The Article
Russ Andrews SuperFuse: IS IT A BIRD…?
3rd January 2015
Russ Andrews offers an upgrade kit for your hi-fi plugs. Paul Rigby reviews the SuperFuse
I’ve heard about the concept of upgrading a basic plug fuse in order to chase improved sound quality. The first time I came across this concept was a fuse developed especially for a Stax headphone amplifier. I was disappointed, at that time, not to actually grab one for review. So I was more than pleased to actually give one a try, this time via Russ Andrews and for general use.
Russ Andrews describes the SuperFuse as a high performance mains plug fuse which features a unique Super Burn-In process (Well, if each word is capitalised then it must be special, eh?) The end caps for the ceramic tube are made from nickel and are highly polished and treated with the popular Deox-IT contact enhancer. You also get a DeoxIT Gold wiper sachet with every SuperFuse for treatment, just before fitting. Inside the SuperFuse is a silver wire. The fuses themselves are available in 13A, 10A and 5A versions.
SOUND QUALITY
Putting the SuperFuse into my Icon CD player, terminated with a top quality Tellurium Q Blue cable and running The Who’s My Wife, I immediately noticed how reduced the distortion was over the entire soundstage. More specifically, the jangly piano on the right channel was more forward in the mix, articulate and recognisable during the song in its entirety. Also the vocal was now clearer in its presentation.
Intriguingly, I could now hear more of the words. That is, a greater percentage of the lyrics were now recognisable instead of being merely articulated, nonsensical noises requiring consistent referral to the lyric sheet. The interrupting synth effects were also enhanced. There was a slight upper midrange bloom on each crescendo blast before which was gone on the first blast and much reduced on the second. Finally, the bass guitar, which was previously shaped by the Keith Moon drum kit, now became much more recognisable as a separate instrument.
On the Dexter Gordon jazz track, the sax, played during the early solo, was not only larger in terms of presence but also reedier in terms of tonality while the bass, centre stage, could now be heard going through subtle manipulations. The twists and turns of the upright bass were now easier to follow. The later introduction of the trumpet also introduced far more reverb on the decay giving the impression that the trumpet was laying in a larger space.
Moving to vinyl, I tried the SuperFuse on my Origin turntable (featuring a basic cable) and Bobby Darin’s Venice Blue. The differences were intriguing. The most obvious improvement was within the treble area which opened up and provided the entire track with a constant supply of delicate cymbal strikes of a new complexity. The bass guitar was slightly more prominent over a wider portion of the track. Overall, though, improvements were not as impressive as with the CD player.
When I added another fuse to the Pre (again, with a Tellurium Q Blue cable), the sound improved further. As such, the bass guitar became more consistent throughout the track. In the past it had tended to fade in an out, the increase in the quality of timing meant that there was a reduction in distortion which allowed the bass guitar to become a continual line that could be easily followed. The Darin vocal also improved. He was pulled slightly from the background instruments, giving him a more 3D effect while the glockenspiel secondary percussion become slightly more prominent adding to the complexity of the mix.
CONCLUSION
Oddly, the price of the fuse which, initially, might have triggered howls of derision seemed, after the test, to be rather low. Low, that is, considering the improvements in sound quality.
I found that those improvements changed depending on what piece of kit you used, though. For example, I found greater changes to the CD player and pre-amp than the turntable. Something I would not have predicted. That said, that might be more to do with the cable because both the Pre and CD players were using a higher quality, third party, cable while the turntable was using a bog standard cable supplied by Origin Live. So maybe that is the important variable in terms of sonic quality. That is, maybe the fuse allows you to get the most of a more superior cable. Bear that in mind before you buy.
RUSS ANDREWS SUPERFUSE
Website: www.russandrews.com
Tel: 01539 797300
Good: lowers distortion, clarity & tonal reality
Bad: Cable dependency lowers value for money
RATING: 7
REFERENCE SYSTEM
Origin Sovereign Turntable
12” Enterprise arm
Miyajima Zero cartridge
Icon Audio CD-X1 CD player
Aesthetix Calypso Pre
Icon Audio MB845 Mk.II monoblocks
Quad ESL-57 speakers with One Thing upgrade
Tellurium Q and Atlas cables.
You certainly have retained your humour Paul, I haven’t laughed so much for ages!
