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4 ohm tap vs 8 ohm tap

I have read reports about using the 4 ohm tap regardless of what the ohm rating for your speakers are. Right at this moment (who knows how long) I am using Meadowlark Shearwater speakers with Rogue Magnum 120 amps.
What would the audible difference be? And could I cause any damage to either products by running the Meadowlarks which are rated for 8 ohm with the 4 ohm tap?
Thanks, Scott
scottht
ozzy62's avatar
ozzy62
3,219 posts
 

Nice  18 yr old thread revival…..

fthompson251's avatar
fthompson251
480 posts
 

FWIW I tried the 4 OHM taps on my setup and although my speakers are rated as "8 ohm compatible" and are more like 4 ohm nominal. I felt they were a bit constrained on the 4 ohm tap and soundstage shrunk a bit. That surprised me.

 

atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,938 posts
 

After a few LP's I began to not hear the bass. So after you all confirmed that I would not damage anything, I switched back to the 4 ohm tao. The bass is back.

The suspension of any loudspeaker takes a while to break in. You might try the 8 Ohm taps again in a few weeks and see if the bass is still missing. The 8 Ohm tap is more efficient by a few Watts, depending on the output power the amp is capable of. That in itself isn't a big deal.

The load on the power tubes is much higher if the 4 Ohm tap is used on an 8 Ohm speaker. This might mean less power from the amp, but might also mean less distortion (less distortion = greater transparency). So its always worth trying.

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