qsa black or blue fuses

[dubplate]

Hi guys

I am interested to hear from anyone who has tried qsa black or blue fuses in their hifi equipment , What i am interested to know is how it sounded, and if anyone has compared them to other after market fuses.... i know there are countless threads and topics on fuses but most seem to go off topic with no real discussion about how the fuses may or may not have had an impact.... yes i have tried a few some work better than others ,some are too much of a good thing ,so i would be very interested to hear your experience ,especially with the qsa fuses.

 

 

[bob_m_54]

2 hours ago, dubplate said:

Hi guys

I am interested to hear from anyone who has tried qsa black or blue fuses in their hifi equipment , What i am interested to know is how it sounded, and if anyone has compared them to other after market fuses.... i know there are countless threads and topics on fuses but most seem to go off topic with no real discussion about how the fuses may or may not have had an impact.... yes i have tried a few some work better than others ,some are too much of a good thing ,so i would be very interested to hear your experience ,especially with the qsa fuses.

 

 

When you say some work better than others, do you mean they rupture more consistently at the rated current?

[dubplate]

Hi Bob

I am sorry for not being more specific, by saying some work better than others ,i meant in terms of sound quality or rather the sound the equipment imbues once an aftermarket fuse is installed.......For instance i have synergistic research orange in my 13amp plug feeding my balanced mains unit, which sounded a shade cleaner with good drive and prat .....I then purchased one for my cd player but after 200 hours the system sounded bleached ,good mids ,fantastic air and seperation but the bass fled. or shall i say seemed reduced in power and dynamics, i tried the fuse both ways and left it in the position where it sounded smoothest ,hence why i also said some can be too much of a good thing. In addition i have 4 hifi tuning supreme silver gold in my amplifier , in conjunction with the orange fuse went from sounding warm airy and involving started to sound anemic ,i then took the orange fuse out of the 13 amp plug and put a russ andrews fuse in which restored a fuller sound .

[MattyW]

I find the SR Orange reduces bass or makes the overall sound leaner. That made it perfect in the power amp in my second system as otherwise it sounds unbalanced with too much bass.

 

My main system doesn't have that issue and the SR Purple is an altogether better sounding fuse just letting more of everything through. More detail, more tonality, better sound staging you name it improves. The SR Orange just sucks the life out of this system though is fantastic in my second system. Frankly I can see why the Orange is so polarising in online discussion though the Purple is an all round better fuse..... If your system is bass heavy though the Orange can tame that rather nicely.

 

That said I too am curious about the QSA Black so if anyone would like to post there experience with it that would be awesome 

Edited January 27, 2022 by MattyW

[Guest]

On 24/01/2022 at 6:36 AM, dubplate said:

Hi guys

I am interested to hear from anyone who has tried qsa black or blue fuses in their hifi equipment , What i am interested to know is how it sounded, and if anyone has compared them to other after market fuses.... i know there are countless threads and topics on fuses but most seem to go off topic with no real discussion about how the fuses may or may not have had an impact.... yes i have tried a few some work better than others ,some are too much of a good thing ,so i would be very interested to hear your experience ,especially with the qsa fuses.

 

 

 

The OP asked to hear from anyone who had tried "qsa black or blue fuses in their hifi equipment". What followed was a series of negative posts from people more interested in blowing and bypassing fuses, who had zero experience (I can assume) with the fuses that were asked about. What then followed was a debate about debating these topics! 

Simple, if you can't answer the OP's question, then move on to the next thread. Don't feel the need to boost your post count. 

Needless to say those posts have all been removed, and the thread is now on Moderator Approval. That is the only option other than closing yet another potentially helpful thread for those that have genuine interest in this topic and others like it. The "others", who continue to be disruptive at every opportunity are finding themselves on a moderator watch list, as this needs to stop.

 

I'm not moving this to Great Debate, as the topic is not up for debate. If you want to debate fuses and their usefulness from an audio perspective, go and start a thread yourself for that there. This topic is asking for those with experience with these fuses to offer feedback.

