hifi fuse

[TrevC]

Who says the right tests are being done - for example a test of speaker freq response only tells you one thing.

You could put 2 different makes of speaker that share characteristics such as tweeter and 6 inch driver rear ported in the exact same spot in a room and I bet they would measure near identical freq reponse especially in the bass. Would they sound the same if 1 has a ceramic driver and one has a paper? Measuring devices would see no difference would your ears hear a difference?

I read people claiming to hear tighter or even deeper bass in demos by changing pretty much like for like speakers placed in the same spot in the room, even though the measured response would be near identical and I bet the impulse response would be too - and yet the ear is sensitive enough to pick on those differences or is that all in the mind and really everything just sounds the same.

Wibble.

 

[steve_1979]

Fuses don't affect performance in the slightest. It's a con.

Exactly!

How did this thread even get past this 1st post? There really is nothing more to say that wasn't said in this post.

Phew that settles it then, thanks for that.....

Any time.

Glad to have been of help. 🙂

 

[ID.]

Record the output from your system, then change the fuse and record it once again, finally invert one of the recordings and superimpose it on the other (Make sure you match the levels) and you will find that they cancel each other out, which means there is no difference between them. (If they do not cancel each other out then the sound has indeed changed)

It’s such an easy and obvious test, yet nobody who hears a difference ever try’s it, which makes their comments purely their perception and no proof of change.

Still, if people are daft enough to waste money on something that they just imagined made a difference, it’s just their money that they have spent so has no impact any anyone else. (As my Gran used to say “There’s a sucker born every minute”)

Bill

IIRC, it's not that simple. Might work better if you record the signal being output by the amp, but I recall reading that it's actually almost impossible to get exactly the same response, even if one changes nothing.

Now am I imagining that I read this? Can anyone else verify whether that's right? Sorry, I don't recall where I heard that, so it may be total BS. Maybe it only applies to the average listening room rather than a studio, etc. that is properly set up to eliminate reflections, etc.

 

[ellisdj]

If your talking about measuring freq response of a speaker then yes there is slight variations so it's suggested to measure 3 times and take an average.

In reality the differences are tiny and non existent in the bass region.

However surely everyone who is strongly opinionated listening room is studio equivalent ?

 

[GrahamBlackRhodium]

Nothing on the mains affects sound quality. As long as voltage is delivered to the amp to make it work the mains quality is irrelevant, because you don't listen to the mains. Inside the amplifier the power is dropped to the correct voltage by a transformer and rectified by a bridge rectifier. The resulting 100Hz pulses are then smoothed out by large capacitors. Not a trace of the original mains input remains in the amplifier DC supply, if it did it would hum, so how on earth can changing anything on the mains affect sound quality?

A clean, stable and well-shielded mains power supply is the foundation to good quality sound

My experience from many years of designing cables and listening to music on HiFi systems is that a good quality, clean mains power supply is an essential requirement for appreciating music.

HiFi equipment is designed to work from a 50 Hz mains supply of chosen voltage. Before the power reaches you, it will also be supplying hundreds of other electrical appliances that also draw current. Many of these appliances will draw power intermittently or at different levels of current. Your mains supply will vary in response to these by raising or lowering its voltage as the current drawn varies. These variations in your power supply will superimpose signals of different frequencies on to your mains supply. Whilst they will be attenuated by your equipment power supplies, they will much reduced but not eliminated. They will modulate the audio signal in your equipment and distort your music – maybe not obviously, but the sound will lack clarity.

Mains wiring and cables will pick up high frequency noise and radio frequency signals which will add to the mains voltage. Think of the long wires used to pick up radio signals in the past. This high frequency noise will pass through your power supplies much reduced, but enough modulate your very sensitive music signal and again reduce clarity of your sound.

Many people will use a mains cable of low current capacity to power equipment. These will have higher resistance that will reduce the current to the amplifier transformer when a loud bass note is played. This will affect the sound of your bass which will sound ‘warm and mushy’ rather than ‘clean and tight’. Another source of ‘warm and mushy’ sound is the use of cheaper insulations in the wires such as PVC. This is due to dielectric absorption in the insulation where electrical charge enters the insulation due to voltage difference and returns to the cable when the voltage difference is the other way.

Another source of distortion to your music is from stray magnetic fields, both external and from adjacent conductors. A magnetic field will change the current flow in a wire, and this change will be heard as a quite unpleasant form of sound distortion.

Due to the many electrical and magnetic fields around your cables they will vibrate. This vibration modulates the fields around them, and the modulated waveform adds to the distortion in your sound. This may be heard as a hardening of sound and lack of dynamics when a choir sings loud and high.

Your mains supply is extremely important if you wish to appreciate and enjoy your music. Treat it with respect and use the very best mains cables you can justifiably afford.

