Home Amp/Preamp Asylum

Looking for a new Amp or Preamp? If you're after tubes, post over here.

It is a major issue, but not really germaine to this thread.

The thread post asked about the class of operation.

Asking about speaker compatibility is another matter altogether and one unrelated to class of operation!

However in general, if high fidelity reproduction is your goal, it is to your advantage to look for a speaker that has a higher impedance, regardless of the technology of amplifier (class D solid state or 300b SET).

The reason is that distortion is always lower driving a higher impedance. This can be seen in the specs of all amplifiers made. It is also audible since the ear converts such distortion into tonality. It is true that the difference might look slight on paper, but the ear does not care about the paper and simply hears the difference, and that will be that it will sound less detailed and harsher when driving a lower impedance or more complex load.

Its one thing to know that an amplifier can indeed drive such loads, but that is not the same as that same amplifier sounding its best!

Now if sound pressure is your goal and you have a solid state amp that can behave as a voltage source, a lower impedance will give you a little more output (not a lot; 3db more as the load impedance is halved) but the price paid is that the system becomes increasingly sensitive to the length and quality of the speaker cables.

So in general it can be said that speaker compatibility will be less critical if the speaker impedance is kept at a higher impedance; 8 or even 16 ohms.


This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
  Schiit Audio  


Follow Ups Full Thread
Follow Ups

FAQ

Post a Message!

Forgot Password?
Moniker (Username):
Password (Optional):
  Remember my Moniker & Password  (What's this?)    Eat Me
E-Mail (Optional):
Subject:
Message:   (Posts are subject to Content Rules)
Optional Link URL:
Optional Link Title:
Optional Image URL:
Upload Image:
E-mail Replies:  Automagically notify you when someone responds.