Agreed, Jerry. You deny "Saddam Hussein" the oxygen of publicity only for "Tariq Aziz" to pop up on cue like a "whack-a-mole" to peddle the party line as his apologist and sock puppet. I'll say no more. 

Better than what?  Nothing, or a different fuse?
I think it is irrelevant because most people will not bypass a fuse.  They might change one for another, as Gary and Jerry and others have done, in which case, surely the point is that they will want to find the best fuse?


I've been using ferrite clamps for about 25 years, Dave.

The 'bringing arguments' post was addressed to everyone, not just you.  

My hearing isn't up to detecting the difference that a fuse would make, and anyway it's unlikely to work for my system because I'm starting with such sub-standard equipment - everyone knows you should never put lipstick on a pig! I haven't changed anything for over a year at least, I haven't even bought any new music recently as I've run out of space and have plenty to keep me entertained.

It was clearly worthwhile doing some upgrades. Servicing the turntable and getting a new cartridge probably were worthwhile as the old Linn cartridge was very worn out and really struggled on certain records. Other purchases make a clear difference - record cleaning machine and new copies of battered vinyl for example. Getting a wall-mounted shelf made a very big difference due to my bouncy flooring, that was a no-brainer.

Ensuring that the speakers were correctly positioned was also worthwhile (within the limits of the listening room) and free. Getting the tracking and cartridge weight setup correctly and making sure the turntable shelf was completely level also made a difference and was also at no cost.

All of those things should be done before you consider new fuses IMO.

Other purchases I will admit were less clear cut - a high quality power adapter with mains filter, new Khan top plate for the LP12, new phono stage. I think they made some difference but it wasn't night and day and they weren't cheap. I would do the same again however and certainly don't feel ripped-off.

My CD player has had very little use because I prefer the process of playing vinyl, so maybe that was money wasted, but it was pre-owned and should last a few years. The last cd player (a cheap one) broke and was a case of you get what you pay for.

I don't have the inclination to play around with leads, fuses, power cables and whatnot - I'm happy with what I've got and it's pretty good, particularly when I compare it to other supposedly superior systems which sound far worse to me. That's not to say I think people who do experiment with fuses are stupid or wrong - far from it. If they get pleasure from doing it and it's their money then more power to their elbow - hifi is the type of hobby that should be enjoyed in this way and it's a great reason to listen to more music.

£90 does seem a lot to pay for a fuse, but then you can easily pay that for a good bottle of whisky and the whisky wouldn't last as long.

P.S. I don't normally spend £90 on whisky - I took delivery of a 10 year-old Laphroaig yesterday that I bought for £20 from Amazon Prime - now that is a bargain!

Hi Dave,

Sensible respectful discussion always a good thing, thanks.

Trying to think about my (subjective) results , if I'm reading the discussion correctly the assumption seems to hinge on the copper bar being a 100% conductor (i.e.  'No fuse'?)...so obviously better?

Couple of thoughts...

There certainly wasn't a lot in it for me when I compared the two, but I did have a preference for the fuse, but as I said elsewhere more of a preference than an absolute better/worse.

Maybe on paper it should have been a 'KO'...but given than things dont happen on paper usually could there be other factors?
I'd expected the bar to sound better so genuinely no expectation bias from me.
Scratching my head for possible reasons - what about the copper bar itself?

It had been sitting in a bucket for ages and wasn't in great shape, even after cleaning it.
Trying to offer up an idea...in reality, could the fact that the bar wasn't in perfect condition have made it ACTUALLY act as more of a fuse than the 'no fuse' idea on paper?

I know that just because it's copper doesn't mean its necessarily a 100% perfect conductor?
www.properzi.com/literature/category/4-copper-rod-and-wire?download=10:factors-affecting-electrical-conductivity-of-cu
If not a perfect conductor, with impurities and resistive factors...could this have an audible effect?

Someone has also said somewhere that the fuse 'could' give better results than a copper bar, depending on how it was used and where it was in the circuit.

Just a thought, I'm no expert and definately go by what I my ears tell me nowadays.

Good post Ant, informative.

Hear you on hearing what you hear, usually on the psychoacoustic thing I reckon if your not sure there IS a difference there usually isn't.
Or at least one worth fretting about!

Fuses are staying in my system, albeit it may have been with potentially low risk for just a few minutes it was a mistake (imo) to run the kit without a fuse.

Lesson learned as they say.

Really good to see an informative and balanced post, which displays a "live and let live" approach, Ant. If only everyone was like that, forums would be far better places.

There are other types of fuse to the standard ones you usually see in a plug such as a slow blow fuses that will allow a short duration curent spike, but blow if there is a current surge of a longer duration. Usually used for say speaker fuses. Perhaps the 90 quid fuses are a different type of fuse to the common or garden plug fuse? I dont know, but maybe theres a possibility that comparing them with a normal fuse isnt comparing the same thing.

I agree that it's pointless arguing - it's unlikely that anyone is going to change their mind.

But that's not to say that you are alone in the way you think - there are a few (possibly the majority - who knows?) who don't believe a fuse could ever be worth £90 (to them).

It's not worth falling out over though, I hope you would agree that we all benefit from a good natured discussion where opposing views can be aired without rancour.