Amp damping factor?

Sorry for the late post, but I have a question about DF. I own an ARC tube amp. I just happened to notice that most of the tube amps in the ARC line have pretty low DFs, e.g, less than 20. Nevertheless, most of the ARC tube amps sound great. So what's all the hubbabaloo about DF?? Does it matter that most if not all ARC tube amps use output trannys?

Magfan, I read the posts. I am not an electronics techie, so most of the discussion went over my head. Perhaps Kijanki will pick my post up and answer in layman's terms my question:

"I just happened to notice that most of the tube amps in the ARC line have pretty low DFs, e.g, less than 20. Nevertheless, most of the ARC tube amps sound great. So what's all the hubbabaloo about DF?? Does it matter that most if not all ARC tube amps use output trannys?"

Thanks

Thanks Kijanki, Larryi and Almarg. The Atma-Sphere white paper was particularly interesting and helpful. Al's advice concerning matching amps with speakers now makes sense. In particular, I can see why DF may be a bit of a red herring. But I think there may be a practical problem with the other very good advice posted above. That is knowing how to research which amps and speakers match well.

For example, when I spoke with ARC a while back, the folks were not familiar with Paradigm Signature speakers. At the same time, when I spoke with the Paradigm tech folks some time ago, they were not very familiar with ARC tube gear.

Now to my ear, my Paradigm/ARC combo sounds ok, but is it really a good match? Am I really getting the best sound possible out of the combo? How can I really know? Let's face it, it's not practical to schlep a 62lb tube amp around with me when I audition speakers. At the same time, a dealer may not be driving his portfolio of speakers with a tube amp, but rather a SS amp -- which is often the case.

Can one say that if a speaker has a nominal impedance of 8 ohms, there should be a good speaker/tube-amp match? Is speaker efficiency a relevant factor? Any other good rules of thumb that might provide helpful guidance? Just thinking out loud, maybe the best thing to do is to call the speaker manufacturer and ask if a particular speaker matches well to a "power paradign" amp and/or a "voltage paradigm" amp.

Thanks again guys!

Al: Thanks very very much. I'll try using the 4 Ohm tap and see what happens. I'll report back in a couple of days to let you know how the 4 Ohm tap worked out. BIF

OK guys, here's the verdict. But first, let me wax a little philosophical. As a lawyer, but not an electronics techie, I am reminded of the axiom that some legal discussions are "multi-dexterous." In other words, on the one hand -- this, but on the other hand -- that, but then again, on another hand -- something else. When you add up the hands, you can have three or more hands -- a clear physical impossibility.

Ok, here's the bottom-line verdict, I spoke with Paradigm about the wisdom of trying the 4 Ohm taps on my ARC VS 115 tube amp. The tech said using the 4 Ohm taps "might" improve the sound, but then again, maybe not.

Well, I tried the 4 Ohm taps. I did not detect any sound improvement -- if anything sonic degredation. I tried the 8 Ohm taps again, and to my untrained ears, the sound improved. Well that's it. Fascinating technical discussion. I wish I knew more about electronics, but I don't. But I do know what sounds good, at least to my untrained ears.

I'll stick to the 8 Ohm taps, but continue to read on to learn more. In summary, I love the sound of my ARC VS 115 amp and Paradigm S8 v2 speakers, using the 8 Ohm taps. Maybe I shouldn't, but ignorance can be bliss. Thanks for the posts. BIF