On Tuesday, March 29, 2016 at 6:58:21 PM UTC-4, Trevor Wilson wrote:


**Now you're being silly. Measure a fuse sometime. The resistance
increases, as current increases. It acts as a non-linear resistor. The
ONLY place for a fuse is before filter capacitors in an amplifier. In
the DC lines, or the speaker lines, fuses introduce distortion and
should not be used. This is electronics 101.

Silver-link fuses using an eutectic formula add negligible resistance within their ratings. Nor are they cheap. As you well know, silver is the closest thing to a super-conductor at any reasonable operating temperature as exists in nature, much better than copper (or gold), and so such fuses ought to be considered.

Example: I keep speakers from a current manufacturer that would cost me well over US$7,000 to replace today. A few bucks on fuses to protect this investment is well worth it. That I researched dual-element silver-bearing fuses to minimize any downside from adding such a device makes the choice both worth it and (probably) wise. A defective amp is not likely to gradually ramp up into the speakers, it is likely to surge - at least in my experience. So, I can run the fuse very close to the overall speaker rating letting the dual-element section handle high musical peaks without sacrificing (much) protection.

Keeping in mind that as you suggest, low-resistance speaker connections are a 'good' thing, I use #12 fine-stranded (19 strands) THHN wire for speaker leads, spun in a drill to reduce capacitance does well for short runs and is remarkably cheap at ~US$0.27/foot (both stands included).

But, a fuse on a $3,500 speaker?

Wouldn't you?

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA


For the record:

* People using fancy power leads are deluded. The best power leads are,
of course, old style captive ones. IEC connectors are convenient and
stupid. They allow consumers to be conned into changing power leads
needlessly.
* People using *LOW INDUCTANCE*, *LOW RESISTANCE* speaker cables may
not, necessarily, be deluded. Again: Electronics 101.