Impotence Question


Now that I have your attention...my question is about impedance matching in speaker selectors. I have a Bryston 3-way speaker switch box, which does not have impedance matching/balancing. As far as I understand it is a simple three-way switch box with minimal signal path to travel. It has three on/off buttons which operate independently from each other. So I was curious what exactly happens when I switch my 100 watt amp to drive two pairs of 8-ohm monitors simultaneously (yes, besides the fact that both sets of speakers are playing)? Are there sacrifices in performance, and are those sacrifices linear or do they show up in different ways for each pair of speakers? It does not occur to me to drop the volume significantly in one pair of speakers when engaging the second pair which are downstairs, though I imagine this must happen as it's splitting the output of one amp between two pairs of speakers. So what is going on, and how does it differ from a selector which compensates for impedance? I think Niles actually terms their system "Impedance Protection".

Marco
jax2

Showing 1 response by tripper

Marco, You are indeed doubling the load to 4 ohms, nominally. Most [tube] amps [if that's what you are running] are not well-equipped to drive such loads, 4- ohm taps notwithstanding. Even many ss amps don't like low impedance loads. Of course, the proof is in the pudding, or listening, in this case.
Niles probably runs an interstage xfrmr for such purposes. Not all xfrmrs are bad, but the Niles' first priority may not be sound quality. Better to procure an amp for the second pair, although gain-matching issues come into play unless amps and spkrs are respectively identical. The Hafler "quad" ckt may be an option. Oops, guess not if one pair is downstairs. I just imagined the horror of 50 foot cables, too long for any sane app. Sorry if I raised more ?S than answers, but that may go to the root of your problem. Best is two spkrs, one amp, imo. Perhaps a condom next time?