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My vote for best answer

With a solid-state power amp, the output voltage is independent of the load (for all practical purposes). In that situation one would still need the same voltage swing in the mid-band to achieve the same playback SPL, and therefore the same power.

Tube amps are a bit different in that they not only typically have higher output impedances, but usually also have various taps on the output transformer to achieve maximum power transfer. But that is a can of worms. When I had a Dyna Stereo 70, it sounded best with the output tubes strapped for triode operation. This dropped the output power almost exactly in half. Further, no matter what loudspeakers I used, it always sounded best when using the 4 ohm tap, which delivered the most current and had the lowest output impedance. One had to choose between musical magic and musical energy - it wasn't possible to have your cake and eat it too.

Strictly my personal opinion, prone to error, and not necessarily those of my employer or various tube manual authors.


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