+8 doesnt have a lot of context if you can turn the volume all the way up without alot of distortion, you likely have a gain issue. That is preamp isnt feeding enough voltage to drive the amp to clipping. This can be from a low source level, low gain in the preamp, or low input sensitivity from the amp.

Hard thing to test without other pieces of gear to substitute. You can go by the nominal ratings of each components but mfts often lie and the specs are often over simplified.

908 may be on to something if your amp is pro as in for actual profesional use they usually take a higher level to drive 4v I believe and will generally be xlr. Normal single ended RCAs inputs usually are around 1.2-2v to drive an amp to clipping. There will be a input voltage or a db gain figure for your amp, as well as a voltage out spec for your preamp. These should be in approximate alignment, though it can get tricky mixing things from different decades to include pro and consumer components as well.

115w is a decent amount and should be able to drive most normal size and sensitivity speakers to stress.

Does this mean I have to pull the woofers out to check the resistance?

There's so much I love to listen to as loudly as possible. Another great song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdOJaCT5uTE

I'll look tonight.

No. Just remove the strips connecting the woofers to the rest of the speaker and then measure across the two bottom terminals. The resistance you measure will not likely be much different from the same measurement with the strips in place. Tweeters do not add much resistance (or impedance). But....disconnecting them will reduce resistance/impedance. 8 Ohm speakers might become 7 Ohm, for example.

A range of impedances was mentioned (8 down to 3, or some such thing). This is common. Speakers with a nominal impedance of 8Ohm will see transients down to 3 or 4, and up to well above 8. But those are transients. They are taken into consideration when the manufacturer declares the speaker to be "8 Ohm."

While it is possible to damage an amp (rated to handle 4 Ohms) by connecting two nominal 8-Ohm speakers per channel, I myself would not worry about it. Yes, they will see transients below 4 Ohms. Some of my bass player friends have gigged for years with a nominal 2-Ohm load into an amp rated for no less than 4 Ohms. I wouldn't do that.

It seems to me I recall, from the specs posted on Page 1, that the amp needs just 1.4V for full power. You can measure preamp output voltage. Run a full blast 60Hz signal in and measure the output. In AC volts. Use a better 60Hz signal generator than what you find on YouTube.

Yes I was being pretty conservative with suggesting not to wire the two in parallel, I should have said not yet until a couple things are sorted out. I do not trust the 8 ohm spec on the speaker to be actual, thinking they are closer to 6 ohm each, manufacturer still allowing safe use with 8 ohm equipment but getting more SPL. On my speakers the midrange tweeter section is what has the major impedance dips, the lower section is two 8" woofers, it sounds backwards. I think by not using the mid tweeter in the large speaker and possibly adding a 1 or 2 ohm 20watt resistor in front of the smaller speakers it should work well, sort of passive subs. I had a friend with a older set of B&W with a similar config years ago, the kevlar midrange tweeter sounded really forward in your face and bass was lacking, ran it with a integrated amp on the top section so we could control the level and it sounded way better, to me anyways. I think I ended up installing a resistor in front of the terminal for the mid tweeter as a permanent solution. All the British speakers I have listened to seem to me, a little bass shy, some prefer that sound. Still have a pair of old Harbith acoustics.

If the midrange tweeter is taken out of the circuit the resistance should go higher.

I think if y'all really want to play around with your tonal balance go for some eq

Can go old school: https://www.schiit.com/products/loki-mini-3

or highly recommended especially if integrating subs. Can do Eq, time alignment, and room correction as well. Not to mention state of the art DAC in analog version. I think Mini dsp is going to sell a cajillion of these things. I have its older/bigger brother. If you are curious about modern times audio technology but still want to kick it old school, this is a great option.

I have a neutral preset, a preset with gangster bass, a preset with room correction only on sub channel, and a preset with no correction, no eq, no sub just as the speakers were delivered. I may try a mid/treble "hot" setting for youtube and dull recordings at some point. Can toggle through all of the settings on the remote in a single click

https://www.minidsp.com/products/minidsp-in-a-box/flex?gclid=CjwKCAiAsNKQBhAPEiwAB-I5zaio8BHQSKssJECLJWRZptU-_REKsfzytfTzdqQ_DA2Ha1bFiB8FRRoCC00QAvD_BwE

there's only a switch on the back labeled Float and Chassis. It only has RCA inputs.

Found these paragraphs in the manual

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1645579242.jpg


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1645579242.jpg

RCA only takes that variable off the table. The float has to do with grounding, more for pro setups and multiple amps. The speaker fuses are also more for pro type setups, at one time some home audio used them but they also create an added resistance so not really used anymore. At least I havn't seen them. If you can, still check what the resistance is of the speakers.

