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501 taps.

L

ltleo

Active Member
Banned
how many people are using the correct taps for your speakers.

I have 4ohm speakers and I use the 8 ohm taps. I have to tell you, i think they sound better on the 8 tap. I could be crazy:scratch2:.

who has changed them up and what have you heard a difference?

speakers- dali helicon mk2 400
 
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I had B&W 802 Matrix Series 3. The manual said they were 8 ohms. I used the 8 ohm tap for years and one day decided to try 4 ohms. Much better sound with 4 ohms. I`m now using LSA2`s that are 6 ohms but I use the 4 ohm tap instead of 8. Again, much better sound.
 
I am running 3.6 Maggies with my 501s and use the 4 Ohm tap. The sound is beautiful..but that is no surprise to anyone.
 
ltleo said:
how many people are using the correct taps for your speakers.

I have 4ohm speakers and I use the 8 ohm taps. I have to tell you, i think they sound better on the 8 tap. I could be crazy:scratch2:.

who has changed them up and what have you heard a difference?

speakers- dali helicon mk2 400
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From my experience running N803s off the 8 ohm taps of the MA6900 produced better slam and dynamics vs. the 4 ohms taps... but the amp would go into thermal shutdown within the first ten minutes of listening.

The speakers loved the extra current but the amp is designed to minimize heat
so I switched to the 4 ohm posts and no problems...though the speaker response was not as "immediate" IMO.
 
My Vienna Acoustics Mahler speakers are marked as "6 Ohm" but I use the 4 Ohm tap and I am very happy! I tried the 8 Ohm and didn't like it at all. I also made the PG lights come on fairly frequently...
 
My PMC EB1i speakers are rated 4 ohms. I have them landed on the 4 ohm taps on the MC501 amps, and all is well. Several times I have pushed 500 watts into them (sometimes I just can't help myself), and never saw the Power Guard lamps come on, or the amps go into thermal shut down. The sound is spectacular, so my attitude is...."if it ain't broke, don't fix it".
 
jdandy said:
My PMC EB1i speakers are rated 4 ohms. I have them landed on the 4 ohm taps on the MC501 amps, and all is well. Several times I have pushed 500 watts into them (sometimes I just can't help myself), and never saw the Power Guard lamps come on, or the amps go into thermal shut down. The sound is spectacular, so my attitude is...."if it ain't broke, don't fix it".
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This is my philosophy as well. My speakers are rated at 8 ohms and so that's where I have them connected, at the 8 ohm taps. Never tried any other way..sounds great as is.

Pete
 
Vintage Pete said:
This is my philosophy as well. My speakers are rated at 8 ohms and so that's where I have them connected, at the 8 ohm taps. Never tried any other way..sounds great as is.

Pete
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Pete,

I don't like to loose my time like you : when it sounds good, I'm OK and I don't try more. But with Mc amps, I think we should all try the different outputs.
My speakers are rated 6 ohms. Mc says "connect to the lower output" so I connected them to the 4 ohms output. Tried the 8 ohms : it was less good.
You should try the 4 ohms output : who knows, you could be even more happy with the sound....
 
My XRT30 speakers are listed as 4 ohm, I liked the XRT30s on the 8 ohm MC501 taps.

My B&W Signature Diamond speakers are listed as 8 ohm speakers, I like them on the 4 ohm taps.

Go figure. :dunno:
 
My speakers are rated 8 ohms, but quickly overheat the amp on the 8 ohm taps. Swapped to 4 ohm taps, no problems since. Mc's "true power wattmeters" clearly aren't. Klipsch's 8 ohm claims are also false. I trust the amp's overheating much more than Klipsch's "nominal" 8 ohm impedance claim (100dB/watt is MUCH easier when you double the power). I haven't tried the 2 ohm taps yet. "True power wattmeters" are clearly a marketing gimmick by McIntosh and cannot be relied upon unless your speakers impedance happens to exactly match the tap's. Not likely. They are FAR from "true power" indicators.
 
A lot of the time it depands on the impedance load into the bass and lower mids. If it is a 8 ohm speaker, but the bass impedances go down to 4 ohms in all likely hood it wil sound better on the 4 ohm taps.
My speakers bass and upper mid impedance go down to under 3ohms and they sound great on the 2 ohm tap. they also sound good on the 4 ohm taps but sound terrible on the 8 ohm taps.
 
High_Current said:
My speakers are rated 8 ohms, but quickly overheat the amp on the 8 ohm taps. Swapped to 4 ohm taps, no problems since. Mc's "true power wattmeters" clearly aren't. Klipsch's 8 ohm claims are also false. I trust the amp's overheating much more than Klipsch's "nominal" 8 ohm impedance claim (100dB/watt is MUCH easier when you double the power). I haven't tried the 2 ohm taps yet. "True power wattmeters" are clearly a marketing gimmick by McIntosh and cannot be relied upon unless your speakers impedance happens to exactly match the tap's. Not likely. They are FAR from "true power" indicators.
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:lurk:
 
High_Current said:
My speakers are rated 8 ohms, but quickly overheat the amp on the 8 ohm taps. Swapped to 4 ohm taps, no problems since. Mc's "true power wattmeters" clearly aren't. Klipsch's 8 ohm claims are also false. I trust the amp's overheating much more than Klipsch's "nominal" 8 ohm impedance claim (100dB/watt is MUCH easier when you double the power). I haven't tried the 2 ohm taps yet. "True power wattmeters" are clearly a marketing gimmick by McIntosh and cannot be relied upon unless your speakers impedance happens to exactly match the tap's. Not likely. They are FAR from "true power" indicators.
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What speakers are you using?
 
True Wattmeters measure voltage AND amperage which makes them truly as accurate as Ohm's law. Don't argue with scientific facts, you just look silly.

thanks,
Ron-C
 
you tell him Ron!!! you cant argue with that!

this is a very interesting topic, i am glad i asked this. So Ron, can you shed some light on why some speakers sound better, or I should say different on the differnt taps, even though they might not match? thanks
 
I poke into the 2275's 4 ohms taps as well even though my speakers are rated as 6 ohms.

Certainly sounded fuller and richer or something like that. :scratch2:
 
ron-c said:
True Wattmeters measure voltage AND amperage which makes them truly as accurate as Ohm's law. Don't argue with scientific facts, you just look silly.

thanks,
Ron-C
Click to expand...

If the wattmeters are accurate, then why does the amp overheat and shutdown at half indicated rated power on the 8 ohm taps? I called Mc (my amp and speakers were all new) who looked up the impedance curve for my speakers. He said they barely qualify as 4 ohm loads and suggested I try the 4 ohm taps and may need to use the 2 ohm taps. I've been on 4 ohms since and it will still overheat, but only when driven right up to indicated rated output. I'm not disputing ohm's law by any means, just the meters' accuracy when the taps used don't match the load. To say its overheating is not due to its actual output being higher than indicated is silly.
 
I am using what the speakers specs says, 4 ohm on woofer and 8 ohm on midtweeter. Works fine here.:thmbsp:
 
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