I keep reading about DAC owners upgrading their fuses.
Wondering how common this is with MSB DAC users? I have the Reference DAC and the DD, and I’m wondering if it’s worth the upgrade, or is it simply a waste of time and $$$?
You would be better off spending your tweak budget on addressing room acoustics, if you haven’t already done so. Second most important budget allocation would be clean and stable AC power. Third most important budget allocation would be component isolation from building resonance (any vacuum tube equipment, DAC, and turntable).
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Considering one has spent tens of thousands of dollars on dedicated AC power lines, isolation transformers or power conditioners, and expensive AC power cables in a top notch audio system, one should at least try the last weak link in the AC power line, ie. the fuse, IMHO. An audio-grade fuse may only cost one hundred to a few hundred dollars, and some audiophile fuse manufacturers or dealers allow home trials, so one owe it to ourselves to try them out and decide for yourself.
One may overlook the importance of a tiny fuse, but bear in mind that all those clean AC power that one has prepared upstream has to travel through this tiny wire in the fuse to finally reach the audio device. if you look at the construction of a fuse, the quality of the thin wire, the fuse casing, the end caps, and how the wire is soldered to the end caps logically matters, IMHO. For examples, a poor fuse casing may cause resonances affecting the wire inside; low quality metal for the fuse wire and end caps, and poor soldering/solder material may all affect the AC power reaching the audio device.
So just try some audiophile-grade fuses on your DAC, amplifiers, transports, etc, and hear whether there is any sound performance improvements for yourself.
Cheers and enjoy the music.
To your point, I’ve addressed all the areas you mention here. BTW, for component isolation I’ve just switched from IsoAccustics to Stack Audio for my speakers, subs and components. Cannot believe the improvement these cost-effective products have been, especially for the speakers and subs.
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Audiophile fuses are a must in high end systems. I have used them at least 15 years. I am now using Synergistic and Qsa (expensive as new, i bought them used- purple qsa)
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I am currently using Hifi Tuning Supreme 3 Silver Diamond fuses for the Cascade Powerbase and DD, and mono amplifiers.
These fuses are very reasonably priced, but very high quality!
I decided to try the SR Pink fuses since they sit just below the top of the line. I figure this will be an interesting experiment.
They (Synergistic pink) need couple of days to sound their best, you can leave your msb power on,. Then tell us your opinion.
You need to try the fuse position which way is better. There should be a difference.