Many thanks.
Peter? If I’ve left you satisfied and your spirits raised, then my job is done.
I don’t suppose you tried peeling back the label to see who actually made the fuse? I’ll give you a clue – what do you call a man on a buss?
I’ll ask Russ Andrews, if you like. In fact, I might just do that anyway. Thanks for the suggestion. As for the riddle? Hmmm, I’m terrible at these things…a passenger? Iggy Pop? (A famous song of his, or is that a bit left-field?), an OAP? Mobile? Kevin? Go on, I give up.
Srsly? A MAN on a BUSS, a Bussman if you will.
I’ve asked Russ Andrews to comment on this – might be a while until they do because they’re attending a large hi-fi show this week-end at Bristol (if you are there – you could ask them direct, of course)
No need to ask Russ. Simply peel back the black tape and you’ll be able to see these “super fuses” are just bog standard bussman fuses you can get at your local hardware shop for pennies.
Think you might have been had here Paul.
I think that it’s only fair to allow RA the right of reply, Craig.
I can get you a marvelous bargain on those fuses. I have a dealer, it’s pretty hush, hush though. All I’ll say is mine don’t have a special label rapped around them.
Might be a while until they do because he’ll be working on a cover story. Does it sound like an ordinary fuse once the label is removed? Or does it still retain it’s amazing properties?
Bit harsh, Peter. Let’s see what RA says. And, yes, I stick with my review. I did hear a difference. I’m not sure about the ‘amazing’ bit. I did qualify the performance benefits.
Not really. I can’t be as harsh as I’d like to be honest. I’m wondering though, if you take an identical 13A fuse from a pack costing ¬£1 from B&Q, will it liberate the same improvements as the RA one did before the tape is peeled off.
Fair enough 🙂 Before I run off to B&Q, as I say, I‚Äôd like to hear RA‚Äôs view on the matter. I‚Äôm off to the same show as they, incidentally, so I‚Äôll try and corner them on Saturday. If I can find their room in the chaos.
Hi Peter
I should have some answers for you re this fuse thing, very soon. I’ve spent a lot of time and effort on getting to the bottom of all of this, when I should have been earning pennies to pay my gas bill, so I hope you appreciate it 😉 It was an interesting exercise, nevertheless.
Right, I have some information and answers regarding this fuse issue. To begin and before we get to Russ Andrews itself, let me reassure those readers who are a bit bemused by all of this fuse palaver. The notion of producing a fuse specifically rated for hi-fi use is not a new one and is by no means unusual. Hi-Fi fuses have been around for a quite a while and many audiophiles feature them in their chains. There are many hi-fi manufacturers out there producing fuses for hi-fi use: the Furutech TF series is one popular type as are the Hi-Fi Tuning Gold fuse plus the AMR Gold fuses and so on. It’s not a new concept, by any means and prices per fuse can hit around £100 a pop.
That said, I talked to Russ Andrews and voiced my concerns and asked several questions regarding the so called ‘revelation’ that it is using a Bussmann fuse as the basis for its SuperFuse.
There seems to be a school of thought circulating around social media that, because the Bussmann fuse is the basis of the SuperFuse then, ergo, that fuse is merely a basic quality, ten-a-penny item and Russ Andrews is ripping everyone off. I think that, if Russ Andrews wanted to rip anyone off, the company wouldn’t be stupid enough to simply cover the Bussmann fuse with a bit of foil or whatever it used as a wrapper in order to ‘get away with it’. That was my first observation before I even talked to the company.
The facts are these. Before the SuperFuse was released, when it was still at the development stage, Russ Andrews bought in around 10 or so, ready-made and ready to go, fuses from a variety of companies from all over the world (Bussmann was just one of those 10). The aim was to find the best sounding basic fuse currently for sale on the market. This group testing of components for future installation or tweaking is not unusual. Many companies do the same with capacitors, resistors, volume controls, etc.
Bussmann Рas you may know Рmake many fuse types and configurations. The fuse that Russ Andrews selected as the best of the tested bunch (the one that’s on sale now via RA) was a Bussmann fuse. The current variant of that has nickel-plated end caps and with a silver-plated copper wire running through it.
