8 ohm better than 4 ohm?

[conrad79]

I read in the MKV manual (pg 5) that "an 8 Ohm load will produce the punchiest, tightest sound and the maximum headroom"

Anyone know why that would be?

 

[MrMarkIII]

Because that's the design.
Most Marshals work best with 16 ohm loads.
Because that's the design.
Eight ohm speakers are not inherently "better" than four ohm speakers, or vice versa. They're just born that way to work with different designs.

 

[conrad79]

Ok, mr mark III DOESN'T know.....is there anyone who DOES know?

 

[SteveO]

Ok, mr mark III DOESN'T know.....is there anyone who DOES know?

Because the transformer is wound for eight ohms, so using a directly-matched eight ohm load takes advantage of the full windings on the transformer. The four ohm outputs are tapped into a partial winding of the transformer.

In very basic lay terms, an eight ohm load uses all of the transformer, and a four ohm load only uses part of it.

 

[conrad79]

ahh, very interesting...thank you!! I just built a 2x12 cab but don't have speakers for it yet which is why I was curious. Thanks again

 

[MrMarkIII]

Ok, mr mark III DOESN'T know.....is there anyone who DOES know?

Because the transformer is wound for eight ohms, so using a directly-matched eight ohm load takes advantage of the full windings on the transformer. The four ohm outputs are tapped into a partial winding of the transformer.

In very basic lay terms, an eight ohm load uses all of the transformer, and a four ohm load only uses part of it.

In other words, that's how it was designed.
You're welcome, d-bag.