6.2 ohms between the terminals.

You probably mean Ohms. 6.2 would make it a nominal "8-Ohm" speaker.

The sheet you posted is noting that if you show the amp a 4-Ohm load, the amp will delivery more Watts. And that perhaps the speakers will then need to be protected by fuses. Although.....it could be that the speakers can handle the increased power.

And yet, Shaun is reporting lack of loudness. Given this, I suspect the amp is just not delivering a whole lotta power. Personally, I would hesitate to fuse the speakers. Heck...they should be fused already. And.....I'd just avoid driving them to the edge. Any good speaker is going to survive loudnesses beyond what I would ask of them. But then....I am not a partying 20 year-old anymore. I'm a boring 64 year-old.

And maybe I am wrong in my assumption. Perhaps these speakers with 6" (or thereabouts) woofers are at risk when pushed. Probably. As I mentioned, delivering more Watts is a poor way to achieve loudness. The better way is more speaker surface area. Yet, there are surely exceptions. Perhaps speakers with smaller woofers exist which would deliver painful levels of loudness. In order to do that, the woofers would need to be capable of some serious excursions.

I think the Loki is not a DAC. Correct me if I am wrong.

sorry that description was all for minidsp

Loki is much more basic simple analog tone controls only, old school eq

6.2 ohm, just checking that was with the jumper between the upper terminal removed? Still a little low, I would have liked to see closer to 8.

Just to see if you would like the sound of adding the low frequency of the larger speakers to the smaller ones, hook up one channel of your amp to the lower terminals of the larger speaker ONLY, not using the new smaller one on that channel, and leave the other smaller speaker hooked up as is. Place them near each other and if your pre amp has a button to switch to mono do that. Use the R/L balance knob to set the level between the two.

6.2 Ohms of resistance is right where I would expect a speaker to measure if the speaker is rated a nominal 8 Ohms of impedance. Impedance and resistance are different critters. I have never seen an 8-Ohm speaker measure anywhere close to 8 Ohms of resistance. My Klipsch Cornwalls, which Klipsch considers to be 8-Ohm speakers, measure 4.0 Ohms of resistance. Actual impedance of this speaker, which of course varies by frequency, ranges from a low of 5 Ohms to a high of 75 Ohms!!

6.2 means this is an 8-Ohm speaker.

I understand what you are saying Superman, but I personally would prefer not to recommend something that I am not 100% sure of, the difference of heat sink compound dried up could be make or break, once the magic smoke is out it is too late.

I am quite sure he will need to use some attenuation between the two speakers anyways, easy to do a quick listen and use balance control to compare.

Interesting that your 8 ohm rated speakers measures 4, many tube amps would not like that. FYI my upper speaker is spec at 4 ohm and measures 4.6 my lower bass cab spec is 4 ohm and measures 4. My thinking is as the numbers get lower they need to be more accurate in the specs.

Well, you may easily know more about these matters than I. In my experience resistance is virtually always below the rated impedance of the speaker. the 6.2 measurement, in my experience, is highly unsurprising for an 8-Ohm speaker.

And.....the actual impedance behavior of a speaker is a weird thing which varies greatly across different frequencies. The rated impedance of a speaker is said to be an average of those impedances but it looks to me like it is more of a median estimate. As I mentioned, the impedance curve for a Klipsch Cornwall has been measured as a range from 5 Ohms to 75 Ohms. Here is that curve:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1645653503.gif

I'm not sure how tube amps compare to SS in terms of their impedance behavior, but I know my amp tech thinks it is important. And I think the "Heritage" line if Klipsch speakers (Klipschorn, LaScala, Cornwall, etc.) are essentially designed for tube amps so I suspect tube amps are fine with their impedance characteristics. I do also know, however, that giving a tube amp insufficient loads is a bad idea. Most of them will be damaged if run with no load, whereas a SS amp is perfectly happy at full blast with no speakers connected.

I certainly agree with you that dabbling at the limit of an amp's minimum impedance requirements without fully understanding the engineering and performance of both amp and speaker, but I also think that two engineers might even quarrel about that with the data in hand.

I guess what I really know is that I don't know the answers. ;)

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1645664528.jpg


Here is a freq/impedence for the high freq section of my speaker, notice the drop below 2 ohms at around 2k, most amps do not like this.

I see. That is low indeed. I don't really know what "most amps do not like this" means and I am resisting temptations to learn more about electronics so that I would understand better. I just think that's a rabbit hole too long and narrow for me right now. I'd rather just rely on the electronics guys. I'm happy just being really good at sex.