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Running an amp at 2/3/4/6/8/12/16 ohms


warwickhunt
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Manufacturers state minimum impedances for their amps but I was considering the sonic benefits (if any) at various impedances!

More by luck than judgement my recent cab acquisition is 6 ohm (stick 6 speakers in a box and you can't get 4 or 8 ohm outputs). I thought long and hard about this before committing, my thoughts kind of went along the lines of minimal reduction of amp output (approx 450-500 instead of 550) + good cab sensitivity (104db) + sensible operating load for amp (6ohms) = happy bassist.

Many of us try to get the maximum out of our amp and juggle cab loadings to arrive at, or as close to, the minimum rating for an amp but is there any benefit to running an amp at anything other than its minimum load... or do you achieve the best sound from your amp when it is running at the minimum?

I'm thinking of SS rather than valve amps here as I realise that harmonic distortion etc is sonic heaven for many people.

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Dunno - all I can add to this is that while my Nemesis will run at 2ohm, those nice people at Eden say they recommend I put it through a 4ohm speaker for the best results all round. That implies lowest not necessarily bestest, non?

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[quote name='warwickhunt' post='5550' date='May 24 2007, 07:08 AM']Manufacturers state minimum impedances for their amps but I was considering the sonic benefits (if any) at various impedances!

More by luck than judgement my recent cab acquisition is 6 ohm (stick 6 speakers in a box and you can't get 4 or 8 ohm outputs).[/quote]


My BERGANTINO NV610 IS 4 ohms!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So is the Ampeg SVT610HLF I think???/ :)

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Less ohms means more power but also more heat, which will lead at least to a shorter lifespan of your amp, even if only slightly, which might or not be an issue for you. My SWR 350x delivers 350W at 4ohms with my SWR 4ohm Triad cab, 8 would mean less than 300, 2 would mean more than 400 and I would give it a go and see how hot it would get, but I'd certainly never run it at less than 2ohms...

Edited by 1976fenderhead
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  • 10 years later...
Quote

Valve amp       power is directly proportional to speaker Impedance 
      therefore   power increases as the speaker Impedance rises.
Solid-state     power is inversely proportional to speaker Impedance 
      therefore  power decreases as the speaker Impedance rises.

It's best to stick with the manufacturers suggested rating. Running a bit higher (8 vs 4 Ohms) you will lose some output but there will be no tonal change.The only time I've ever blown a power amp was running at 2 ohms and I wasn't running it hard.  

 

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