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4-ohm setting with 8 ohm speakers

I have the Nightingale CTR.2 open baffle speakers. The manufacturer claims that "the Concentus CTR-02's speakers and crossover are designed and assembled on the acoustic screen following a scheme meant to guarantee that the impedance stays linear as the frequency changes."

However, with every amplifier used with these speakers, a 4-ohm setting sounds more natural and relaxed. Now I am listening them with the Hans Labs KT-88 power amplifier. With the 8-ohm setting, the sound is more tight, bland and stringent, it sounds more like a mid-level SS amplifier. I am wondering how this can be explained from technical point of view?
transl
arnettpartners
312 posts
 
Plato, then what is the purpose of a 4 ohm-8 ohm option on an amplifier? Lynne
rrog
1,958 posts
 
I have experienced this too. I believe it comes down to personal preference.
stanwal's avatar
stanwal
3,147 posts
 
I am not sure it is possible to construct a speaker with a constant impedance, I have never seen one tested that did not have some variation. Their statement sounds like typical hype to me.
transl OP
156 posts
 
Clear. I will not bother with the theory any more and will listen to what seems best.
hifihvn
943 posts
 
The output tubes or transistors will see less of a load using the 4 ohm tap, perhaps maybe half of what it would using the 8 ohm tap. That is the purpose of output transformers (impedance matching), and autoformers.
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