Hello everyone.
Sorry if this is the wrong forum for this. Please advise if so.

I just resurrected my NS-10Ms. I've had these for about 15 years, and just recently blew both of the tweeters. I never had a problem before, but now I'm a bit paranoid after spending 250 to replace the drivers.

I've heard and read about placing inline fuses to protect the tweeters.

I've searched high and low, and I can't get any specific instructions, sizes, wiring diagrams, etc.

I'm not super concerned if they "colour" the sound. I just need to protect them from the gremlins that popped them last time.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

rick

I must say NS10's are pretty hard to blow unless they get some kind of serious feedback or something, used them in studios since 85 and only blew 2 in all that time.
I do remember one particular place had inline fuses built into the speaker cable running to the monitors though, just in case! I think thats why they became studio favorites, not because of their sound but because of their durability, the alternative back then was something like AR 18's which would blow every week, kinda got expensive!

Hi Rick,
I have been using 1 amp fuses inline with my NS-10's for about 20 yrs now and they have saved my drivers quite a few times.
I used an automotive type, 3AG, plastic inline fuse holder spliced into the speaker cable not far from the binding posts where they are easily accessable.
I believe this outlay of a few dollars, has saved me alot of money and downtime over the years,
Cheers, Neil.

Thanks guys. Just the info I needed

Yeah, the NS-10s can take some abuse, but it's a shame when the "oops" moment happens...lol

Just wanted to protect. I have a feeling replacement parts won't be around forever.

Neil,
Did you put your fuses before the actual speaker?

Thanks for you help, much appreciated.

-rick

Look up posts from a memeber named Louderock. He explained how to connect the fuse in the 30 seconds to Mars thread.

go to Dale Pro Audio and pick up pre-made inline fuse holders like the one I took a picture of, then buy 3AG 1.5A fuses. That will handle anything that can damage the drivers, yet let enough power through for when you need to crank the level. If you blow up 1.5A fuses continuously, then something is wrong with the low frequencies in your mix.

Thanks guys for all your help

I'll be doing a search for that thread, and heading to a local supplier soon.

Thanks again.

You just put the fuse holder in line with the positive + line going to the speaker.

Its worth noting that some folks say the sound is negatively affected by fusing NS-10s. Believe it or not, I know an engineer who refuses to use them if they are fused.

(I am NOT taking a side on this. I use mine unfused, mostly because I am lazy, yet careful)

What amp are you using to drive them? If you are not driving them to crazy levels, then the reason the tweeters might be blowing is from using too small of an amp. An amp driven into clipping can cause a voice coil to heat up way more than a clean signal at the same loudness.

I have a few pair. Back in the day we did Lita Ford CD with Mike Chapman. They monitored so loud they blew a driver every 4 days, Of course drivers were 75 bucks then, and at the money they were spending I wasn't about to bitch.

Especially after Mike told me that he had spent over a million at Cherokee....and the Robbs tried to charge him 600.00 for drivers. He paid the 600.00 and refused ever to work there again.

ANYWAY...we had 2 amp fuses on the hot....and kept ALL blown fuses...like 200 oner the three months of the project.

I took one set of NS10s and mounted a fuse holder on the back, which I wired to the hot of the tweeter. That did save a few drivers. We use 1.5 amp on those. 2.0 on the whole speaker.

Of course, these were the same guys that insisted that I take the current limiting light bulbs out of the Urei monitors because they change the sound.

That is the way I did it.
I obviously don't monitor as loud as some but fuses are cheap, so if you are regularly blowing the 1 amp fuses step up to the 1.5 amp units.

I have had visiting engineers get the fuse holders quite warm without blowing and maybe in this situation the resistance of the fuse wire could affect the sound.

Has anybody done a study on the change in frequency response of fuse wire with various amounts of current flowing through it?
This would relate to any wire carrying high current and would be interesting.
I'm sure it wouldn't have the same resistance increase with current as lightbulb filament wire does, but there is probably some variation.

It has always intriqued me that in most speakers the internal wiring, and some cct. board tracks in crossovers, can be so electronically/physically inferior when compared with the serious cable we use to get the current to the boxes,
Cheers, Neil.

3/4 amp for tweeter
1 1/2 amp for woofer

never fuse before crossover it won't save the tweeter from blowing
instead fuse from the hot of each speaker mount fuse holders on the front for easy access under the tweeter.

also use at least a 250watt about 115wpc amp to prevent blowing the speakers never follow the power rating on back.

