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Shindo Montrachet EL34 amp -- can it handle impedance of Snell Type A?

I have a Shindo Montrachet EL34 amp and Vandersteen 2wq subs that cross at 100hz with passive first order MP-5 crossovers. I either need to sell the amp or sell my Quad ESL-63 speakers, which I also love, because the authorized Shindo dealer tells me the Quads could damage the Shindo (it is really designed for higher efficiency 16 ohm Shindo speaker loads). I believe the Quads drop to 3.5 ohms or so in the bass and rise quite high in the treble.

I have an opportunity to acquire an old friend -- Snell Type A speakers. I am not worried right now about the Shindo's ability to "drive" the Snells in terms of power/dynamics. But I am concerned that the Snells could also present difficulty/danger for the Shindo due to impedance. The Snells have a minimum impedance of 4 ohms, but I do not know the exact maximum or the full impedance curve. I'm trying to find out, if anyone knows the impedance curve.

Does anyone know if the Snells would be safer with the Shindo than the Quads are? Does the fact that the Snells are a dynamic speaker and not an electrostatic inherently make it easier for the amplifier to stomach?

Thanks for any thoughts. Again, not looking for sound quality advice or speculation. I will be able to listen to the Snells before buying. But I don't want to endanger the Shindo amp.
montaldo
rcprince
3,074 posts
 

I found the following link, which indicates a nominal impedance of 4 ohms and sensitivity of 86db, similar to that for the more recent version of the speaker:  http://www.snell.no/the_archives_type_A.htm.

The old Stereophile reviews don't have Atkinson's measurements, sadly.  The reviewers did use very powerful amps in their reviews, mainly to take advantage of the Type A's bass capabilities.  In Googling the speaker I found some forums where people seemed to be endorsing using lower-powered tube amps with them, but unfortunately no specs.

montaldo OP
202 posts
 
Yes I know those archives. I must have read elsewhere that the four ohm figure was the minimum impedance, not nominal. But now all I see is 4 ohm everywhere I read. You must be right. If this is the case I think it may be  o good for the shindig. I have posts in a shindo forum and an email to the Snell servicing company and will see if I hear anything different.

montaldo OP
202 posts
 
Now I remember ... If you click the PDF link for the original Type A on Snell.no, the manual specs say the 4 ohms is "minimum". This is what gave me some hope that the nominal may be 6 or 8.
rcprince
3,074 posts
 
If it is truly a 4 ohm minimum, then I doubt the amp will be hurt; sonically, though, as the manual also says and Al mentions above, you probably won't get the sonics that those speakers are capable of giving you (they remain one of my favorite speakers that I auditioned when first getting into the world of better audio). 
jperry
2,454 posts
 
Why don't you just call the Shindo distributor, Tone Audio, or a Shindo dealer and just ask?

Shindo is designed to work best with speakers 8 ohms or greater, that are high efficiency speakers. The low impedence (less than 4 ohms at certain frequencies) and low efficiency of the Snells is not a good match for Shindo amplifiers.
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