[Neo]

Will be ordering a blue qsa fuse for the Rega Apollo and yellow for the Lehman audio Se headphone amplifier which currently has telos x2 fuse as an upgrade from the AMR fuse that came standard with the amplifier. My understanding that the local distributor is ordering from qsa blue and higher, so perhaps the qsa black may be a difficult task for a local member to chime in about.
Will update as soon as I get them installed, telos x2 was a great step up from AMR and these will have a significant improvements. 
Perhaps @Dokkencan chime in as he has a qsr blue installed in his setup.

Neo

[Dokken]

1 hour ago, Neo said:

Will be ordering a blue qsa fuse for the Rega Apollo and yellow for the Lehman audio Se headphone amplifier which currently has telos x2 fuse as an upgrade from the AMR fuse that came standard with the amplifier. My understanding that the local distributor is ordering from qsa blue and higher, so perhaps the qsa black may be a difficult task for a local member to chime in about.
Will update as soon as I get them installed, telos x2 was a great step up from AMR and these will have a significant improvements. 
Perhaps @Dokkencan chime in as he has a qsr blue installed in his setup.

Neo

Yes, I've got a QSA Blue fuse in my system and prefer it over the Telos X2 fuse and an SR Orange fuse it replaced. Both of the other fuses are good, however I found the QSA Blue fuse to be cleaner and quieter, giving a blacker background. The QSA Blue was just more natural sounding overall! 

[dubplate]

Hi Neo 

Thanks for your post. great to hear you had the telos x2 fuse, i would /am interested in trying out those fuses, can you please describe the sound the Telos x2 fuses instilled to your ears and in your system?......Now that is interesting to hear that you prefer the Qsa blues to the Telos....Great stuff.

Adrian

[Neo]

I had telos x2 for awhile now so my impression would boil down from memory only really, since the upgrade from AMR fuses, it has been awhile. My somewhat senior brain can only remember so far back, but would say more open soundstage and drop in noise floor. 
So looking forward to getting the qsa and getting to grips what they are about. 
Ideally would get two yellow but at $300 or so each and one would go into the Rega CD player and realistically would go for blue to reflect the cost of the equipment, if that makes sense. Although blue or yellow according to the supplier would yield a significant change with yellow giving a real taste of what the really expensive qsa fuses offer. Either way keen to go down the qsa road. Did have few Furutech fuses in the past as well but unfortunately they are no longer made which is a shame, for $80 is a no brainer upgrade, with real results that one can hear. 
Like I said will update when I get them, but considering the big C one has to be patient as nothing happens fast now and that includes shipping. 
Neo

Edited February 3, 2022 by Neo

[lumholtzii]

I have several Quantum Science Yellow fuses fitted to streamer and dac, and they are very good. I have a couple more on order plus a Black to try.  The yellows are not cheap, but they are better in my system than SR Orange and Telos that I tried. 

[Neo]

It has been awhile but finally got the the qsa blue. Took out the fuse in the Rega Apollo, visually between the two the filament is different with qsa being thicker and having a thread quality visually(like on a bolt). Now I replaced with the same value, so that I find very interesting. 
After placing it in, there was an immediate perceivable difference. The music gained more definition and the bass was more controlled. The music came from a more silent background. 
So it has been a positive experience with a small outlay. 
At a later stage will be looking at qsa yellow for the headphone amplifier to replace the telos x2. 
Neo

[Guest]

Kemp Electronics seem to be a well priced source for these fuses.

I've also found them also to be sometimes a bit cheaper for SR gear and other snake oil . It does pay to do a  comparison of all the different web based vendors when googling.

I'm interested in trying the QSA fuses myself at some point. Not meaning to get off topic but the SR Carbon Tuning discs are on my shopping list prior to getting back into fuse-rolling.   https://www.thecableco.com/catalog/product/view/id/16565/s/carbon-tuning-discs

Edited April 2, 2022 by deepthought
edit

[TDX]

I got one qsa yellow and quite happy with. Should go violet or red but hey… too expansive. 
 

