Amplifier circuitry-4 ohm vs 8 ohm

@clio09 

Thank you for posting Roger’s explanation and rationale for light loading his tube amplifiers. So it seems the way his output transformers were wound made the difference. Ralph made a good case for using an 8 ohm tap for an 8 olm impedance speaker load. 
 

I suppose that with any given amplifier and speaker pairing one could try both the 4  and 8 olm amplifier taps , listen and decide which sounds better. I’m sure it varies from one scenario to another. My speakers are 14 olm impedance. My amplifier has 8 and 16 olm taps. I prefer the 16 olm tap.

Charles 

However,  I do recall that the late Roger Modjeski (RAM Labs Music Reference Audio) advocated “light loading” of amplifiers.

@charles1dad Roger's amps were designed so this technique could be used. Most amps are not. Roger's amps also used feedback and his recommendation relied on this. Your amps are zero feedback so it won't work with them. You will get less distortion from your power tube doing this, but the distortion generated by the output transformer on account of being improperly loaded will be far more than the gains you get from lightly loading the power tube.

AFAIK, the transformer output is so the amplifier sees a similar impedance, not for what the speaker sees.

Also, AFAIK, if the impedance ratio is changes, so is the voltage.

I'm sure @atmasphere can correct me, but I thought the point of an output transformer with multiple taps was to maintain output power, which means the voltage has to change with each tap.

@atmasphere 

Roger's amps were designed so this technique could be used. Most amps are not. Roger's amps also used feedback and his recommendation relied on this

Thank you Ralph. I realized this distinction after reading the reply from @clio09. As you note, light loading wasn’t the best choice for my amplifier-speakers. Now I better understand what I determined through listening.

Charles

Implied, but so far not stated specifically, is that the output tubes of an amplifier need to see a high load of several thousand ohms (the exact value depends on the tube and amp design.)  If you run an output tube straight into a speaker, whether 4 or 8 ohms, it looks like a dead short to the tube -- not good. 

And, straight from the tube, one is talking an output of up to hundreds of volts. Also not good for the speaker, which wants a lower voltage, but more amperage. 

Hence, the transformer's job is to "translate" the output signal from the tubes so that the tube sees the proper impedance for its high voltage, lower amperage output, and the speaker receives a lower voltage with higher amperage. 

Regarding which output tap to use -- usually either 4 or 8 ohms on modern tube amps (units from decades ago also often had a 16 ohm tap), keep in mind that very few, if any, speakers have a flat impedance value across the spectrum. Usually the value varies quite a bit from low bass to the highs. That's why the speaker impedance value is typically referred to as "nominal" which is an average of the lowest values the speaker presents.  Using either the 4 or 8 ohm tap still puts one in the needed ballpark, so there is no risk of damage to either the amp or speaker regardless of which one is used.  I believe the general recommendation among most knowledgeable people is to try both taps and use the one that sounds best to you.