 

[Al ears]

A clean, stable and well-shielded mains power supply is the foundation to good quality sound

My experience from many years of designing cables and listening to music on HiFi systems is that a good quality, clean mains power supply is an essential requirement for appreciating music.

HiFi equipment is designed to work from a 50 Hz mains supply of chosen voltage. Before the power reaches you, it will also be supplying hundreds of other electrical appliances that also draw current. Many of these appliances will draw power intermittently or at different levels of current. Your mains supply will vary in response to these by raising or lowering its voltage as the current drawn varies. These variations in your power supply will superimpose signals of different frequencies on to your mains supply. Whilst they will be attenuated by your equipment power supplies, they will much reduced but not eliminated. They will modulate the audio signal in your equipment and distort your music – maybe not obviously, but the sound will lack clarity.

Mains wiring and cables will pick up high frequency noise and radio frequency signals which will add to the mains voltage. Think of the long wires used to pick up radio signals in the past. This high frequency noise will pass through your power supplies much reduced, but enough modulate your very sensitive music signal and again reduce clarity of your sound.

Many people will use a mains cable of low current capacity to power equipment. These will have higher resistance that will reduce the current to the amplifier transformer when a loud bass note is played. This will affect the sound of your bass which will sound ‘warm and mushy’ rather than ‘clean and tight’. Another source of ‘warm and mushy’ sound is the use of cheaper insulations in the wires such as PVC. This is due to dielectric absorption in the insulation where electrical charge enters the insulation due to voltage difference and returns to the cable when the voltage difference is the other way.

Another source of distortion to your music is from stray magnetic fields, both external and from adjacent conductors. A magnetic field will change the current flow in a wire, and this change will be heard as a quite unpleasant form of sound distortion.

Due to the many electrical and magnetic fields around your cables they will vibrate. This vibration modulates the fields around them, and the modulated waveform adds to the distortion in your sound. This may be heard as a hardening of sound and lack of dynamics when a choir sings loud and high.

Your mains supply is extremely important if you wish to appreciate and enjoy your music. Treat it with respect and use the very best mains cables you can justifiably afford.

You dug up a nine year old thread to write about a cable??
Assuming equipment manufacturers use the cable supplied with their kit when testing and measuring where does that leave everyone when looking at those measurements?
I very much doubt every manufacturer all over the world have power supplies like the UK.
If such cables are so critical you'd have to take then from socket all the way back to the generating plant.
Did you also write this? :-
TO ENJOY GOOD CLEAR SOUND, YOU NEED CLEAN MAINS
This thought was prompted by a contributor to a HiFi magazine blog post who claimed that ‘nothing on the mains affects sound quality.’ My experience from many years of designing cables and listening to music on HiFi systems is that a good quality, clean mains power supply is an essential requirement for appreciating music.
There are many ways in which sound quality can be compromised by poor mains quality.
1. Mains Voltage Fluctuations
• Household mains power isn't isolated—it's shared with countless other devices.
• These devices draw current in unpredictable ways, causing voltage fluctuations.
• Such fluctuations can introduce unwanted frequencies into the power supply, subtly distorting audio signals.
2. High-Frequency and RF Noise
• Mains cables can act like antennas, picking up radio frequency interference (RFI) and electromagnetic noise.
• Even if your equipment attenuates this noise, residual interference can still modulate the audio signal, reducing clarity.
3. Cable Quality and Current Capacity
• Low-current capacity cables may restrict current flow during dynamic peaks (e.g., loud bass notes).
• This can result in bass that sounds “warm and mushy” instead of “clean and tight.”
4. Dielectric Absorption in Insulation
• Cheaper materials like PVC can absorb and release electrical energy, affecting signal integrity.
• This phenomenon, known as dielectric absorption, can subtly smear the audio signal.
5. Magnetic Field Interference
• Stray magnetic fields—either external or from nearby conductors—can alter current flow.
• These changes manifest as distortion, particularly in complex or high-energy musical passages.
6. Cable Vibration
• Electrical and magnetic fields can cause cables to vibrate.
• These vibrations can further modulate the signal, leading to a perceived loss of dynamics or harshness in sound.
Your mains supply is extremely important if you wish to appreciate and enjoy your music. Treat it with respect and use the very best mains cables you can justifiably afford.
At Black Rhodium we take great care to minimise the distortion to your music from all these sources in all our cables which will give you lots of detail with transparency, wide dynamics and superb stereo imaging.

 

[Angle Poise-Lamp]

A clean, stable and well-shielded mains power supply is the foundation to good quality sound

My experience from many years of designing cables and listening to music on HiFi systems is that a good quality, clean mains power supply is an essential requirement for appreciating music.