I actually don’t know that they have a black one?

Edited April 11, 2022 by TDX

[Neo]

7 hours ago, TDX said:

I got one qsa yellow and quite happy with. Should go violet or red but hey… too expansive. 
 

I actually don’t know that they have a black one?

After very positive experience with the qsa blue in the Rega Apollo CD player, I have ordered the qsa yellow for the headphone amplifier. The next level the price jumps to $1000 from $300, so yes bit dear, would have been somewhat keen if there was another level in between. Overall for the blue at $110 is a very solid upgrade proposition. 
Neo

[Audionerd]

I've been supplying QSA fuses since they created a global stir last year, especially amongst reviewers coming to terms with fuses selling for thousands of dollars.

What interested me personally was not so much the outrageously priced models that reviewers still considered value for the end result, but quite affordable ones that were found to easily outperform the competition at a similar price.

 

After trialling the $110 Light Blue and $309 Yellow in many applications, my clients and I lost interest in other brands, except when a 20mm Slow Blow QSA will simply not fit. The magnitude of improvement in a reasonably high resolution system is so great! For example, my $20K Boulder monos reached a level roughly on a par with the next model up at about $40K with the insertion of 2 Light Blues. That's a $20K component upgrade for an investment of $200!

 

I've half-jokingly been labelled a cheapskate by the importer for focussing on the 2 cheapest models he imports, while others are comfortably lashing out with fuses costing over $1K, the next level above Yellow. While I'm sure the more expensive models are that much better again, it simply goes against the grain to indulge on a fuse to that extent. I also seem to attract clients looking for value rather than money being no object. Nevertheless, I expect the majority of those who've bought Light Blue from me will end up with Yellow, as the difference is immediately noticeable, while the next level up from Yellow is a financial bridge too far for many. 

 

In answer to the original question, the entry-point Black is not brought into Australia by the official importer because the better sounding Light Blue was considered inexpensive enough for the typical enthusiast. If you're a fuse sceptic, don't deprive yourself of the opportunity for an incredibly cost-effective upgrade, whether it's QSA or any other reputable brand. When you think about it, a tiny filament of unknown wire in the signal path is an obvious weak link in any system, which no sceptic can deny. The only question is which brand and for me there is only one answer.

[075Congo]

Have a look at the US company Tweek Geek online for info on the QSA fuses as well as the other QSA products available QSA Stones, QSA Jewels and power conditioners. 

[075Congo]

I notice that Michael Garner (Tweek Geek owner) has listed Yellow and Blue Fuses (various values all Slo Blow)  that he has "traded" as customers went up the QSA fuse line. I have bought bits and pieces from Michael over the years and he is excellent to deal with. Postage cost from the USA would be interesting.

[075Congo]

Tweek Geek uses UPS so you pay a big premium ($40 to $50 USD)to get  a fuse from the USA. 

[075Congo]

The fuses from the USA are rated at 250V and are directional ; you need to establish the "hot" terminal in the fuse holder when installing the QSA Fuse.

[Neo]

1 hour ago, 075Congo said:

The fuses from the USA are rated at 250V and are directional ; you need to establish the "hot" terminal in the fuse holder when installing the QSA Fuse.

At the bottom of the web page are instructions to do just that.

https://www.tweekgeek.com/quantum-science-audio-5-x-20mm-slow-blow-fuse-limited-availability/

Neo

Edited April 23, 2022 by Neo

[greigw]

Who sells QSA fuses in Australia? I'm looking for two light blue: one 5A and one 3.15A (20mm).

[TDX]

21 hours ago, greigw said:

Who sells QSA fuses in Australia? I'm looking for two light blue: one 5A and one 3.15A (20mm).

@Audionerd

[Neo]

Hi End Audio in Sydney

Neo

[greigw]

Thanks @TDX and @Neo

[greigw]

Have ordered two light blue through site sponsor Lux Audio.