my apologee!

If you had done it there might have been an ...

Alcopop!

If you read my response - no total problem with like-for-like same spec substitution. However, I was concerned that the "better" fuse might not have the specifications that we have tested as correct for the unit.

Not just they have special fuse - you also have to keep the directionality of the fuse...

Being cynical about this but - I love Naim, they are great and I'm not ready to touch anything in the equipment although there are technicians who are suggesting some "improvements" to do.

Arye

quote:

Not just they have special fuse - you also have to keep the directionality of the fuse...

Whoops, is that so ?
I pulled out the original fuse this week, to see if it had some specifications on it.
What could/would happen if I conncected it back in the wrong direction ?

At the end of next week a friend of me is coming over with his own Nait-2, that got the new AHP fuse in it, to compare it against mine.

regards,
Alco

Alco

Ayre is (I hope!) taking the piss....

However if you are going to lose sleep over it try it both ways. If you can convince yourself it sounds better one way around than the other then you are set. Since you have the fuse out you might as well make sure the contacts on the fuse and the fuse holder are clean!

Cheers

Jim

Yes - stay calm - no need to blow a fuse!

quote:

Ayre is (I hope!) taking the piss....

Two years ago, Mark Tucker said that the fuses in the Naim equipment are directional sensitive.
He claimed that it is audible.

Arye

I'm not sure if you can see it clear, but here's a 'naked' pic of my Nait-2.



The fuse in my Nait has 2 brown lines printed on it.
One dark, and one a bit less dark.

Can you see if it's in the right direction ?
(the brown lines closer to the front of the amp, and the blue one(s) to the back)

regards,
Alco

Ayre

Eh...should I know who Mark Tucker is?

What about you Ayre? Have you tried reversing the fuse and can you hear the difference? If you have (and you can) then great.

Let's take this to it's logical conclusion....the assertion is that a thin, ~1cm long piece of wire when turned in the opposite direction can adversely affect the sound of a system. On that basis, what about the directionality of the cables within the speaker crossover? The wiring to the speaker drive units? The tonearm? The windings in a pickup cartidge? Not to mention the myriad other wires in use within CDP, Pre-amp, power amp etc....what happens if they are "the wrong way around" because the manufacturers never checked?

As I said Ayre, if you can hear it and you believe it then that's great, meantime I'll just keep playing the ageing cynic and continue to avoid the shadowy legacy of Enid Lumley and Peter Belt!

Alco

Can I strongly recommend that you stop worrying about it? By all means try it and see if you can hear a difference but if you can't, then pop the cover back on and play some sounds!

Cheers

Jim

quote:

Originally posted by Alco:
I'm not sure if you can see it clear, but here's a 'naked' pic of my Nait-2.



The fuse in my Nait has 2 brown lines printed on it.
One dark, and one a bit less dark.

Can you see if it's in the right direction ?
(the brown lines closer to the front of the amp, and the blue one(s) to the back)

regards,
Alco

Hey Alco,

Repost your Nait 2 pix here?

As might as well, add to the collection.

Jim,

Mark Tucker used to work for Naim in the sales department I believe. He gave me a factory tour a few years back.

Sean.

quote:

What about you Ayre? Have you tried reversing the fuse and can you hear the difference? If you have (and you can) then great.

1. I don't open my Naim gear, as it is a complete system that includes everything I need and one of its greatest advantages is exactly this one.
2. I didn't try to move my fuse and I don't care about this as my system sounds excellent. But about your trial to do some calculations, let me quote someone else from Naim - Paul Stephenson (I guess you know him...) - by my memory and not word by word he told me that he is tired to argue with engineers who don't believe their ears. JV said few years back that interconnects and speakers cables are directional sensitive and although Naim tried to question the reason for that, they didn't succeed. The bottom line is that not everything that you hear you can also calculate.

Arye

Sean

Thanks for clarifying who Mark Tucker is. BTW, how is my home town doing? The usual cold, dark and wet in February I presume?

Arye

I think you should read my note again. I stated consistently that if you try it and if you can convince yourself that you can hear it then by all means do it. At no point did I state that if you can't measure it then it doesn't exist. I have never believed in that approach.

I also stated that personally I am very sceptical as to whether changing the direction of a fuse is going to make a difference to the sound. However, by the very act of removing and turning around a fuse you are changing two things. As well the direction of the fuse you are changing the contact between the fuse and the fuse holder, so from a test (change control) perspective you have an immediate problem.

In my distant past I worked in (Hi-Fi) retail and during an amplifier demo for a customer I inadvertently re-connected the same amp as the customer had just been listening to (and was lukewarm on). On playing the exact same track at the exact same volume he now pronounced that the "new" amp was "much, much better". So in this respect we agree that "not everything that you hear you can also calculate". BTW, his wife said "sounds exactly the same to me!" Wise lady.

Alco

Your question spurred this debate. Have you tried your fuse both ways around (hopefully having someone else turn the fuse for you so that you can't influence yourself) and can you hear a differnce? Since ypur friend is heading your way with his amp it seems like a worthwhile opportunity to test the theory.

Cheers

Jim

Hi Alco

This is the answer I received from a member of NANA several years ago.

Newer gear(where the fuse fits perpendicular to the ground) the rating of the fuse goes on top.

Older gear rating covered by plug.

If fuse is horizontal (PSC2) rating to the right.

I was told of this when asking NANA regarding cable dressing and complaining abut harshness and what can I do from a set up perspective.

I was asked to try all the fuses in one direction and then try all the fuses in another direction.

I was then sent a hand written copy of the proposed "approved" direction in the mail (which I have listed above).

It was my inbiased opinion that there WAS a major difference favoring the recommendation from NANA.

I hope this helps and does not confuse.

Terry Borth Washington State USA

Terry

Fair enough, a clear difference of opinion and that's fine.

I would still strongly argue that in order for this test to be unbiased it has to be peformed "double blind" so that any pre-conceived notions or biases are eliminated.

I'll be interested to see Alco's response if he is able to try this.

BTW, I wonder what gaurantee NANA has that the fuse maufacturers always run their fuse wire in the same direction when they make their fuses?

Cheers

Jim