16 ohm rated amp - ok to use 8 ohm speakers?

[Markoneswift]

Hi all,

I'm currently restoring a 20 watt tube amp that I found recently and I have a concern about using incorrectly rated speakers with it. The amp is rated for 16 ohm speakers but all I have available are 8 ohm - am I safe to use this speaker rating at reasonable volume levels?

I suppose the next question then is, how would I go about finding 16 ohms speakers to use with the amp? I have access to many pairs of 8 and 4-ohm speakers but there are none I want, or like, or can find, rated at 16 ohm. Is there a way to make the amp 'think' it is connected to 16 ohm speakers?

Cheers

 

[peterh]

It is ok to use a tube amp designed for 16ohm with a 8 (or 4 )ohm speaker. Max power will be reduced and distortion will increase. But it won't hurt anything.

To have 8 ohm speaker act like 16 is easy ; buy 2 more identical speakers, connect them in series.
The alternative is to replace the output transformers with transformers that have 8 ohm taps AND adjust the amps NFB to cope with the new transformers. This requires some instrumentation and skill.

 

[Markoneswift]

It is ok to use a tube amp designed for 16ohm with a 8 (or 4 )ohm speaker. Max power will be reduced and distortion will increase. But it won't hurt anything.

To have 8 ohm speaker act like 16 is easy ; buy 2 more identical speakers, connect them in series.
The alternative is to replace the output transformers with transformers that have 8 ohm taps AND adjust the amps NFB to cope with the new transformers. This requires some instrumentation and skill.

Hey thanks for that. Buying two more EPI M100's is going to be tricky as I've never even seen another pair for sale here. Replacing output transformers is beyond my skill level, so perhaps I should concentrate on locating some genuine 16 ohm speakers to use with it.