Back in "the day",
Nuglets said:
The fuse is to protect the tweeter somehow. I'm guessing it limits the amount of current that can go to the tweeter so you don't fry it. Not really sure exactly how it works but I do know with 100% certainty that it is for the tweeter only.
10, 12 and 20 band graphic equalizers were all the rage. Everty Tom, **** and Harry with a stereo and a tape loop (and they ALL had 'em then) would plug one of these in. And, the first thing they would do is configure it in the traditipnsl smily-face configuration, where the extremes were boosted.
Now, we know that for each barely audiable 3 db boost in percieved loudness it takes roughly a doubling of power. So, in that light, if you boost a band by, say, the ten DB max, to double the output at those frequencies, you're asking for 10x the power of the mid-bands.
That's more than enough to drive many amps into serious clipping, which can result in nasty things happing to those tiny, defenseless speakers. woofers are fairly rugged and can take a lickin' and keep on ticking, but tweeters are a bit more delicate. A fuse is a good thing to have, particularly if they know their customer base.
In the early 80's I saw many, many auto speakers come in with blown tweeters. Virtually all had eq's and booster amps and these weenies would cry "but the speakers are rated for 100 watts and my amp only puts out 20!". There was no way they could (or would) understand why boosting those exrtermes into clipping could do such damage.
A fuse on a tweeter is a good thing to have...
