Mac's BAD MATCH for 802D's?

The best imaging I have ever heard so far was with MC501, C46, and 802D speakers. Your dealer is entitled to his own opinions and you can have yours. You don't have to agree with everything he says.

Arthur

Yes. The problem is, from an amp's perspective, low impedances are hard to drive - not the high ones. Many (conventional dynamic box) speakers have a low impendance in the bass and a high impedance in the upper mids and highs. The average is a very rough 8 ohms so that is what is published in the manuals and brochures.

However, all the amp really sees is that 4 ohm bass impedance! So technical people will say, use the tap that corresponds to the lowest impedance of the speaker. In 90% of cases today this is about 4 ohms - especially true for B&Ws.

In the old days, speakers had a much higher impedance. There are several complicated reasons for this but to keep it short, they would often average 8 or even higher. If you look at old tube amplifiers, they all have 16 ohm taps and some even have 32 ohm taps! With the advent of cheap high-power solid state amplifiers in the 1970s, speaker designers gained some freedom and have since settled on a much lower typical impedance curve (again, for many reasons). This is why modern tube amplifiers only have 4 and 8 ohm taps - 16 ohm speakers are basically extinct and REAL 8 ohm speakers are not far behind.

Arthur

That is the first comparison test of the C1000 I have come across. It is really cool to hear it won in blind testing with such "acclaimed" competition! The C1000 is on my list to have as well...although I will have to wait till I get a job first!

By the way, was that C1000 with the SS or tube power supply?

Arthur