@georgehifi , that's correct! As I pointed out in the article, any time you mix equipment from the two technologies, the result is likely to have a tonal aberration.
The example you give is a good one, although 'fry your ears' is likely not what would happen on account of the higher impedance would result in low distortion from the amplifier. It just would not make the bass energy since designer is expecting 3 db more power output out of the amp in the bass region.
Another example is solid state driving an ESL- with the reduced impedance at high frequencies and the tendency for the load impedance to vary about 10:1 (IOW, if 10ohms at 50Hz, could be about 1 ohm at 20KHz) over its range, the result will also be too bright with not enough bass. The reason is that the impedance curve of the speaker is based on a capacitor and not a driver in a box, so the impedance curve is not also an efficiency curve. This is quite unlike a driver in a box, where the resonance of the driver is represented by a peak in the impedance curve (IOW the impedance and efficiency curves are the same thing).
This is why the equipment matching conversation is still very much with us 5 decades on! Its also why of two amps on the bench that might measure perfectly flat to 100KHz, one might sound bright while the other does not.
Its worth pointing out that if the designer of the speaker is expecting the amp to have a higher output impedance that the crossover will be designed differently as well. The fact that the source impedance of the amp can affect how the crossover works means that drivers might be operating outside of the area for which the designer intended! This is one of the reasons that horns got the reputation for being 'honky'.
The example you give is a good one, although 'fry your ears' is likely not what would happen on account of the higher impedance would result in low distortion from the amplifier. It just would not make the bass energy since designer is expecting 3 db more power output out of the amp in the bass region.
Another example is solid state driving an ESL- with the reduced impedance at high frequencies and the tendency for the load impedance to vary about 10:1 (IOW, if 10ohms at 50Hz, could be about 1 ohm at 20KHz) over its range, the result will also be too bright with not enough bass. The reason is that the impedance curve of the speaker is based on a capacitor and not a driver in a box, so the impedance curve is not also an efficiency curve. This is quite unlike a driver in a box, where the resonance of the driver is represented by a peak in the impedance curve (IOW the impedance and efficiency curves are the same thing).
This is why the equipment matching conversation is still very much with us 5 decades on! Its also why of two amps on the bench that might measure perfectly flat to 100KHz, one might sound bright while the other does not.
Its worth pointing out that if the designer of the speaker is expecting the amp to have a higher output impedance that the crossover will be designed differently as well. The fact that the source impedance of the amp can affect how the crossover works means that drivers might be operating outside of the area for which the designer intended! This is one of the reasons that horns got the reputation for being 'honky'.