Autoformer vs Speaker impedance Curve
@ramtubes Hello Roger, welcome to the forum. Thanks for your posts! We used to make an autoformer we called the Z-Music autoformer, which had taps for 4,3,2 and 1 ohm loads. With it, Steven Stone of TAS was able to listen to his Apogee Full Range loudspeakers with tubes for the first time. Although the Full Range had a very low impedance (not much more than 1 ohm) they were otherwise easy to drive as they had no serious phase angles and were reasonable efficiency. I think you and I are on the same page here- if an amplifier is acting as a voltage source, it really doesn't matter if it has an autoformer in its output section, especially as in the case of the Mac, which includes the device in its feedback loop. If its a voltage paradigm device, it will make constant voltage into all (practical) loads by definition. |
I previously posted this on another similar thread, but it might be more appropriate here: https://www.stereophile.com/content/mcintosh-mc501-monoblock-power-amplifier-measurements-0 |
ramtubes And I’ll add to that, they will also make that amp sound worse if used, as I’ve proved to myself with 3 or 4 amps that were very capable without the autoformers, they made the amps sound like they were cushioned, like looking through opaque glass instead of clear glass. They are for amps "that need help", but I say save your money and get the right amp instead, or change the speaker to one that the amp in question is happy with. Cheers George |
I have started a new topic to explain how conventional output transformers differ from Autoformers. https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/autoformers-the-benefits-in-matching-amp-to-speaker |