HiFi equipment is designed to work from a 50 Hz mains supply of chosen voltage. Before the power reaches you, it will also be supplying hundreds of other electrical appliances that also draw current. Many of these appliances will draw power intermittently or at different levels of current. Your mains supply will vary in response to these by raising or lowering its voltage as the current drawn varies. These variations in your power supply will superimpose signals of different frequencies on to your mains supply. Whilst they will be attenuated by your equipment power supplies, they will much reduced but not eliminated. They will modulate the audio signal in your equipment and distort your music – maybe not obviously, but the sound will lack clarity.

Mains wiring and cables will pick up high frequency noise and radio frequency signals which will add to the mains voltage. Think of the long wires used to pick up radio signals in the past. This high frequency noise will pass through your power supplies much reduced, but enough modulate your very sensitive music signal and again reduce clarity of your sound.

Many people will use a mains cable of low current capacity to power equipment. These will have higher resistance that will reduce the current to the amplifier transformer when a loud bass note is played. This will affect the sound of your bass which will sound ‘warm and mushy’ rather than ‘clean and tight’. Another source of ‘warm and mushy’ sound is the use of cheaper insulations in the wires such as PVC. This is due to dielectric absorption in the insulation where electrical charge enters the insulation due to voltage difference and returns to the cable when the voltage difference is the other way.

Another source of distortion to your music is from stray magnetic fields, both external and from adjacent conductors. A magnetic field will change the current flow in a wire, and this change will be heard as a quite unpleasant form of sound distortion.

Due to the many electrical and magnetic fields around your cables they will vibrate. This vibration modulates the fields around them, and the modulated waveform adds to the distortion in your sound. This may be heard as a hardening of sound and lack of dynamics when a choir sings loud and high.

Your mains supply is extremely important if you wish to appreciate and enjoy your music. Treat it with respect and use the very best mains cables you can justifiably afford.

Any half-decent interconnect will be shielded and, your equipment’s own power supplies, will see to it that the power is properly regulated. Given that incoming electricity, has come to you via many miles of cable, substations, transformers etc, that last metre of cable is a bit too late to make a difference.

 

[abacus]

A clean, stable and well-shielded mains power supply is the foundation to good quality sound

My experience from many years of designing cables and listening to music on HiFi systems is that a good quality, clean mains power supply is an essential requirement for appreciating music.

HiFi equipment is designed to work from a 50 Hz mains supply of chosen voltage. Before the power reaches you, it will also be supplying hundreds of other electrical appliances that also draw current. Many of these appliances will draw power intermittently or at different levels of current. Your mains supply will vary in response to these by raising or lowering its voltage as the current drawn varies. These variations in your power supply will superimpose signals of different frequencies on to your mains supply. Whilst they will be attenuated by your equipment power supplies, they will much reduced but not eliminated. They will modulate the audio signal in your equipment and distort your music – maybe not obviously, but the sound will lack clarity.

Mains wiring and cables will pick up high frequency noise and radio frequency signals which will add to the mains voltage. Think of the long wires used to pick up radio signals in the past. This high frequency noise will pass through your power supplies much reduced, but enough modulate your very sensitive music signal and again reduce clarity of your sound.

Many people will use a mains cable of low current capacity to power equipment. These will have higher resistance that will reduce the current to the amplifier transformer when a loud bass note is played. This will affect the sound of your bass which will sound ‘warm and mushy’ rather than ‘clean and tight’. Another source of ‘warm and mushy’ sound is the use of cheaper insulations in the wires such as PVC. This is due to dielectric absorption in the insulation where electrical charge enters the insulation due to voltage difference and returns to the cable when the voltage difference is the other way.

Another source of distortion to your music is from stray magnetic fields, both external and from adjacent conductors. A magnetic field will change the current flow in a wire, and this change will be heard as a quite unpleasant form of sound distortion.

Due to the many electrical and magnetic fields around your cables they will vibrate. This vibration modulates the fields around them, and the modulated waveform adds to the distortion in your sound. This may be heard as a hardening of sound and lack of dynamics when a choir sings loud and high.

Your mains supply is extremely important if you wish to appreciate and enjoy your music. Treat it with respect and use the very best mains cables you can justifiably afford.

Once again, claims are made, but no verifiable evidence is provided, so as per usual, a pointless post.

Bill

 

[Blacksabbath25]

Dam that's a old thread

 

[Gray]

Once again, claims are made, but no verifiable evidence is provided, so as per usual, a pointless post.

Bill

Ah, but....from all that he's said he must easily be able to blindly tell whether he's listening to a supplied mains lead, or one of his special mains leads.

(And boy, would it be something special to witness him doing that).

 

[Blacksabbath25]

Do we still have TrevC active on here because he might be here in a minute 😎