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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
 
Which relates to damping factor. Yes?
orpheus10
8,668 posts
 

The 4 ohm tap was recommended, the 4 ohm tap sounds better, I use the 4 ohm tap, case closed.
clio09
3,360 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.
Hifihvn (Answers | This Thread)

I agree with this. As I agree with Hifihvn. Another good explanation is offered by Roger Modjeski who recommends trying "light loading"his the RM-10 MkII amps. There is a pretty clear explanation as to why in the owners manual. Lower distortion and longer tube life being a couple benefits, at least where the RM-10 MkII is concerned.
almarg's avatar
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almarg
9,670 posts
 
A linear impedance is not necessarily a constant impedance. For instance, a speaker having an impedance of 2 ohms at 20Hz, and 20 ohms at 20kHz, could still be described as having a linear impedance, if a plot of that variation approximated a straight line.

Without a detailed impedance plot, which doesn't seem to be available as far as I can tell via a Google search, their statement about maintaining a linear impedance tells us essentially nothing.

I agree with the suggestions to just go with what sounds best.

Regards,
-- Al
arnettpartners
312 posts
 
The manufacturer's claims of the Nightingale speakers and the difference in quality between the 4-ohm/8ohm settings on amps so equipped are separate issues since these taps affect the sound quality driving any speaker. As a user, sound quality is the whole point for me.

I have a problem with manufacturer's using taps for reasons other than sound quality (in SS. Have no experience with tubes). Skip the taps and design it to perform well under varying conditions for about 20 years. That's just me and yet another issue not related to the question.
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