QSA 5 x 20mm Slow Blow Fuses
Who Knew Something So Physically Insignificant Could Sonically Transform Your Audio Components.
“…many high-end audio tweaks I’ve heard sound great, but none have matched the QSA’s remarkable performance. I repeat, none.” – Clement Perry, StereoTimes
“Same…” Mike Garner, Tweek Geek
Pricing: Please Note ALL QSA Fuses Are Special Order & Non-Returnable
- Black $28
- Blue $72
- Yellow $213
- Violet $711
- Red $1422
- Red/Black $2844
- Silver $4995
Quantum Sciences & Their Philosophy
The Fuse: One Of The Biggest Bottlenecks in Audio Component Performance
Customer Comments
– “This thing is amazing! Only 24 hours in but it sounds exactly as you and others have described. I’m thrilled!” – Evan S., Red fuse
– “After about 3.5 hrs listening, first 1-2 hrs Meh..2-3.5hrs these are SERIOUS fuses, Freakin Amazing at times!” Tom J., Violet and Black fuses
– “Just to let you know the fuse already arrived today!! I immediately installed it.The effect is fucking bonkers!!!I installed it in my Lampizator Pacific Dac with 300B’s Molybdenum tubes from Elrog … This Dac has turned into a sonic beast! It was already super fast, but this is now a stereoid version of what it used to be… It’s insane, and completely what I hoped it would be. The money is heavy, but the sonic result makes it ‘almost’ cheap. “ – Nico K., Red/Black Fuses
– “The clarity and quietness of these fuses is uncanny.” – Chip F., Yellow fuse
– “Thanks for the amazingly quick ship on the new QSA fuse! If this is the 2nd from the bottom of their lineup, I can’t imagine what some of the higher priced versions do. Installing this in my Decware Torii MK III was a revelation, and I had already tried several other after-market fuses!”– Chris P. Blue Fuse
Our Impressions
“…$1422 each! That’s crazy? I lamented, “This is just way too much to ask for a fuse, sir.” Tsang’s only response again was, “this fuse will outperform any tweak in your system. Looking at my components, I started taking an inventory. I’ve some serious tweaks in my space, namely the Novum Resonators, various Entreq ground boxes, Jack Bybee’s iQSE Fatboys, alongside Kemp’s AC conditioner and Frank Acoustics Ultra Bank products. All are excellent. None are cheap…
…Knowing the sonic improvements heard between the standard $28.50 Black series to the $711.00 Purple model, I admit, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Insuring directionality, I just popped them in and just let the music play for the next 24 hours. Upon my return, I immediately noticed how much of a deafening silence had crept over the system. Weirder was this quiet did not affect the high frequencies negatively whatsoever. In fact, the opposite occurred. The top-end opened up with a sense of relaxation and ease, which aided a remarkable sense of brilliance. Bass was quicker afoot and possessed details that made me sit up and pay closer attention. Voices appeared more transparent but with more harmonic realism, flesh tone, and focus. Out of all these obvious improvements, the absolute lack of noise stood out the most. The top-end sparkle improved with more excellent sparkle, weight, and shimmer (yes, cymbals carry weight). All in all, the QSA Red series fuses introduced an altogether different sonic fabric that is rarely associated with digital sources and its playback – regardless of format or resolution. This, dear reader, is the magic of analog!…“Clement Perry, StereoTimes
What Reviewers Are Saying
Not one, but THREE Stereotimes reviewers have given QSA fuses their endorsement for 2020 Most Wanted Components. Read below to see what each reviewer had to say. Full Article
Quantum Science Audio Ultra High-End Fuse ($2,844 ea): “…Upon placing two of the QSA Red/Black fuses in each Behold amplifier (I have two amps which require two fuses each – plus an extra fuse for my preamp), I turned up some music and just sat there slackjawed. The room filled with sounds from the studio I never detected before. When cymbals hit, the rivets sounded like rainfall. WTF is going on??? The music developed a renewed sense of PRaT that it never had prior. The music began flowing out of my loudspeakers in a way that closely resembled the Audio Note gear in my downstairs rig. That’s an 8-watt 300B SET setup and sounds ever so sweet and delicate. The upstairs rig is more like a 600 lbs gorilla – with wings: bigger and bolder, but with the same earmarks that relay the music in the purest sense of the word. These are sonic enhancements said to be impossible to achieve from solid-state components and digitally-based systems. Not True.
Quantum Science Audio Ultra High-End Fuse ($2844 ea): “… Once installed I could not believe the effect that took place in my system after a 24-36 hour break-in period. My system was currently functioning at an exceptionally outstanding high level. I thought any improvement in the sound, going forward, would be a small one. Boy, was I wrong! These tiny miracles allowed my system’s current significant attributes to expand beyond what I thought possible. Every characteristic we lovers of music hold important in sound reproduction became so much more pronounced. I’m delighted to say that at least four Stereo Times colleagues who now have these fuses in our systems have all experienced a similar dramatic result…this is one time where all of us who took the plunge feel it was well worth the cost. This is why I have chosen this QSA fuse as my 2020 Stereo Times Most Wanted Component. (Dan Secula)
What Customers Are Saying
Chris S.
