[rdurost]

So, there is an old saying dating back to the dawn of the solid-state era which states "Transistors make great fuse protectors."  The idea being, of course, that of the two, transistors of the day were the weak link, not the fuse as intended.

I can testify from painful experience that "Infinity EMIT tweeters make great fuse protectors."  I have a pair of Infinity Qb speakers, which I bought in 1979 and still adore, that use the EMIT.  The EMIT is their best feature, in fact, but combined with the relatively low efficiency of the Qb and my taste in loud music, I have often driven amps into clipping and fried tweeters.  The 1 1/4 Amp fast-blow fuses protect the tweeters maybe half to a third of the time.  Going down to a 1 Amp fuse doesn't help and may in fact hurt for reasons I don't understand.

What I'm wondering is if the intervening 42 (FORTY-TWO) years has brought any advance in fuse technology that might resolve this ongoing problem.  It would be nice to have a drop-in solution, but if I need to solder something in, I do have an Associates in Electronics, so I have the chops and the equipment to do that.

I recently got my hands on a pair of identical PA amps with good specs that, strapped in mono, provide something above 1000 WPC into my speakers, so clipping per-se is unlikely, but I still want to solve the underlying problem because I now have the power (MWUHAHAHAHA!) to destroy drivers even if I'm only feeding them clean waveforms.

Thanks for your help and suggestions,

Richard

[Oscillate]

If you don't get the replies you seek here ...try posting the question in 'The Lab' circle also.

[Phil A]

Like anything else, I'm sure there have been advances.  I have upgraded fuses wherever possible (and have noticed differences) and have used Create Audio, HiFi Tuning and Synergistic Research (which replaced Create Audio in one component in the main system).  In some cases the cost was less than $20 each including shipping and in some cases more.  I probably will have more spares over the course of time as I upgrade.  Beware as some older vintage things may have used oddball (length) sizes vs. what is produced in fuse upgrades today (which is primarily three quarters of an inch or one and one quarter inches - I have one vintage piece that has a one and one eight long fuse).

[avahifi]

Make sure you know if your speakers specified fast blow or slow blow fuse types for this application.

Fast (or quick) blow fuses are supposed to open very quickly if their current rating is exceeded

Slow blow fuses (normally used for AC power input) will allow a rational overload before opening.  This is to deal with normal turn on surge current during initial turn on of the unit.

Slow blow fuses won't protect loudspeakers at all.

Somebody will need to provide me with the engineering math showing how a device with an internal wire 1/2" long that is designed to melt and fail instantly can have a better sounding expensive alternative.  Maybe a microprocessor current sensing circuit, but not another nearly identical fuse made of unobtainiun.

Frank

[I.Greyhound Fan]

Frank, I tried some hifi fuses with my magnepans and they did change the sound for the worse.  I used the same values.  It made the sound bright.  I loaned them to a friend who has a different model of magnepans and he heard the same thing.  The music was too bright.  To tell the truth, I was not expecting any change but it was quite noticeable.

[Big Red Machine]

Big fuses. Yeah, that's the trick...

[pcourtney]

I have been using some fuses made in Germany -  called HiFi-Tuning "Supreme" Silver/Gold Fuses

but I am not sure they make all that difference in my hifi setup   

 

• New  "Supreme" 99% silver impregnated with 1% gold & special

resonance and quantum treatments.

•ceramic casing, rather than glass, for better resonance characteristics.

• cyogenically - treated for maximum clarity.

• hand made and tested in Germany.

[rotarius]

"resonance and quantum treatments"
Wow that is advanced indeed.  I wonder if I can get cables with such treatments? Better yet if somehow the wire was a liquid and not solid copper.  You know,  because in such solid condition, ‘electrical response’ , or electron flow, is restricted to electron orbital ‘co-joined’ pathways in the atomic lattice.

Does someone make a liquid fuse?

[RPM123]

Here you go! Not sure if there any liquid fuses yet.

http://www.teoaudio.com/products/liquid-audio-cables/

[RPM123]

Almost forgot about the Less Loss power cords using the "Entropic Process". 

https://www.lessloss.com/cmarc-power-cable-p-224.html

[Cheytak.408]

Make sure you know if your speakers specified fast blow or slow blow fuse types for this application.

Fast (or quick) blow fuses are supposed to open very quickly if their current rating is exceeded

Slow blow fuses (normally used for AC power input) will allow a rational overload before opening.  This is to deal with normal turn on surge current during initial turn on of the unit.

Slow blow fuses won't protect loudspeakers at all.

Somebody will need to provide me with the engineering math showing how a device with an internal wire 1/2" long that is designed to melt and fail instantly can have a better sounding expensive alternative.  Maybe a microprocessor current sensing circuit, but not another nearly identical fuse made of unobtainiun.

Frank

Would that requirement be in line with your requirement to see the math to explain why any power cable can sound better than zip cord?  Just curious.

[Letitroll98]

Being the Cheap and Cheerful circle $99 fuses are not even close to the realm of possibility, even $20 is pushing it.  We'd have to stick to better Home Depot or Lowe's fuses if there are any.  Which is an interesting question.  A poster here said his fancy fuses made his Maggie's sound worse, so we can assume a fuse can make a difference of some type.  I've wondered if those ceramic fuses at the hardware store, which look much like the fancy spread, might sound better.  Anyone compare the various types of normally priced fuses with each other?

[Mags]

I have been running Infinity RSIIb speakers since I acquired them 15 years ago. The first thing I did was to rebuild them with external passive crossovers and REMOVE all the fuses. Fuses suck for sound quality. Since then I've used high-power class D (Gilmore Raptor) and homemade 200WPC SET mono amps and never blown an EMIT or EMIM, even though I play them quite loudly at times. Since my SET amps don't hard clip I'm confident they won't blow in the future either.