is a “piggy” I made using multiple gauges of mil-spec silver plated copper/teflon, combined coming up to 12 gauge, with Rhodium Plated UPOCC Neotech ends. It is faster and more open/resolving than stock piggys to compensate for what I found to be excess bigger power sound consequences from changing to the SDFBs. My most transparent/musical cable, similar in design to the new piggys, connects the fusebox to a 500 watt Balanced Transformer with its silver slug. Finally, Rhodium cable ends, and a silver slug into the Balanced Transformer make the beginning of my power a little warm, but nicely resolving with fast clarity and dynamic hit.

Powered by the transformer is a heavy duty, very resolving aluminum power strip/filter with a Furutech plug filter and a Shunyata Defender. My DAC and Singxer USB Bridge are into a Brickwall, which is plugged into the strip. Both front end pieces have polished ground wire copper slugs and no Fusebox (not having had fuses blow in SS front ends, I “risked” no fuse for years, but the Brickwall does have protection); the 300B/845 amp and CSP3 are also powered by the strip. Their main power cords are both versions of Neotech’s ready made 11 gauge blend of UPOCC copper and silver plated copper cables, the amp with Rhodium UPOCC ends, and the CSP3 with Gold plated UPOCC ends. These are some of my more fast and neutral/transparent cables.

The 5 amp Fusebox between wall and Transformer acts to degrees as a system safety, while allowing me to put a silver slug into the 5 amp 300B/845 amp, past the transformer, but using the one fusebox. Not yet fully modified, I like using a clearer faster silver slug now in the amp, the greater speed and clarity of the Rhodium ends and the relatively expressive silver sluggos livening up the amp nicely. Once finished it may be nicer with a mellower Verifi copper sluggo, the coppers a little warm with a pretty clean openness that has a sweet copper sheen and nice complexity.

The CSP3 has its own 3 amp Fusebox fed with the same specially made piggy design, but with UPOCC gold plated copper Neotech ends. The fully modified CSP3, already open and fast, sounds really good with the gold plated piggy ends and Verifi copper sluggo. The warmish sweetness from those together gives and pretty fast and revealing sound with a really nice subtly euphonic touch that does not offset  the spectral balances or slow it down notably.


The silver slugs from Golden State Liquid Blue linked, like my home-made copper slugs, are more like 6 mm. Comparing the thicker coppers to Verifi’s 5mm copper sluggo, it could be in part the copper quality differences, but the thicker home-made copper slug sounds bigger, fuller, darker. Based on past experiments with wire/cable size increases doing similar, I think it is probably more the larger gauge/size than metal differences. The oversized silver slugs are similarly big/full sounding, but they are clear and fast enough to be relatively balanced, not sounding too heavy/thick to me, where the big coppers did go over the top in those ways here…



So I now have 5 “sluggos,” two heavier coppers made of polished ground wire into the front end pieces, 2 heavier silvers, one in the Balanced Transformer and one in the Amp, and a Verifi copper in the CSP3. This took a while to get to, the story below.



Compared to a fuse, the way the Sluggos change the sound makes sense. Seems mostly about the comparatively giant conductor letting power through more quickly and fully, and this alters the energy and sound characters of everything beyond. The increased feed sounds like it is loading the power supply faster and more completely, as well as all the parts and tubes beyond…. which could be “good” or “bad” depending on system/room variables.

With my components already really carefully balanced while using good sounding fuses, the piggys/sluggos had some good solid qualities, but were too much, shifting careful balances toward darker/denser/more consolidated and forceful. And as is usual with more power feed, whether from bigger cables of the same design, bigger power supply caps of the same kind, bigger wires, sluggos, etc, in my experience, after a point, the extra push results in consolidation of finer information and balancing toward bass spectrally, moving the whole toward bigger, thicker, denser, and darker balances with less apparent finer detail and space.  

Really, if the components sound great  in all musical areas using fuses, why wouldn’t an amped up power feed change that… especially in simple/resolving/alive tube gear where everything can be so easily heard. Everything designed and tuned to sound good with fuses, whether we prefer the changes or not in a given setup, they will happen with this gear.

Yet I seem to be a wildcard by reports, the SDFBs working fine once I got the copper sluggos, but not an ultimate sound for my needs. For me the effects of better power delivery went too far, thickening, darkening, slowing, consolidating, especially noticeably, the lower frequencies, while making the mids a little too “warm,” and mids up tending a little hard for me.

