What if the speaker has a nominal impedance of 6 ohms? Which tap (4 or 8) should be used since the load is right in the middle of the two windings?
Amplifier circuitry-4 ohm vs 8 ohm
Obviously there are different wires leading into the four or eight Ohm taps on the back of an amplifier from the one amplifier. The single amplifier at some point splits the signal going into either one of these Ports. What differences are there in the circuitry?
Maybe this will help me better understand the difference between these two taps. I believe 4 ohms is a wider more open path for voltage to flow. So when you're speaker attempts to go lower, which requires more power, the 4 ohm more easily allows this to happen with a better outcome. Or maybe I got this wrong.
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Wilson has their trained representatives setup their speakers and the Sabrina X list nominal impedance as 4 ohms at 135 Hz and it spends much of the time around 5 ohms. When they set up the speakers they used the 8 ohm terminals and I asked if 8 ohms was the correct terminals and they said yes, but I didn’t understand why they chose 8 ohms. I’ve not changed to the 4 ohm terminals. The MA-12000 has a solid state power amplifier, so I’m guessing that the only downside to this would be the amplifiers working harder for a given SPL. |
@dspringham Try it on both. If you have access to the impedance curve of the speaker, look at the impedance it presents to the amplifier in the bass region. That's where the energy is and will have the most effect on the interaction between the amp and speakers. If it seems more like 4 Ohms than 8, use the 4 Ohm tap... |
I guess one has to be verse in understanding the role of current (amps), power (watts) and volts in relation to a 4 and 8 ohm tap. When using a 4 ohm tap the level of resistance is reduced, which means that less current (ie amps) flows, however, a higher voltage level is needed in order to keep the power ( ie watts) level the same as what comes through an 8 ohm tap. An important concept is that the end resulting power (watts) passing through either the 4 or 8 ohm tap is the same (ie total watts remains the same). What this means to me is 4 ohm taps are designed to deal with a higher voltage level being delivered to a speaker. And then the big question is, when certain speakers are designed to handle a higher voltage level, this makes the speakers more efficient. So if we’re talking about more efficient speakers, it means they are designed to handle higher voltage levels. with power levels remaining the same as less efficient speakers. And with a higher voltage levels, how does this impact delivery of varying frequencies to a speaker driver? hoping that I got this right. It’s a challenging concept for a mere CPA |
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