The QSA Top of the Line Fuses
I have 4 components – Power Conditioner, Transport, DAC and Amplifier. All four have the Red/Black fuse installed. I installed the first three fuses six weeks ago and just installed the Amplifier fuse three days ago. My experience with burn in is interesting. After five weeks, the first three fuses were still improving the sound – still getting better every day (although it is decreasing). This is fun because the stereo sounds better every day even though I have done nothing. Of course the sound changes the most in the beginning; the first few hours it changes a lot. The same is true for the first few days – big improvement every day! Some highs (like a triangle or bell) didn’t sound right for the first 2 days, but then they were better than ever.
- The Sound
- General Impressions
- Everything sounds more beautiful
- There is more emotion in the music
- Specific Impressions
- Much lower noise floor
- More micro-detail is revealed
- There is less glare (I didn’t even know I had glare!)
- Individual voices and instruments are more apparent
- They don’t blur together when massed together
- I think it is called individuation
- The soundstage is deeper, wider and higher
- The sounds are more solid in the soundstage
- There are no gaps in the soundstage
- Everything sounds natural
- Frequency Response is linear at all volumes
- Understanding lyrics is much easier
- Bass goes deeper than before
- Bass is better defined and easier to follow
- General Impressions
The music just “pulls you in.” You don’t want to stop listening – very addictive.
These changes have been The single best tweak I have ever made! And I have been tweaking my stereo for 40 years.
Directionality
Barry Devolin –
Where do I start? I have a system in the range of 150k (US). Skeptically, I installed the 3 yellow fuses in power amp and preamp. Power on, jaw dropped. Wife used terms like “visceral” and “a curtain opened” to describe the changes. I have spent 10’s of thousands on power cables, interconnects, isolation devices and power management. These three fuses, situated 2 steps above entry-level black, have netted a level of improvement in the order of at least 10 thousand dollars. Goosebumps! Not a paid review.
chris p –
Jaw-dropping change. Impossible that a fuse can make this much improvement. Being somewhat skeptical, as I was already using an aftermarket fuse, I decided to start with the very reasonably priced light blue version, figuring I had 30 days to send it back in the event that it made no difference. I popped it in my Decware Torii Mk III amp and let the system settle for 24hrs. Upon starting the system (and allowing the amp to warm up with no music, as it is a tube amp), my wife exclaimed, “what happened tot he stereo? It sounds so much better, clearer, and more lifelike than the other day. And indeed it did, and it has only improved further since then. It seems I will be replacing my system’s other fuses ASAP and will likely take the plunge for the yellow version. These fuses are a remarkable achievement and represent an insane value. You will not be disappointed!
Thomas Ramey –
I’ve had the yellow fuse for about a week and it is by far the best fuse I’ve ever tried in my system and maybe the best tweek I can remember implementing. So musical and natural with all the detail and realism it really is incredible what something like this is able to do. Congrats to QSA for an amazing product.
Charlie Mathews –
I was so skeptical about this tweek but decided to check it out. Mike Garner at Tweek Geek really said I would here a positive difference. I put it in and in afew minutes I hear a positive difference (the strings on a test guitar CD )were more resonant. I know placebo…but I was so impressed with the difference the fuse made that I bought another black fuse to stick in my preamp.
Hey its a relatively inexpensive tweek. Just try it…
Dave Smith –
I now have purchased 4 of the ‘yellow’ QSA fuses and each has very noticeably improved the sound of an already superb audio system.My wife just came into my listening room and told me the ‘you can’t change anything else in the system …..she went on to say that it …sounded absolutely perfect and the best it had ever heard……what she doesn’t know is that I will be upgrading at least 3 of them…
Teddy –
Bought 5 QSA fuses all together for my ayon cd player the first 2 that I installed (immediately the noise floor dropped
Teddy –
Bought 5 QSA fuses all together for my ayon cd player the first 2 that I installed immediately the noise floor dropped the mids and highs was clearer with better imageing.
petro puziak –
I bought the Black fuses not expecting any real results as I have bought the other brands of fuses and had no improvement in sound quality in my HiFi , I was wrong first to notice was the Bass was more deeper and sharper the vocals were much more cleaner and the sound was more open and up front as if they were right in front of me . The back ground was also more noticeable , it was silent hard to describe I placed the old fuse back and new fuse back in a few times to hear that difference in the silence with the old fuse in it seemed there was a haze in the back ground and with the Quantum in just a empty space this allowed the vocals to be clearer , sharper , upfront with a sense of depth . For me these Quantum fuses work and made the music so much more enjoyable . I placed 1 in the Innuos Zenith and 1 in the Hypsos power supply . Innuos first and then power supply 4 days later , Innuos had the most improvement and the power supply was not as much but still noticeable that I could hear the difference .If you are like me and have used the other brands and had no luck this my be the fuse for you to try .