I am convinced now that my unusual response to the SDFB pointed to how much it depends on where we start. The spectral balances here were really good… bass full but fast and impactful and strong enough in the balance to warm the mids a little, but without masking… making the mids sweet with complexity and speed…..and highs were open, complex and smooth... not overly consolidated, without hardness. Density and speeds in various parts of the spectrum sounded right, balancing together convincingly and strong enough to be exciting without being too forceful, while being able to be subtle while still being fast and dense.



Evaluating when first testing with stock Piggys, the gold sluggos at that point were over the top in weighing toward density and bass, so much so the bottom felt a little disparate from the top on many recordings…Also, Verifi’s piggys sounded good to me, pretty fast and revealing, but they too tuned the sound a little heavier, weighing it toward density and bass in my setup.

Also, I have come to a place of avoiding strong compensations, trying for relatively reference sound with changes. This makes it easier for me to read the system, new adjustments, or new things more clearly. To me, strong compensations can sound good, but compounded over time, they make it hard to know what is what, and can throw off the ultimate balances without being obvious until it is. And the SDFB is a really good idea, presumably protecting things for a very long time with conceptually better power delivery. So I am shifting my approach in this case, thinking it was worth some effort to adjust things, including some carefully approached fundamental component changes, to try to retune to the sluggos….



When I got some Coppers sluggos from Mark, still using stock piggys, they made a pretty big difference...warm, but more open and neutral in this setting than the golds, and I started to see more where the Sluggos could take this sound. So I kept playing with milder tube changes, cable rolling, and finally some modifications I had been thinking about anyway to open things up. It got pretty nice. By relaxing the new power push and in turn opening up density/consolidation, it became less dark, faster, and more complex. The Verifi coppers were faster, more resolving and neutral, with more complex harmonic information. But still the combo of stock piggys and copper sluggos was quite nice, but too strong and colored for me.



Finally, still with stock piggys then, with other adjustments, I got to a place where I liked the copper SDFBs quite a bit. To verify, I decided to test with fuses. Thinking I was done, I was surprised to be relieved to have the system open up with more speed, space and harmonic complexity by switching back to the fuses. A more open soundstage, everything becoming more complex and less dense, but plenty dense and dynamic still in this system/room. I realized the SDFBs  were still a little too consolidated and forceful….not on everything, but I depend on balances that will make most of the recordings I listen to sound pretty real with the help of some gain tuning.

Then I got some silver slugs, and right off they were big sounding, but faster, more resolving, and feeling more balanced toward neutral ... I think mainly because they are more resolving, they are faster and more defined in sound and space, and being nearly 5-N silver, relatively smooth and warmish. With them I kept working on it… getting some compelling qualities, but the very open fine detail and space was still being consolidated a little too much into density for my tastes, and the density leaking into space, I missed the dynamic, but more relaxed sound balances I have come to need. You know, when the time and density is “right” how more space shows up and everything slows down… more space between the sounds, less smear making it all sound more of whatever it is, whether in all the many areas of density and dynamics, or in the subtler decays and textures… complete, exciting and relaxed.



This was when I broke down and made my faster, more resolving and neutral lower gauge piggys, and they really went a long way toward neutrality and balance with the sluggos. With the materials and geometry I used, my 1st test was on the lighter side of 12 gauge according to the wire combination calculator I use, and they were a little too clear/fast. I added some 20 gauge wires to the mixes, and ended up liking it better, still clear and fast, but with a bit more density, body and weight, ending up more on the higher side of 12 gauge, nearly 11. These cables, with the sluggos, by comparison are pretty neutral here, not really sounding like they color the sound in any notable ways. Still, the different ends are audible as choices, but both are neutral enough to make playing with different sluggos nicely revealing of the sluggo’s sound.



Now all sluggos are interesting choices. The Gold’s immersion process, I am guessing from the sound, pronounces the gold qualities, more obviously gold than gold plated cable ends. Compared to the other Sluggos I have tried, they are big sounding and warmer/rounder/softer, a little slow especially on the leading edges, but that is replaced by a sense of a stronger hit right after the leading edge, so can feel exciting. Relative to the others, more notably slowish and warmish, detail is softened, but still relatively resolved. To me, in this warmish system as it is now, they give an overstated warmth, but do that nicely... They are the most euphonic sounding here, for me a little too round and slow, but also pleasantly “trippy,” and in the right company, especially in a brighter/cleaner room, I can see how they could be loved.

