I drive a pair of 803S's with a 402 off of the 4 ohm taps. Works fine, sounds great. Did a lot of research on this and that seems to be the concensus. The 803S dips to 3 ohms - which helped to dictate my choice. Talked to Mcintosh a couple of times prior to purchasing the 402 and I cannot tell you definitively that someone there suggested that I use the 4 ohm taps (as I asked quite a few questions of them) but I know that by the time I hooked the 402 up there was no doubt in my mind as to what taps were most appropriate. If you can get a hold of him, the guy to talk to at Mcintosh is Ron C. Found Mcintosh to be helpful and knowledgable. As a sidelight, depending on your familiarity with circuitry, the service manuals for Mc's are inexpensive - they amount to schematics and parts lists but I actually purchased the service manuals for all the units that I was considering purchasing so that I could evaluate the design. The amps are expensive but they are well designed. And, as you undoubtedly know, they are build like a tank.