Though the answer is neither. I don’t have plug fuses.
But here’s another way of looking at it. Is the difference (if heard) significant enough for anyone to think either:
the system sounds a bit off.
comparatively, a totally different system (either from the same or different brand) has the performance edge over the current system if the fuse is around one way but not the other?
Fully accepting that one way around might sound different, I strongly (very strongly) suspect the answer to both of the above is still “no”. In which case, the amount of time spent concerned with it or even testing it, seems better spent in therapy.
In a way it’s like the directional cable discussion. Does it matter? If a cable is directional, it costs you no effort to install it with the arrows the right way around. So different or not, if you are following the advise of the manufacturer, then it’s all swings and roundabouts where you effort is concerned.
For clarity, other than Synergistic, what brands have you compared the Bussman fuses with? (I don’t recall you mentioning others.)
Out of curiosity, when I went to change a fuse in a plug just now I had a quick look in my fuse drawer. Prior to this thread I had never looked at fuse brands, and had never heard of Bussman. I found some Bussman fuses, plus at least 12 other brands! They have accumulated over the years, some purchased, others swapped out when changing the value of a fuse in a plug, etc. (No, I don’t plan to audition them all, even one way round let alone both!)
Bussman is the standard fuse brand here in the U.K. (sorry I don’t know if you’re in the U.K. )
Apart from SR pink I’ve had AMR gold fuses. These are smooth sound fuses and in my system they were more open sounding fuses however, although the midrange was velvety it wasn’t as tight as the Bussman.
I did a lot of reading before I bought the SR pink fuse and many users were reporting good results with the Quantum Science Audio yellow fuse. It’s been reported that as detailed as this fuse was in their opinion it was too bright. This was a key factor into my selection of the SR pink which is very good. Dynamic, detailed, tight bass and so on. However when I reverted back to the Bussman after a month, I much preferred the midrange. It was more romantic.
I’m not in UK but I am in British Isles, and same sources of goods. But there is no such thing as a “standard” fuse brand In Britain (as opposed to electrical/construction standard). The brand of fuse will depend on the supplier, and possibly different if when just buy spare fuses or fused plugs etc (e.g at a supermarket, electrical store, DIY store, trade electrical supplier, etc,) or when you buy mains powered electrical goods in which case it likely varies between manufacturers. However it is likely that any one manufacturer will have a chosen supplier so likely a consistent fuse brand in their products. FWIW, in my quick look this morning I think I had more Murco fuses than Bussman.
I bought a stack of Bussman fuses, installed them in the “correct/approved” direction in all plugs associated with the Naim system up to the ring mains wall sockets.
Sorry let me be clear. When I write standard I mean just a regular fuse. I know there are many brands but I think the principle design is the same. If you replaced another brand fuse with a bussman you’re likely to hear no difference because they are presumably made the same way. Nickel plated copper caps and copper/tin fuse wire with ceramic body.
Bussman fuses are ubiquitous here in the U.K. hence my reference as standard.
But the silver plated fuses do sound different. You can buy these for £5 for a pack of 5.
With the considerably more expensive SR fuse I noticed improvements but did not prefer it to the Bussman in my system.
So when you say Bussman fuse, you just mean standard plug fuse?
As for whether they are all identical, a plug fuse is required to be manufactured to the appropriate technical standard, therefore other than printing all indeed will be physically and electrically nigh-on identical, regardless of brand. However, the source of fuse wire, and fine detail of manufacture, may vary from factory to factory, so may be different between brands manufactured in different plants. Also, and significantly, if any directionality is to do with, say, wire drawing direction, and manufactured consistently in relation to printing orientation, it is a 50:50 chance as to whether a different factory’s printing direction is the same, so completely random as to whether orientation of fuse in plug needs to be the same for the same directional effect.
Bussmann is a brand of fuse that has a good reputation for strong standards of continuity of quality.
But like most things although to a spec some brands are better than others.
To the extent that they can be counterfeited so be careful.
A mate of mine used to work at the Bussmann factory, he said it was so boring himself and his coworkers used to randomly print the name on the casing the other way around just for fun.
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