The Slivers and coppers are both pretty right sounding to me in their own ways, the coppers probably the most easily integrated here, with a milder push, a slightly warm neutrality, and with good detail, speed and complexity… slightly euphonic, they have a subtle sweet copper thing going on along with really good complexity. The silvers from Golden State are the fastest, most neutral and resolving, bigger sounding similarly to the Golds, and a bit less obviously textured than the coppers. But I think they offer more musical information, faster with greater resolution…for me, the closet to “right” with the stock piggys especially….

With my pigglies they all work pretty well, but different flavors. I have been working a long time on making things very revealing, but smooth, a balance that is pretty tricky for me. Still, I think the sluggos all improved smoothness some, but it is tricky to read, because added density can make things more consolidated, and to a point, can give the impression of smoothness as it consolidates finer detail and complexity, a no-no for me.

My sound now is about as good as I have heard, but I have been working on a lot of things over months, the SDFBs one of those. So I am happy. But I thought similarly the last time I thought the sluggos were really getting good, and switching back to nice fuses made me go back to work on integrating the sluggos more holistically… the fuses overall still better then for me. But today I am too tired to do an evaluation with fuses, and having done quite a few synergistic changes again to get here, I suspect I am in with the SDFBs this time… I am getting ready to try some new speakers, so maybe after they settle in, with a new sound, that fuse/sluggo evaluation might be pretty interesting.

Hey Lon... I am finding things on the change side of refinement with I would guess 200 hours on my newest sluggos... my sense anyway. If it comes to specific cable needs for your setup, which it may not in your room and with your tastes, I can probably help. I am also hoping Mark will come up with another cable tuning option or two.

What is a Super Sluggo...

Oh.... the Super Sluggo is my least favorite of those I tried, the one I call gold. My setting and tastes for sure, but if that had been my only choice, with the stock Piggy, I imagine I would have sent them back. My setup doing the good things they did more completely, they were too much here. But again, my system.

I have never loved the PS Audio AC12 I have, though it does do the mongo cable gauge thing well, notably better than the few others I have tried. Every time I try it, it sounds quite good in most ways, but somehow it always ends up sounding more made than born to me. But I have never tried the loom thing, and can imagine how it could be pretty magical to have a consistency across the system. So far though, I love being able to cable roll with a variety of really good sounds that are different, like with tubes.

Yes, so many things influencing so many things, but I can get the feeling of looms. And luckily there are characteristic qualities to the sound of things so we can learn to extrapolate how something might fit our own goals from the impressions of others we understand. And who knows, I suspect you may prefer the copper Sluggo, but it may be that the Super Sluggo is just right once burnt in for your system/room needs! It is a lot of fun!

Hey GS,
The fuzzy brightness and over large imaging and soundstage have dissipated in the following fifteen hours. In their place I would say that the biggest difference between the SDFB and the M-1 in the P15 is more centerfill (or perhaps best to say less distinct left and right channels) and a bit softer bass and a bit less of a focused instrumental image.

I think more time on this will change those differences. . . and I think in fact that the SDFB and the M-1 character will become even more similar. In my own way I have attacked the power nature of my system seriously over the last few years with my P15, fuses, the Defenders, Mad Scientist products and PerfectPathways products and the noise floor was really low before the SDFB arrived. . . so I can understand why there are not as strongly distinctive differences between the M-1 and SDFB beginning to show.

If the situation that exists today persists I'm happy with the SDFB and it will allow me to put the M-1 into the SEWE300B which right now has an Acme cryo'd fuse inside which is really good. . . but no M-1. That I think will take the presentation up another step, and I'll probably make that change by the end of the week after more days with the SDFB in the P15.

ArtMan, I too am a big fan of Will's knowledge and sharing skills, and have learned so much from him over the years. And I'm about 27 hours into the SDFB now and know I'll be keeping it. The sound is at least as good as any of the fuses I've experienced and I think will edge forward a bit in the good kind of smoothness. And I may not have to try other Sluggos. I do think these are directional if anyone has not tried that--I have tried them both ways and prefer one way over another tonally. A subtle difference that shows up in the frequency extremes.

I'm really finding the change with the SDFB and the Super Sluggo* to be both fundamental and. . . dare I say it "sufficient" . . . for my system (assuming it continues to refine incrementally in the next hundred plus hours or so).