I use a Hafler DH220
A Bryston Or McIntosh are also good choices

Mos FET only no switching amps as they are irregular output

Hi guys,

good to see you talking about the fuse mod!

I recently bought a pair of NS-10M Studio and a Quad 405 and am looking forward to using this combination :-)

I'm wondering, if the fuse mod is only necessary for the older, non-"Studio" NS-10M with the old crossover and tweeter types?!?
Or should I also head for the "fuse mod" with my pair of NS-10M Studio?

And if so, please share with us your experiences with the two mods.
Which one do you favor and why?

a) 1 Inline fuse 1.5a @ hot lead before the crossover
b) 2 separate fuses 0.75a for tweeter and 1.5a for the woofer after the crossover (each @ respective hot leads)

Would love to read your thoughts on these two questions.

Cheers!

I have seen more than one person protect their monitors by putting a 100 watt light bulb in series with the amp and speaker.

Many PA HF drivers are protected with light bulbs. If you think you see the inside of your speaker lighting up on peaks it probably has bulb(s) protecting the driver.

PEACE

Would like to see an answer on this too! BUMP!

Fast or slow blow?
Thanks.

A friend of mine just purchased crispy ns10s for his studio. They came with inline fuse (pic below). This looks like an accident waiting to happen... what's the proper way to set this up?

Electrically that's fine. Solder and shrink wrap the link between the speaker wire and fuse holder.

Like this one;

The light bulb is a poor solution for a studio. It acts as a compressor/limiter as level increases, taking power from the audio feed to heat a filament. That changes the sound. Most obviously, it "rides" level. It might change frequency response, but I'm not technical enough to understand how or if that is likely.
A fuse might change sound just as it heats up to the point that it blows, but then you become very aware that the fuse is working. The light bulb can be working a lot in a sneaky way without you ever being aware of it.
A light bulb is not a second engineer I would trust to ride a fader on my monitors. You are no longer hearing your unfiltered mix.

did an experiment, and I found that the ns10 without fuse has more depth, and better dynamics. So much so that I'm risking no fuse...

Don’t get too loud and bass crazy and they’ll probably outlive you. Good luck!

The 'fuse' can definitely affect audio. I don't use them.

im an electrican since 1984 and a recording studio sound engineer full time since 1989. in line fuses are fine. if the connections are good it can not effect the sound at all. inductors and/or capacitors change the sound, but a fuse is neither of those. 1.5 amp fuses have been standard for ns10s in many studios forever. simple as....

True the sound difference is nothing to write home about but the depth of reverb and delays were too noticeable to ignore for me. I know the best mixers with fuses on their ns10s so if they can you'll be fine with a fuse. I use mine with a peavey m2600. It has a limiter but I can't hear it which is amazing for an old amp. First time I've cranked speakers and the character at low volumes sound the same at high volume. I'm gonna try 2 more amps but loving this peavey right now

If you hear that, or BELIEVE you hear that, make yourself comfortable.
As BigBhudda pointed out, a fuse is just a hunk of conductive metal, like a wire. It shouldn’t have any effect on audio until it is about to fail.
That said, there are endless posts here claiming to hear deep and complex differences between various wires. I don’t buy the magical audio qualities attributed to simple metal conductors, but I have no objection to anyone acting on such beliefs (if it doesn’t waste my time or money).

If I was going to use a fuse I would choose a 3amp, that's around 80 watts..

It's possibly placebo... but you know we musicians are. I did start using belden cables. I didn't get to try the same cables, and was way to lazy to unsolder the TS that I had installed on the Belden for the peavey lol

I know,.. Old thread but still relevant.

I fried both my tweets a while back and today I installed new tweeters...

I decided to put a fuse after the crossover on the tweeters (maybe later I will fuse the woofers)

For the tweets I used a 1/2 Amp fuse and so far its good. I might put a 1amp if the 1/2amp blows. But today I dident have a 1 amp fuse so I just tried the 1/2amp.

I had some NS10s for many years and even with no fuse I never fried a driver,.. but I fried this set even before I got my studio open...
I was messing with some wires,.. and BZZZZZ!!! BAM dead tweets. my fault.

I use the Adcom 545 that Jim Williams moded.

I am building my new studio in the Philippines and shipping drivers here is expensive and takes so long... so that's the reason I decided to try the fuse.