16 ohm speakers: any amp sounds better with more resolution. speaker cables less critical.

It makes sense that only putting out half the power (vs 8 ohms) with the same power supply and current could relax an amp at times, but I suspect otherwise.

If you can find a solid state amplifier that makes more distortion into 16 ohms as opposed to 8 or 4, I'd be interested in hearing about it. Looking at hundreds of solid state amps over the years, I've not seen one.

The one pitfall that you might run into isn't related to the load impedance so much as it is the intention of the loudspeaker designer. If that designer was intending the speaker to be used with tubes (as is common with 16 ohm speakers) then the design could sound bright (less relaxed) in certain situations. This is certainly true of ESLs with solid state (but the brightness there is due to a low impedance at high frequencies, despite a high impedance at low frequencies).


@elliotnewcombjr 

Unless someone talks me out of it!!!

Be prepared to work with a variety of values if you really intend to remove the level controls! I'd leave them in place if I were you (I certainly have done so with my speakers). This is simply because the speaker is designed without foreknowledge of the voltage response of the amplifier (IOW its a Power Paradigm device), so the control is there to allow you to adjust it to match to the amplifier . One way this can cause an issue is if you run a really long speaker cable as opposed to a short one- it might require a different setting of the level control since the apparent voltage response of the amplifier will be affected by the speaker cable (in the case of a really long cable) in series with the amp. I personally stay away from long speaker cables as speaker cables have errors unrelated to their DC resistance, and these errors (due to something called 'characteristic impedance') get more profound with longer cables. So I run short speaker cables and long balanced interconnects to get around this issue, since balanced lines can be run some very long distances without coloration (if they are set up correctly).

Never really understood how it worked that way. Figured I’d jump into this one and see if anyone had a brief explanation, thanks. 

@cisgo  The J2 is current limited (helps keep the output device alive) and so power does not increase as the load impedance is reduced to 4 ohms. But because its output impedance is relatively low, its power output is dropping into loads above 8 ohms. This amp is best used with a higher efficiency speaker, and a 16 ohm speaker will allow it to behave as a voltage source as long as you don't overload it.

Ralph, What I recommended to Elliot is that he first experiment with the settings of the L-pads in his speakers until he arrives at a solution that he wants to live with long term.  Doing this would automatically involve accounting for the driving ampifier and the length of speaker cable.  Once that steady state is arrived at, do you see anything wrong with swapping the L-pads for high quality high wattage discrete resistors that represent the resistance across each L-pad after their final adjustment?  Anyway, that is what I would do.  My approach is based only on listening to my Sound Labs speakers (first the M1s, then the 845PXs) with vs without the Brilliance control in circuit.  Big improvement in transparency and air without that L-pad.

Dear @mijostyn : JC-1’s are great monoblock amplifiers and is unfortunated that today are out of production because can compets or could be a true challenge to even names as FM Acoustics, Boulder, Gryphon, CH, Dartzeel and the like.


Years ago I meeted by first time to the JC-1’s that were handled a pair of superlative Dynaudio Evidence speakers in the room/system of a friend of a friend of mine.

I readed in those times about the Evidence speakers but never imagined that were handled by so " humble " Parasound amplifiers and was a glorious listening time with both friends and we reapeated that kind of listening session several times. Here the Evidence:

https://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/286/index.html

Now and this you can be absolutely sure that no tube amplifier can beats the Soundlabs/JC-1’s experience and you can be sure too that the Sounlabs- self powered subwoofers ( 80hz-100hz. ) combination is a must to do it no matters what.

Enjoy it.

Btw, the 16 ohms issue really matters to tube amp owners, not many 16 ohms speakers in a market with 90% ( at least ) of 4 ohm-8 ohm nominal impedance specs.

In the other side SS amps as the JC-1’s can handle from low to high impedances where you can’t detect the small increment in distortion level.

When a tube amp normally ( manufacturer spec. ) has 1% a SS amp with low or high impedance could goes to 0.2-3% when the manufacturer spec overall gives 0.01%.
Normally tube owners " can’t " listen 1-2% of distortion in their amps or just do not care about.

With a little of patience any one can buy second hand the JC-1’s for very good price. John Curl made very good design job with.

This is what I'm talking about:

https://www.stereophile.com/solidpoweramps/774/index.html

R.