I don't really see how I can incorporate another sluggo into the system without another SDFB even though the SEWE300B has the same value fuse. And I really like the balance I have now with the SDFB in the P15 and M-1 or Purple fuses in the other components--having carefully gone through the Audio Magic and Synergistic Research fuse lines I've found these two to be the sweet spot for me. The SDFB is both enhancing the overall sonic nature a bit and complementing these other "spices" and I've inched even closer to my goal of getting a great overall sound for the scope of recordings I listen to which range from excellent to okay with some really challenging unofficial ones. I really really really want to be in this zone or improving the confines of this zone and get off the constant search for "better" sound. And I'm closer to that state of mind and system than ever.

I am trying to wean myself from the search and to focus on other things that I both want and am directed to set into motion. Part of me wants to pursue a writing project and a further evolvement of the state of national and international affairs will help me outline and steer that. I also need to downsize my collections as I'm at an age where anything could happen and I really fear leaving my wife with a herculean task that she'll ultimately face with big long dumpsters as a default, something I don't want to happen. And I need (possibly tangental to the above) to start working on reducing her and to a slightly lesser extent my debt situation. If I continue on in my audio search I'll never fully direct my attention to these matters that I most procrastinate within--the music is both my biggest enjoyment and my escape and rationale for the escape.

My dedication to isolation and power in my system has really really paid off. The final portions--isolating all components AND supporting and isolating power connections, and using items such as Defenders and the eCards you started me exploring--have pushed the presentation right up to where I want it to be. I think I'm beginning to know when to "fold them." I'll snorkle near the surface and hang up my deep diving gear (that's the current hope and target).

On the macro level my one next direction and goal is towards improving my phono playback. The biggest picture step I can take to that I have made: I put myself on the list for a ZP3 with all the mods. And in the meantime I am going to experiment with moving from using my phono preamp ADC to send DSD to my DSD DAC for ultimate analog output to using the XLR output of my phono preamp into a ZBIT and eventually a ZROCK2 or ZROCK3. I have a long wait for a ZP3, a shorter one for a ZROCK3 and I already have a ZBIT to use. I'm getting fantastic sound right now sending DSD to the DSD DAC, but I think it's possible that using a more analog approach into the second input of my SEWE300B may be even better. We'll see when components trickle in.

Before those are visible on the horizon I'm enjoying the addition of the SDFB and hoping to settle in to another involved season of satisfying listening sessions. This year I've been really enjoying the newest Blue Note UHQCD and Winchester reissues from Japan, and exploring again the catalog of work from Tom Harrell, the Mingus Big Band, and others.



*Looking into copper with gold immersion led to a rabbit hole of fascinating material about the use of metal nanoparticles in medical drug delivery especially regarding cancer treatment.

Lon and Glif,
I emphatically agree with leaving a boat of baggage at our demise can be burdensome to loved ones. I've tried and seem to be succeeding with procurement of things that my family would love to have. I give most of it to them now keeping my space livable and organized.

Yes, it can be a labyrinth... and I hear you all on the dumpster thing!

Lon: "I don't really see how I can incorporate another sluggo into the system without another SDFB even though the SEWE300B has the same value fuse."

One reason I suggested this is that you can be burning in a copper at the same time and the super sluggo if the fuse needs are about the same, and then have choices to play with. I was thinking that if your 300B uses the same fuse size as the regenerator, you could use one fusebox to protect both. When I talked to Mark a few months ago, he had a rig with one input from the Fusebox, and two outlets, allowing one SDFB to have two things plugged into it. I think Groovysauce has made and used this solution. In this case, one Fusebox splitter outlet would go to the PSAudio, and the other to the 300B.

I am also wondering if having a SDFB before the regenerator, and plugging the 300B into the regenerator, would a disruption from the 300B trip the fusebox going into the PSAudio, and if so, would it be fast enough? Beyond my scope of knowledge, having the regenerator in between the fusebox and amp. But a nice solution if it would work. Could be worth asking Mark.

GS posted a pic in post 170 earlier in the thread on how to use one SDFB with two components. This struck an interest in me since I'd like to run one SDFB for my UFO, CSP, and ZP3. Still trying to wrap my head around what would be best for my situation. All three of my components plug directly into a dedicated line with two outlets.

As for the dumpster talk, my mom passed the day after Thanksgiving and my dad passed the very next day. Since then we've been working to sort everything out. Some things have been easy, other things very difficult. The very best thing any of us can do is document while we're still here.  Usernames, passwords, account numbers, etc in a binder. Directives, funeral, burial/cremation wishes. Get it done. I've been putting things like this off for a bit, as soon as we get the estate settled I plan to have a file on as much as I can. For instance, my mom was a crafter and seamstress, she left an entire room of stuff I absolutely am not in tune with. I want all this stuff to go to someone who can appreciate and use it...finding that person or people is a challenge. It's a difficult subject, since I'm fresh in the middle of it, feel free to ask anything. And if you're looking for seeing patterns, I have FOUR boxes full of them!

