90db 4 ohm with tubes?

Thanks again as usual Al. As I said, it took a while for your tech explanations to finally sink in, but I think I now have the gist of it. As it turned out, the S8s (v3) changed the cross-over a bit from the v2. Paradigm told me that the max impedance of the v3 is 21-22 ohms at the 2K Hz peak as compared to 28 ohm for the v2. So the v3 impedance range is 4 ohms to 21 ohms; not as crazy as before.

New item: My brother gave me a gift of his old vinyl collection from the 70s and 80s. And I'm having a ball listening to some really good stuff, like the Beatles, Grateful Dead, Moody Blues, Billy Joel, Johnny's Dance Band, the Pretenders, etc. Even better, the LPs are in pristine condition.

Glad I sorted that tech stuff out -- with your help of course. NF aside, the ARC gear sounds mighty sweet.

Cheers and many thanks.

BIF

I'm driving them with a much lower power 30w output Mastersound Compact 845 int amp and the sound is great, to my ears :)

Al, the amp will be fine on that speaker if it employs negative feedback of sufficient amount. At that point it will behave as a voltage source as far as the 28 ohm peak is concerned.

Hi Ralph,

The manual for the V12, which appears to be very similar to the OP's V12R except for differences in the input section, indicates that it is a zero feedback design. (The manual for the V12R is silent on that question, though). Also, JA's output impedance measurements of the V12, and his measurements and statements about the sensitivity of its frequency response to load impedance, seem very consistent with the use of little or no feedback.

Best regards,
-- Al

I know on some Cary amps, they allow you to switch feedback on and off. I don't remember if the V12 was one of them.