Ralph, What I recommended to Elliot is that he first experiment with the settings of the L-pads in his speakers until he arrives at a solution that he wants to live with long term. Doing this would automatically involve accounting for the driving ampifier and the length of speaker cable. Once that steady state is arrived at, do you see anything wrong with swapping the L-pads for high quality high wattage discrete resistors that represent the resistance across each L-pad after their final adjustment? Anyway, that is what I would do. My approach is based only on listening to my Sound Labs speakers (first the M1s, then the 845PXs) with vs without the Brilliance control in circuit. Big improvement in transparency and air without that L-pad.

I don't doubt it. But as I said, if you make changes in the amp or speaker cables you might find that you want to change the setting as well. Once you know what it is, of course a fixed resistor of good quality will be better.

JC-1’s are great monoblock amplifiers and is unfortunated that today are out of production because can compets or could be a true challenge to even names as FM Acoustics, Boulder, Gryphon, CH, Dartzeel and the like.

The JC-1 was a good solid state amp for its time, but like many other amps from that time didn't have enough feedback to really sound neutral- and that is why it can be a bit bright and harsh- all due to distortion. Combine that with an ESL and its going to be very bright... fortunately the Sound Lab has adjustments to allow you to adjust the speaker to the voltage response of the amplifier, so you can tone it down a bit.


The reason the distortion is there is due to insufficient feedback. This prevents the distortion caused when feedback is applied to be suppressed. Put another way, feedback suppresses distortion, but then makes some of its own. To allow the amp to get rid of that, you need more feedback, and most of the solid state amps of this era (and before) lacked the Gain Bandwidth Product and phase margins that were needed to run the required feedback. So they simply didn't.


So ya picks yer poison; harshness and brightness, or a little extra warmth but the highs are detailed and relaxed. This is why tubes are still around BTW; solid state is supposed to be 'neutral' but its hard to call it that when its bright and harsh.

Dear @atmasphere : Totallñy wrong about the quality level performance of the JC-1’s or today top SS amplifiers where almost all of them are non-feedback and many pure class A, the JC-1’s works in class A with its first 30 watts.ear .

Did you heard the Evidence’s mated with the JC-1’s or the top Soundlabs with those monobloks or with other top speakers?

" all due to distortion .." what are you talking about, where are your facts? as always only bla, bla, bla and low knowledge level audiophiles here and elsewhere think that because you are a tube manufacturer you are the bible on amps but about SS you have nothing and always you trying to diminish the SS alternative with no facts and the only reason you do it is that you are taking money as other tube manufacturers from low knowledge level audiophiles that unfortunatelly just have no idea how live MUSIC sounds at near field position. As all of us you are a member of the corrupted AHEE and unfortunatelly you are the darkness part of that AHEE.

Here it’s the measured " distortion " of the JC-1’s even at 1 ohm where puts nothing less than " 4.2kW into 1 ohm (27.2dBW, magenta). The latter is equivalent to an output current of 64.7A! "

https://www.stereophile.com/content/parasound-halo-jc-1-monoblock-power-amplifier-measurements

This is the J.Atkinson conclusion after he finished the measurements and along that it’s the review down there:

" This is excellent measured performance. The Halo JC 1 is not only the best amplifier to come from Parasound, it ranks up there with the best high-end heavyweights. "

If you don’0t have true facts/measures on what you said stop to spread your poison/false information and please learn that live MUSIC at near field position is everything but warm and it’s brigth, agressive, high dynamic power, with ryhtm, extraordinary at both frequency extremes, sometimes harsh ( listen to a trumpet/horn player at real SPL seated at 3 meters . ).

Recording microphones are " seated " at near field positions not at 20m-30m.

Warm, sweet, relaxed, and other ridiculous adjectives to explain the MUSIC sound in a room/systems is exactly what the corrupted AHEE teachs/teached for the last 50 years to audiophiles but that AHEE in this specific subject were and are only spreading lies deceiving/misleading audiophile gentlemans only to take their money and people like you even try to explain that kind of deceive with no facts.

I don’t care what the audiophiles like ( it’s a personal privilege. ) but with out any doubt all the tube owners are listening ( no matters what ) something really away from what the recording microphones pick-up during recording sessions and in the other side good SS electronics designs ( like the " old " JC-1’s. ) puts any one of use nearer and truer to the recording where tube is only a " caricature ".

Go a head making money, nothing wrong with that but stop to spread false information against SS that you can’t prove or proved and learn from other tube manufacturers that never post in any internet audiophile forums that totally false information in favor of tubes and against SS electronics . Learn from all those honest gentlemans.

R.