Thanks Will. At some point I do plan to contact Mark. All three components use the same value fuse, so it "should" be fairly straight forward. That linked product looks like a great solution and has my mental gears turning. When I installed my dedicated line I ran the cable from the fuse box to the corner of my rack which about 4' from the wall. I used plastic conduit from the wall to the 4 gang box with PS Audio outlets. An inspector would likely shake his head no on this, but I'm comfortable with how it's run and secured. The conduit is behind a record cabinet and in no danger of being moved or wiggled loose. I'm loosely thinking if I install an outlet at the wall, then the SDFB, then the 4 gang box I'd be good to go, maybe?!

From Lon: 'really don't feel I need two Sluggos in the system. I'm quite happy with what I think this one will be in a few weeks. When I get there I can decide if I want to go through the seasoning process again with a copper Sluggo. Or silver. Or something with Graphene if that is developed as hinted elsewhere--that may be the one to try.'

This makes good sense to me... I just think the copper sounds better, but I get it...with all the nice fuses you have, and other power work you have done, I know you have really great power sound.

I just moved some stuff around, changing cables and the 5 amp Fusebox setup. I pulled the silver slug and Fusebox from before the Balanced Transformer, putting the Fusebox between the Transformer and power strip that feeds most of the system. In the Transformer I put back in a 6.3 SR Blue I had used there. At first I missed the push of the silver slug, in this position, increasing most musical information in a pretty balanced way using my tuned "piggy."

Having adjusted to the silver slugs bigger yet articulate sound, I missed it at first, but also liked some aspects of the more open detailed qualities of the fuse...Wanting to beef up the sound a little, I switched around some power cords, while adding in a fancy Furutech cable with great copper that has an oil on it with gold and silver particles. It has that Furutech warmth, a little dark, but with great fine resolution, and a slight slowness is not really that noticeable except in how it contributes to a sophisticated euphonic feel with all else. Usually a little too warm for me, with the leaner fuse, that cable into the Transformer sweetened the sound really nicely.

Then putting the Fusebox into the Transformer, in front of my fav cable I usually use going into the Transformer or regenerator, this very special fast, neutral, and musical cable feeds the power strip that powers most of the system. Then using a bit more gain on the ZBIT and CSP3, the sound is amazing in all ways... better overall than it was the way I had things setup up with the silver slug. I do still have a copper sluggo in the CSP3, a silver slug in the 300B/845, and ground wire copper slugs in the DAC and USB Bridge... So only one fuse in the blend, but the fuse sound contributes, and caused me to find this really magical sound. I love it when I find this level of synergy.

No doubt I will play with the silver slug in the Transformer again, and see what I can get with different cord combinations using a slug there.

But the moral of the story, is that I agree, with nice fuses and cords, and good power components, filters, etc, we can get really awesome quality power sound using fuses.

I touch up my fuse ends and sluggos with graphene oil, and/or Cardas contact oil. It will be interesting to see if, and what, Verifi comes up with using graphene!

With this oil, stickers, outside passive filters, cords, good IECs, using different fuses for specific places (the slightly oversized Blue is particularly good in the Balances Transformer).... etc, I have been able to get "last years" (more really) cheaper fuses to sound pretty good as part of the blend. But I get your point!

The other Lon wrote on 03/12/24 at 15:32:36:

Good to read that helped!

Will, thanks for that explanation.  I was wondering how to account for directionality in a metal conductor and had no explanation.

Well, I find cheap fuses to sound pretty good. It's just that there are other (in two manufacturer lines higher up the ladder) that sound. . . considerably better!

I want to note that I read in an earlier audiogon discussion that Mark was possibly looking into graphene in the Sluggo materials. Nothing specific since.

Quote:


It turns out the details of electrical conduction in metals is hugely complicated, and not completely understood. This isn't my area of expertise but the way I understand it is metal can have something like a crystal structure, and while it will conduct electricity in any direction there is a preferred direction which you can think of as going with the grain. A little more detail is that what a conductor mostly does is guide an electromagnetic field, it is not so much about moving electrons even though that is how it is usually described.

FWIW I think what (successful)  cryo treatment does is modify the structure of the metal in a way that improves how it guides electromagnetic waves.