To confirm then, Russ Andrews do not add these features (i.e.: the nickel end caps or the silver-plated copper wire). Bussman has already done this.
What Russ Andrews did was to take that fuse and put it through its own proprietry Super Burn-in process. The process was primarily developed by Russ Andrews while the design and build of the machine was carried out by Ben Duncan Research. Super Burn In is a treatment process, as adding DCT-type cryogenics to cables and hi-fi components is a well known and used treatment. RA’s treatment offers some similarities but remains unique, though.
It’s this process and this process alone that turns the Bussmann fuse into a SuperFuse. It’s this process which, says Russ Andrews, justifies the asking price. Of course you, as a potential consumer, might beg to differ. But that’s your right and choice.
Does the processes make a difference? In my opinion, though my ears and using my reference hi-fi chain, yes. It’s not perfect and can be qualified under certain circumstances but it does work. In fact, you can read the above review to see exactly how.
As to why the Bussmann chassis was used at all? Two reasons. Reason one? Cost. To independently produce a new fuse from the ground up and then to sell relatively few would not make economic sense. It would cost hundreds of thousands if not millions while the final saleable fuse would be extremely expensive. Bussmann has economies of scale behind it here.
Second reason? Safety. The chassis tube has to pass British safety standards (you can see the relevant sign on any fuse you buy from a shop). The tube has to reach a certain standard in terms of materials and quality. Otherwise, it’s a tiny but effective death trap. To modify a perfectly working Bussmann was quicker and cheaper than starting from scratch but also safer.
I think there was also a potential issue raised regarding the hand polished end caps. Russ Andrews, as a company, used to hand polish the end caps of an earlier version of the SuperFuse they produced which was silver plated (I spoke to the poor bloke who used to polish them!) The reason was that silver can oxidise and so hand polishing was done to prevent that. This current variant uses nickel end-capped fuse. It is different in that it does not require hand polishing. You can see HERE that there is no mention of hand polishing of the current SuperFuse. The addition of the DeoxIT wipe is a welcome one. DeoxIT is a contact cleaner that I would highly recommend (in fact, I recall reviewing that company’s spray in HiFi World magazine in the past). It‚Äôs great for the SuperFuse but also to clean all of your inputs and outputs. It removes contamination and the mucky build-up of grease and dirt and improves performances all on its own.
If you like the notion of hi-fi fuses then the Russ Andrews SuperFuse is actually pretty good value for money. It’s certainly a lot cheaper than many of its contemporaries.
During my conversation with Russ Andrews, I asked several searching questions, challenged it on a few points and placed ‘requests for information’ to it and received satisfactory answers for each. I, for one, am happy with the company’s co-operation and replies.
Not wanting to suggest you’ve been sold a pup …but to say the silver plating was polished to prevent silver oxide build up is quite frankly extraordinary !…….this implies that silver oxide[rare] or more likely silver nitrates or sulphides are greatly less conductive than silver[metal,] which is not the case….Ag 1.59 p ohm/m, Ag2O 1.4 p ohm/m. In fact one of the reasons silver is used to plate wires, contacts etc is precisely this property , as they will remain highly conductive over there life regardless of tarnish.
I was at the Bristol show on Friday and much to my annoyance, RA wasn’t.
Really? That’s a surprise. I’m actually on the train travelling to the show as I type this. If RA isn’t there then I’ll attempt to track down RA’s PR man and question him.
I wondered if they’d been delayed by the total chaos that is Bristol’s traffic but they’re not booked to be there.
OK, RA’s PR guy handles other clients so he might be there. Failing that, I’ll contact RA’s MD directly next week.
One thing I should have added: don’t blame RA for not being there, blame me for assuming. RA tends to always appear at these shows so I ‘assumed’ that it would be at this show too. It obviously had its own business reasons why it didn’t attend. Nothing suspicious. Just a wrong assumption on my part. Apologies.
“The fuse that Russ Andrews selected as the best of the tested bunch…”
What kind of tests did Mr Andrews perform? If these test results are what determines which kind of fuse was best, why doesn’t Mr Andrews’ web site provide the results of those tests as part of the item description? On what principle of electricity (and physics) is the quality of these fuses based?
Greetings Dr Herling
I have yet to learn about the testing criteria. Maybe you could pose that question direct and inform me of your findings?