Amplifier circuitry-4 ohm vs 8 ohm
Obviously there are different wires leading into the four or eight Ohm taps on the back of an amplifier from the one amplifier. The single amplifier at some point splits the signal going into either one of these Ports. What differences are there in the circuitry?
Maybe this will help me better understand the difference between these two taps. I believe 4 ohms is a wider more open path for voltage to flow. So when you're speaker attempts to go lower, which requires more power, the 4 ohm more easily allows this to happen with a better outcome. Or maybe I got this wrong.
Thank you Ralph. I realized this distinction after reading the reply from @clio09. As you note, light loading wasn’t the best choice for my amplifier-speakers. Now I better understand what I determined through listening. Charles |
Thank you for posting Roger’s explanation and rationale for light loading his tube amplifiers. So it seems the way his output transformers were wound made the difference. Ralph made a good case for using an 8 ohm tap for an 8 olm impedance speaker load. I suppose that with any given amplifier and speaker pairing one could try both the 4 and 8 olm amplifier taps , listen and decide which sounds better. I’m sure it varies from one scenario to another. My speakers are 14 olm impedance. My amplifier has 8 and 16 olm taps. I prefer the 16 olm tap. Charles |
