Some more updates onto two other projects for my CA-1000. Today, I went to my tech Planabox to install all 8 new audiophile grade fuses to replace to old ones. Right off the bat, he told me that the difference would not be subtle. Well, to say the least I was surprised while at the same time, I was not. I wasn't so sure about what to expect or I didn't want to expect too much from simple fuses swap, right? Quite frankly, the difference was pretty much according to its claim. the sound was more open with more presence, as if I had removed my hands off of my ears. Felt like the amplifier with the stock fuses was veiled and boxy in comparison. The difference in sound was greater than a power cable swap on the amplifier. What we did to compare apples to apples, we started by plugging the amplifier and listened a known tune of mine, Marco Polo from Loreena McKennitt from a CD player. Then, all fuses were swap by the Audio Link ones. Before that, the tech took extra care to DeoxIT all the receptacles. Finally, we plugged the amplifier back in and listened to the same tune. The difference was immediately obvious. I felt like, how could I've been listening and enjoying my amplifier before?! Some may doubt about this thinking it's kind of voodoo and I respect that, but after what I experienced, I am a believer. Fuses, as strange as it sounds, have each their own sound signature and I believe it has to be considered like any audio tweak (felt more like an upgrade for me). Some fuses may sound better than other for a given piece of gear.
Put it roughly and for those asking, the list price was averaging about 30$CA per fuse but I got several discount and ended up paying a bit more than 100$CA. Only for one single Synergistic Blue Fuse, the price is 150$US... And honestly, I don't know what the difference is between those high end fuses versus the ones I have had installed. But for sure in a price to performance ratio, I win.
You can see below some pictures of the fuses, before and after. Also, all the pedigree of what was installed. The last picture is showing the old ones that were replaced each relative to the small tags from the previous picture.