Wattage 4 or 8 ohms?


Question.

If your speakers are a 4 ohm load with "X" rms, do you go by the amps wattage in 8 ohm or 4 ohms?

Thank you,

Kevin
128x128thegoldenear
Tonywinsc, Jim Thiel has told me himself that (at least with his older models) that his power recommendations are based on standard 8 Ohm amp ratings, and the assumption that the customer is choosing high quality ss amps that are capable of "doubling down". With your CS6's minimum impedance of 2.4 Ohms, I suspect your Thiels could handle well over your available 700 Watts into 4 Ohms. With that said, I'm sure your system sounds fine.
Hello,
What to do if I have speakes with 6 Ohm impedance, but amp has only 4 or 8 ohms output options? What should I choose?

Thanks
Dmitry....

You may detect a sonic difference between the two taps, depending on the design of the speakers and your ears/expectations. You should try both taps and simply pick the one that sounds best to you playing the music you enjoy hearing. You won't damage anything by doing so.

Sometimes folks find that the 4 ohm taps can produce a more solid bass, some that the 8 ohm taps can produce better highs, but it all depends on how your speakers impedence curve matchs the amps output impedence. Speaker and amp impedence values are not fixed at anything as absolute as 4 ohms and 8 ohms. Those a just nominal numbers.
so after reading everyones comments "I" believe maybe i should up my power because "I" believe that maybe just maybe my Thiels will open up a bit more if I do 200 watts into 8 ohms. But thats also under the theory that in order to hear a difference I would need to double my current output, view my systems and you will see what i am talking about or in other words.

the followings numbers "wattage" are the points of difference:

50 100 200 400 800 - basically oh i have 100, oh i have 150 so then that means i am louder is that true, i believe not, i believe the next level of DB improvement would be 200 for the example given. Is that correct or no?
The difference between the power out put between 100 and 200 wts, everything else being equal, is 3db. If that is the threshold where you and distinguish clear differences in SPL's then you are correct. But if you have the ability to discern smaller changes (and I think most do - some even claim to her differences as small as .5db) then your conclusion wouldn't work. You might see how manufacturers treat this issue by looking at the different gradiations they use in the steps in the attenuators. Some use 1db, some 2db, and some use gradual decreasing step sizes as you 'apply more my volume'.

So everything else being equal, the difference between 100 watts and 200 watts is a mere 3db increase in SPLs. When you are listening to your system with the volume turned up, and your max'ing out your systems (including your room) ability to produce coherrent sound, a 3db increase in SPL may be relatively inaudible.

If you haven't already done so, buy a SPL meter and see what average/peak levels you listen to in your room and do the math. But don't be surprised when you find that with even moderately efficient speakers, that you rarely, if ever, exceed say 20wts, and even then only on peaks. And if you do, consider that if you are listening to music at that level it may not be a problem for long.

Nothing wrong with 'powering up' but the price go's up as well and its a lot to pay for something you may not need.