Marantz Model 8 amp and 4 Ohm Speakers

[Tom McGrane]

I have a Marantz model 8 amp and Model 7 tube pre. I've been running 8 ohm speakers and want to finally upgrade. Many of the the speakers I'm looking at are 4 ohm. I remember my Grandfather using his 4 ohm AR3's back in the 60's and 70's with this very unit and it sounding glorious.

Question is, would ohm's play into your decision on what speakers you would buy, especially with an old amp (which has been recapped recently)? I've read a lot though nothing definitive. The amp is rated at 30 watts which is low end for most speakers I'm considering. I don't play my music very loud anyway so that may not be an issue.

I keep asking if a comparable 8 ohm speaker (to a 4 ohm speaker) would give a better performance? Am I running the amp too hard with 4 ohm speakers?

Thanks

 

[Pio1980]

I have a Marantz model 8 amp and Model 7 tube pre. I've been running 8 ohm speakers and want to finally upgrade. Many of the the speakers I'm looking at are 4 ohm. I remember my Grandfather using his 4 ohm AR3's back in the 60's and 70's with this very unit and it sounding glorious.

Question is, would ohm's play into your decision on what speakers you would buy, especially with an old amp (which has been recapped recently)? I've read a lot though nothing definitive. The amp is rated at 30 watts which is low end for most speakers I'm considering. I don't play my music very loud anyway so that may not be an issue.

I keep asking if a comparable 8 ohm speaker (to a 4 ohm speaker) would give a better performance? Am I running the amp too hard with 4 ohm speakers?

Thanks

With the multi-tapped output transformer able to accomedate the usually encountered speaker loading, there is little hazard to the amp. The main caveat is never to play it with no load attached to the speaker terminals. The load rating of speakers is usually averaged, it can vary widely depending on the frequency, and which taps are used on which speakers can this affect sound. It is unlikely that using a tap other than that matching the average rating of the speaker will produce any hazard to the amp.

 

[ramjet]

I suggest a read the owners manual of the Model 8 (available here; https://www.hifiengine.com/manual_library/marantz/8.shtml). Hook up 8 ohm speakers to the 8 ohm terminals and 4 ohm speakers to the 4 ohm terminals. Recapping doesn't change what goes where. Spend your time and your money getting efficient speakers (better than 89db SPL) that sound good to you. At the end of the day you still only have 30 watts per channel. My model 8 does just fine with my 103 db plans built Patrician IVs.

 

[trainbuftony]

8 ohms or 4 ohms will sound equally excellent on that amp.

I feel like I just answered this one for someone else, but suffice to say, the amplifiers that this would have been in competition with in the hifi stores all sound fantastic on every tap.
The numeric ohm value has nothing to do with predicting how a given speaker will sound. Its an arbitrary number that changes in operation and so they give you options to get close to matching that arbitrary number by tapping the transformer at different numbers of turns. You just want the closest matching tap to the arbitrary value that whichever speakers you decide on, happen to be.
Your new speakers may sound better or worse than the old ones, but not because of the arbitrary number that represents the voice coil impedance.

If you want to use all of the winding in the coil, shop for speakers that run on the 16 ohm tap if you've got one. Will these sound the best to your ears? No way for us to know. We will however pressure you to try...