Hifi sounds better in Europe?

[JohnyT]

Popped into a not so local Hifi shop yesterday to pick up a coaxial cable for one of my MD decks. Whilst there I heard some conversation between another customer and member of staff. The topic was mains cables but more specifically fuses. I think the upshot of it was European plugs do not have fuses so there's no bottleneck to the supply. Conclusion being hifi generally sounds better in Europe and other countries who also don't have fused plugs.
I didn't hear much more than that as I had taken a detour between clients to get there and had to crack on.

So is there any truth to this theory? Certainly some very expensive audiophile fuses out there making great claims.
Is European mains in general any different to ours in the UK?
I know its against regulation to supply a mains plug without a fuse here but do we really need them now with the advancements of RCD?
You cant change a fuse in a wall wart for example, why are they exempt from this regulation?
I'm sure it happens somewhere but I've never seen a blown fuse in my life, it's always been the RCD which has tripped

 

[toms wait]

Have never thought about this before. But I have had fuses blow in plugs, not in my hifi gear but in light fittings usually when a bulb fails.
It wouldn't surprise me if UK regulation was behind the times with RCD/fuse requirements.
Having said that it is likely only a minority interest, the sound or detrimental impact of fuses.

 

[savvypaul]

EU mains has 3 obvious advantages over UK mains:

Radial not ring
Round pins
Removal of fuses

 

[ovlov854]

The general consensus seems to be that European schuko plugs are better (SQ) than UK 3 pin.
Better still if you can get it past SWMBO is a dedicated ring main and uprated earthing

 

[Volley24]

So is the upshot of this that a 13a fuse would sound better than a 3a?

 

[jobseeker]

I believe that the UK is the only country in the world that uses mains fuses in cables?

 

[Lancslinn]

The general consensus seems to be that European schuko plugs are better (SQ) than UK 3 pin.
Better still if you can get it past SWMBO is a dedicated ring main and uprated earthing

I waited until we redecorated the lounge. SWMBO liked that. I emphasised that a ring main and the sockets in a neat line on the wall would look so much tidier than two trailing multi-sockets. And the ring main does make a difference.

 

[tackleberry]

Right, i’m hard wiring everything….. I’m wrapping brown and blue round the buzz bar as we speak

 

[savvypaul]

When we were in the EU we were forced to have a different mains system from the rest of Europe.

Now that we have taken back our ball, we are free to upgrade our mains to the EU design.

 

[savvypaul]

I waited until we redecorated the lounge. SWMBO liked that. I emphasised that a ring main and the sockets in a neat line on the wall would look so much tidier than two trailing multi-sockets. And the ring main does make a difference.

You mean radial is much better, surely?

 

[toprepairman]

It's a complete nonsense to believe that a fuse is a bottleneck to the supply.

 

[rabski]

The plugs themselves make sod-all difference to the sound. There is absuloutely no reason that a schuko would 'sound' better than a 3-pin UK variety, and actually in terms of contact area, the UK 3-pin type has advantages. Schuko is anyway unsuited and potentially unsafe to use in UK type situations. First, it is unfused (see next paragraph) second, it can be rotated. In the UK, only the 'live' line carries voltage relative to earth and with a lot of equipment, maintaining the correct polarity is vital for safe use.

The UK differs from Europe in general, in that 'we' use ring mains. This means the electrical current overload protection is designed for the entire ring circuit. Individual plugs and leads absolutely require individual fuse protection. Without this, it would be possible for an overload fault to heat up a cable enough for it to cause a fire without necessarily triggering the main circuit protection. All relevant legislation requires fused plugs to be used in UK equipment regardless of anything. This is not for official pleasure, this is an absolute safety requirement.

A fuse is not really a 'bottleneck', but it is anyway not quite as simple. Basically, you need protection in any electrical circuit that carries enough voltage and/or current to be potentially dangerous. End of. Whether it's a standard fuse or an electronic fuse, they will all have the same basic effect of 'limiting', but then they need to.

A dedicated radial (not ring) supply could offer some small benefits, though how beneficial will depend on the existing wiring and how it is run. At this point, we come to the standard point. Never, ever eff about with mains supplies, earthing or fuses. This all absolutely has to be done by a qualified electrician, as some 'alternatives' that look good on paper have implications that could be incredibly dangerous.

 

[Mr Kandid]

I was in the middle of copying this and just noticed rabski has put it better.
There are practical reasons for the design features of the UK plug. The cable is at 90 degrees to the plug, if you yank it hard enough it is always the earth which will disconnect last. Shutters ensure that the live terminals of the socket are inaccessible to little fingers with little tools. The shutters only open after the longer earth connector is inserted. Both the live and neutral connectors of the plug are partially insulated, it is literally impossible to receive a shock from a partially inserted plug, even for little fingers with little tools.

There is no need to fuse the plugs in the European system as they are typically connected to radial circuits with adequate protection. In the UK we fuse our plugs with a fuse appropriate to the device connected, as they are typically connected to a 30 Amp ring circuit. This was adopted as a post war standard, to save copper and was eminently sensible at the time. Many European residences have a three phase supply, whereas almost all UK domestic supplies are a single phase.

The Schuko connector would be dangerous and inappropriate for the UK system. A connector rated at 16 A connected to a circuit with protection at 30/32 A is a really bad idea.

 

[dave]

Almost everything properly designed has a fuse in of some kind, wall warts included. Things with out (appropriately rated) fuses scare me. I like having a house to live in rather than a charred pile of smouldering embers.

 

[tackleberry]

There are fuses in the components anyway

 

[tackleberry]

Hi Axa ,

Is my 70 year old valve amp ok without a fuse…

 

[dave]

Hi Axa ,

Is my 70 year old valve amp ok without a fuse…

I have a few of those, I put fuses in them , but I still haven't found complete inner peace.

 

[Beobloke]

So is there any truth to this theory?

No, it's absolute complete and utter bollocks.

The only time a fuse is a bottleneck is when the bloody thing has blown!

 

[jbcortes]

If I understand the concept correctly, with a ring circuit all the devices are connected to the same circuit, which means electrically noisy equipment would communicate that noise to your hifi more easily.

Other than that, I don't see a problem. There's a fuse right at the input of most devices, so not sure adding one in the plug is making a tremendous difference. Having lived both in the UK and Europe, I never thought I experienced lesser sound in the UK. But the UK is paradise for audiophile fuse sellers. If you have just a soupçon of audiophile nervosa, move to Europe.

 

[toprepairman]

" In the UK we fuse our plugs with a fuse appropriate to the device connected, "
Well not quite, the fuse is to protect the cable so you match the fuse to the cable rating. The equipment should have it's own fuse dependent on it's power requirements.
I too have various ancient audio gear (valve amps mostly) that may not have fuses fitted so I'll derate the plug fuse accordingly. Usually a 1 Amp fuse is sufficient.