James Krebsbbach –
The reviews are correct. This fuse transformed my 300B amp and DAC. No other fuse I have tried has some close to the dramatic improvements in sound I now hear. Thank you !!
Michel Henault –
I want to express my very high level of satisfaction toward Tweak Geeks, Michael and the Black QSA fuses.
Michael from Tweak Geeks makes sure your purchases will be sent at your place. He is very professional, know-ledgeable and I will be more than pleased to buy again from Tweak Geeks. The black QSA fuses already brought very agreeable changes by bringing a much cleaner sound in the highs like triangle, cymbals, the harmonics are richer, the bass and mid-range are tighter, cleaner again. They surpass all fuses I’ve tried so far including the blue Furutech which are no slouch. These fuses had to be sent to Canada and USPS failed to send the fuses in Canada. Michael from Tweak Geeks took great care of that and found a proper solution.
Thank you Michael
Michel Hénault
Laval, Québec, Canada
Patrick Mowbray –
I’ve been an audiophile for 35 years and the yellow fuses are the best upgrade that I’ve ever purchased. Even bigger than adding a $3500 power chord recently.
Bigger soundstage, more bass, more texture, more depth, and more musical. Amazing!
Tahoe –
It’s amazing what this fuse does! Don’t believe the nay-sayers. I installed this fuse in a 20 year old cheap run-of the-mill CD/DVD player. It was transformed immediately. The noise floor dropped, extra details that I didn’t know were there popped out (what was that!) The sound became very transparent, well integrated, with deeper detailed bass, and dynamic, engaging presentation. My old player became very listenable…seriously! It makes more of a difference than a power cord or interconnect upgrade. I plan to upgrade to violet!
John T Zermani –
I started at the bottom with Black’s to get an idea of how much difference/improvement they might make. As difficult as it is for some to believe a fuse can accomplish much, I now agree, completely with the manufacturer: Three, $28.50 fuses (Preamp, two monobloc’s) have improved the sound of my system more than any IC’s, power cords, or speaker cables ever did (at $90 total) and that includes a good number of multi-kilo-buck wires. They may do more than most any component upgrade ever did as well. I am now going up the ladder to Yellow and maybe even Light Violet. Tweek Geek’s very generous (and unique, I think) upgrade offer means you lose nothing by the upgrade process and even have insurance against a blown fuse!
Just do it; spend $28.50 each. You’ll be happy you did.
Solomon –
I have installed several violet fuses throughout my system. The effects are profound in every area, especially dynamics, power, separation of voices, clearer upper treble, more impactful bass. I do not understand how fuses can do that, but it is like for each component the tap has been opened more fully, in power, subtlety, and musicality.
Thomas Rhodes –
The improvement to my system with the red fuse was astonishing. I decided to upgrade to a red/black. I’ve never had any tweak or change in equipment have this profound of a change to my system as the QSA fuse.
George Hoffmann –
While not dramatic in my system (lots of tweaks already), the fuses added silkier highs, better center sound stage, and improved timbre (added to a LTA z-10 mk. II amp).
John –
Starting with three Black fuses (very low risk) I was shocked at the sonic improvement: WAY out of proportion to their cost. I next traded-up to three Yellow’s, then to two Red’s and a Red/Black, and finally to two more Red/Blacks to complete the three fuses my system needs. 1.) You can’t get more improvement/$ than with these fuses, and 2.) The next step up is noticeably bigger than the previous ones. This is NOT snake -oil. If all you do is buy Black’s, you’ll be thrilled at what you hear ; move up the line (at FULL trade-in value) and you’ll be glad you did. The best audio components I’ve ever bought.
Dan Curtis –
I recently replaced the stock fuses in my Merason Dac1 with a pair of the QSA Yellow fuses the improvement in sound has been amazing ! I also have their Red Receptacle and a Violet fuse in my Qualiton a50i and will soon be adding their Orange fuse to my Innuos Zen MKIII. The qsa products have astounded me in the way they have been able to improve my sound quality in a way I never thought possible!
David Conklin –
I’ve long realized that fuse upgrades are one of the best improvements you can make in your system. The QSA fuses are wonderful. I started with the red fuses for my integrated amp, DAC, and CD player, and (a bit later) a light violet for my subwoofer. The improvement I heard from my subwoofer was nearly as great as that from my other components, so when the opportunity arose, I got a red/black fuse for the sub. I was not disappointed. Not just better bass, but better tonality throughout the frequency range, and more “solid” overall sound. No negatives.