What does an impedance-matching issue "sound" like?


I recently added a 2nd Luxman MQ-88uSE to my 2 channel system, bridged to mono so I am running a Luxman to each of my 6ohm Volti Rivals.

The SE version of this Luxman amp only has single speaker taps which output 25Wpc to 6 ohms, and 20Wpc to 4 ohms and 8 ohms (from the manual). I used a jumper between each of the "positive" taps so I am not sure what the bridged output is to the 6 ohm Rivals.

Now what I am hearing is definitely more power and presence in the sound, better bass, as well as improved separation. BUT occasionally I am hearing what sounds like a bit of breakup deep in the mix of some songs. Like the whole channel isn’t breaking up, but suddenly a rhythm guitar part sounds noisy like it’s being played through an AM radio or something. On some songs, the entire mix may sound reduced in scale and less dynamic.

I am not sure if my ears are playing tricks on me, or if I’m crazy, or if there could be something happening in the pairing of these amps and speakers that is bad for the equipment and sound. I realize this is a complicated issue because one amp is brand new and the other is broken in, and they are both tube amps., So chasing down the culprit could get messy.

Is it possible there are impedance issues at play here? What would that sound like?



128x128jsqt

Showing 1 response by atmasphere

Interesting diagram, and that means I’m out of my experience level. I’ve never seen an amp "bridgeable" like this before, but the high output impedance of the transformer probably makes it less frightening than a SS amp with feedback coupled output stage
@erik_squires , @georgehifi When using tube amplifiers you can just parallel the outputs (and inputs) regardless of whether feedback is used or not. The Dynaco ST-70 instruction/assembly manual details how to do this.
Solid state amp are usually bridged (so the input to one channel is inverted from the other) as the output section of one amp is otherwise loaded by the other- leading to bad smoke.

For the former, ’monostrap’ is the correct term, for the latter, ’bridged’. The terms get conflated.

@psqt I take it then you have enough channels (four) to do stereo. Al makes a good suggestion as the inputs of the amps are also paralleled; if your preamp isn’t up to it you might hear some distortion, but I would expect that to be accompanied by reduced bass performance. I think something else is afoot- check all your tubes and make sure they are OK. If not the amp will lose delicacy and detail and may even distort in unpredictable ways. IOW I think you have a bad tube somewhere.