How & why are fuses directional?!

Having followed this thread from the start I am now living in dread of any fuse, in any appliance (not just the hi-fi), blowing & needing replacement…

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This thread just keeps on giving!!

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I really think that will make no difference, and if anything a ring main theoretically would be better than a radial… but as I say unlikely to make a difference. It’s the cumulative asymmetric loading on your phase from the substation as seen from the mains socket.

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This is good bedtime reading.

Allows me to drop off very quickly.

DG….

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I did find an IET thread that mentioned DC offset on mains in the context of a ring main and BS 7671 widening the impact from a contributing device like an electric blanket by virtue of a ring covering more sockets than a radial. In other words, the ring itself isn’t the problem but a radial limits the impact to a smaller zone.

It’s not quite what I was remembering, but it does make sense.

To some degree it’s academic. All my hifi outlets are on their own circuits and the main one has it’s own dedicated TT ground separate from the TT ground used in the rest of the house. Which means neutral is also isolated.

And I don’t have to use fuses here :wink:

Regarding Tune Dem, I think it’s valid (and desirable) to treat the musical aspects as being of central importance, and Linn deserve credit for developing and popularising it. It’s also good to have a rigorous, consistent and repeatable technique for evaluating hi-fi.

My main problem with it is believing that evaluating short passages of music through a limited cognitive filter will be a reliable guide to long term satisfaction. To put it another way: if you compare component A and component B using Tune Dem, and you conclude that component B is better, that only tells you that component B passes the Tune Dem test better than component A. Over time, you might find that component B is is less satisfactory than component A for a host of reasons that are not revealed by Tune Dem.

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I have definitely NEVER experienced that,.and I have performed Tune-Dem for myself and others on probably thousands of occasions since the mid 80’s.

The musical flow.
The musical presentation.
The musical touch.
The musical experience.
The musical tonality
…etc etc are important components to consider when performing Tune-Dem

When you have solid experience and knowledge of Tune-Dem,.you quickly hear if something is “not right” in your music-systems based on the above.

An example:
When I bought a new “hifi-switch” three months ago.
I bought my dealer’s demo product.
I often do that these days to avoid to have to doing a burn-in of 200 hours.

I plugged in my switch and waited until the next day to start listening (settle-time) :wink:.
It sounded good,.but I immediately heard that something was not right regarding the points reported above…

I flipped the fuse and everything fell into place,.now everything musically matched to 100 percent.
My dealer had not optimized the direction of the fuse for the best sound quality.
Often I hear at once if something is not right musically in a system,.then it’s just a matter of proceeding systematically according to this evaluation method and I usually quickly find the error.

BUT,.it took a long time to learn.

Hearing something is not right after a change is different from deciding which of two good things sounds better, which was what I was considering with my concern over my understanding of Tune Dem, as expounded better by @Corry

And unless you go back and forth between the two to see if consistent you won’t know for certain. In your example, and this is wholly consistent with the OP, it sounded wrong, you flipped the fuse and it sounded right, so it was the fuse that was the cause. Without going and flipping the fuse back, and then maybe once more, you actually don’t know if the fuse direction made any difference at all, or if it was simply making poor contact before you disturbed it! But yes, the process of taking the fuse out and putting it back in indeed had a positive effect.

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I’ve never tried a ‘formal’ Tune-Dem, though I do often evaluate small changes using short (30-60 seconds) bits of music. Sometimes I hear a big difference, sometimes I don’t.

The situation where I think @Corry might have a point is comparing modern brickwalled remasters against older masterings. Since a ‘hot’ remaster is designed to be more attention-grabbing, I could see a short tune-dem comparison leading one to the conclusion that the newer remastering is ‘better’ just because it jumps out of the speakers more. Over a longer period of listening, the fatigue that comes with such recordings (which I, for one, seem to be particularly prone to) could lead to a reversal of that conclusion.

Mark

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I still say the OP Bussman fuse is a fake one that would worry me far more than direction. :scream:


image

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Please @Innocent_Bystander
This is getting a bit tiresome, discussing Tune-Dem with you.

Instead of just discussing,.spend time trying to learn the method instead :smiley:.
Why does every single detail have to be brought up again,.if you have followed my writings over the years you know that…

:large_blue_diamond: I am an extreme “Attention To
Detail guy”.
SO,.of course all details are taken into account before starting an evaluation (cleaning the fuse with Isopropyl alcohol) to name just one example.

And of course you go back and forth sometimes to confirm what you heard, even the next day under certain circumstances.

This,.and much else I have written about previously Innocent_Bystander…
Among other things in this thread.
You must read,.and be able to draw relevant conclusions from the information I provide.
In the beginning of my Tune-Dem career, I went back and forth lots and lots of times.
Nowadays significantly less :wink:.

Richard, genuine question, “did you write this with a straight face ?”

It’s probably coz the AC waveform is upside down in the Southern Hemisphere………

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Don, no, it was typed with more of a wry smile…

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I’m surprised that only the direction of the fuse seems to be the topic.

I’m also convinced that turning the fuse over the long axis is important. Just make a small mark on it and turn it in steps. First by 180 degrees. If it sounds better, great! If not, try turning it 90 degrees only. Then 45 degrees and so on and so forth.

And here is the catch: if you haven’t tried it, so don’t know what you are missing, @Peder !

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Phew !!

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But…

If you go back and forth several times, with different music tracks, and repeat the process the next day, then I think it’s the right way.
However when I read the tune dem on the Linn site, they say if you compare A and B for a short time and observe that B sounds better for you, then buy B. They don’t point the necessity of repeating the process several times.

And don’t forget without the fuse too.

Hi :smiley:

The placement of the outer platter on the inner platter of Linns LP12 made a difference in soundquality…

It is relatively well known by those who really want to fully optimize their LP12.
SO,.who knows, anything is possible in this slightly strange hifi world :grin:.

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