Quote:
Originally Posted by miatadan
I did some reading of the owner’s manual of the Magnepan’s and it states Nominal 4 ohms, so I moved the taps back to the 4ohm tap.
What I am not sure about is why there seemed to be more highs from the 8 ohm tap but deeper bass from the 4 ohm ? If choosing the tap that matches the impedance will prevent over stressing the amplifier, I will now just leave it at 4 ohms.
Charles’s your explanation helpful and does explain why many years ago , the MC302 I had in the past , was over heating at the 8 ohm tap on the Magnepan’s.
When I worked at stereo shop, I sold McIntosh many years but I am not an engineer.
Dan
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miatadan, the 462 will do a wonderful job on your speakers at the recommended tap. It's just a fact that the 611 will do a slightly better job using the recommended tap. Even though it may not get hot, the impedance mismatch will always be there. There will be many, most in fact, that will maintain that it is of no or minimal consequence, However, I think you are wise. I have always believed that SS amps should always be operating optimally and under stressed. Modern Mac amps have much larger power supplies and much more current, which is why, if you really want to, and you prefer the sound, the 8 ohm tap, with your current speakers would be OK, IMO. But not for me.
Tube amps on the other hand really don't care if they approach clipping. The sonics don't change. A 1502 can hit 150 watts and be not be stressed at all. However, the same cannot be said for a 611 hitting say 1,000 watts. For almost all music a 1502 is totally enough power for almost any speaker. Again, I want my SS amp to loaf. For a 611 this means less than 100 watts at recommended impedance, optimally.