speaker impeadance question

Thanks. I plan to keep it on the 8 ohm connections for about a week and further evaluate which of the two I like the best but from what I heard last night I think I like the way they sound on the 8 ohm tap. I was a little concerned about the possibility of damaging the speaker. I don’t really drive them that hard so it should be fine. 

Thanks again

Thanks for the response Duke and Erik. Right I am aware that speakers change impedance at different frequencies. I was only concerned because I changed from the 4 ohm to 8 ohm outputs. Which is why I looked for the data in the first place before changing it permanently.  I too was quite surprised to see how flat the impedance curve was. the amps run very cool, but I guess that’s not unusual for McIntosh Amps, but I’m sure the rather consistent impedance helps also.

Anyway. Listened most of the day today to various samples of music and so far I do like these speakers on the 8 ohm taps. I think that is where they will stay for a while at least.

Thanks again

-Keith

@almarg 
Perfect. This is a subject that I just don’t have a lot of experience with and I tend to stay away from tweaks that involve input/output current. And I try to stay within manufactured recommendations so I’m just trying to do my diligence to protect my investment. However the difference in SQ so far is compelling enough for me to validate the change is safe. 

Thanks again everyone. Very interesting conversation. 

Ok thanks for all the great replies. However now that we have cleared up that I’m using SS amps. Has the consensus  changed any? Will I cause any damage to either the speaker or the amp by using them on the 8 ohm taps? I think this is my main question/concern.

Thanks

Obviously having at least a decent understanding of this helps when trying to match speakers to amplifiers. These are typically not topics that are discussed when making purchases from a dealer. At least I have never had this  conversation, but maybe others have. 

Gotcha. 

@stringreen 

yeah I am past that part. I just find the topic interesting. I have already made that determination on which way sounds better.

Thanks

@almarg  

Al,

just curious. What would be the benefit of using an amp that delivers constant voltage vs constant wattage? Is one type typically better than the other in regards to SQ? Or does it really all boil down to component matching?  

-Keith 

Thanks Al and Erik.  Good stuff. Thanks. For the info. Very interesting conversation. 

Got a notification of a new q&a paul at PS audio put out (I guess today) Low and behold.he touched on this very topic. What a coincidence. You can see it here if you care to. 
https://youtu.be/4Q7RjCxHVsE

@ieales

"I note that the OP accomplished the selection in a day or two. In decades of tube amp ownership, I've never found it to be so cut and dried, often taking many weeks / months to come to a determination"  

Funny you should say that. Sometimes you have to digress a little. Im no different. 

Here is my observation so far. 

Moving the Olympica iii's to the 8 ohm taps definitely makes the system sound more lively, but at a small cost. I use subs in my system and initially I listened with the subs on. With the subs off its apparent that on the 8 ohm connections without the subs playing as someone earlier stated the bass response is not quit as tight. Not that big a deal to me because obviously the subs make up for that. 

I have also noticed a slight decay in the sound stage however. This could just be an adjustment with speaker placement, however that is no small task. It has taken me months of dialing these speakers in to where I think they sound perfect so for this fact alone that could be a deal breaker for me. Now with that said the system does seem to have a little more airiness which I like! 

Along those lines definitely a little brighter sound, but not to the point that its annoying so far. No sibilance that I can detect on recordings that I think would reveal that. My room is rather flat so the brighter sound really is not enough to make me switch back if I were just measuring that only. With that said however I have to admit the speaker is not quite as natural sounding as it was for sure. One of the the things SF is good at is they're natural sound quality in this line of speaker anyway, and I have to admit that on the 8 ohm taps they sound a little top heavy, but not really in a bad way if that make sense. 

For me at this point its about trade offs. While the systems sounds a bit more lively, and airy which I like, but loosing some of the lower octave quality, and sound stage quality.  Could I get used to it and keep things the way they are probably , but being honest sound staging, and a natural sounding speaker is of high priority in my case. I think I would have to go back through speaker placement tweaking to make a good determination, and for me I don't think I want get in a cycle of speaker placement doing compare and contrast between the two taps. I did not intend on this being a laborious exercise. 

I will report back and let you know what I decide in a few weeks. Excuse my fickleness for lack of a better word, but I guess that's how this works in this hobby. 

-Keith