Can i lower the resistance to 1ohm(from 4) and push 1200 watts to each 3.6 ?

[Lord_Magnepan]

Since Maggies sing more with more power. I am currently pushing 300 Class A Watts into each pannel. If i can lower the resistance from 4 to 1 ohm i could push 1200 Class A Watts into each pannel. Is that possible?

[markw]

.. but seriously, no. The impedance of the speaker is an inherent characteristic of it's design.

Plus, I doubt your amp would like that.

[Lord_Magnepan]

The AMP can drive loads below 1ohm !!! Its nice to own a 100lbs AMP

I seen external devices for Maggies that can raise the imp. to 16ohm which makes them able to use Tubes for the power section.

[markw]

They could simply add resistance in series with the speaker. Lowering it is another animal entirely.

[Jace]

to lower the resistance, you would need to add resistance in parallel with your speaker. still, i cannot comment on the affects it will have and if it would work well or not or just blow your speaker up lol.

-Jace

[RGA]

what I found was that I could listen at MUCH LOWER volumes with the 9 watt OTO than I did with SS amps from Bryston etc.People have good luck with Maggie and set and electrostats too - The OTO is the one I have most experience with and it has a 4 ohm tap.

Clarity is critical to me and just throwing big watts usually adds big noise. And interestingly the sound improves dramatically with the Meishu which is 8 watts. So I no longer consider watts as a factor anymore - if I need too there is probably more of a problem somewhere else that needs-a-fixin.

[Lord_Magnepan]

Trust me RGA, a 8 Watt Tube AMP does not drive my 3.6R Some of the modells you talked about in the other posts like a SMGa etc... are all vintage and are not compareable to the sound of the current modells. The Krell is not just a big bulky strong unit. The Krell has tons of dynamic, resolution and transparency and combined with my Linestage Tube Preamp it works wonders. The only reason i asked, is because i wanted to try it. Some people use 600wpc from Passlabs for their Maggies and get good resaults. My Krell can easily handle 600wpc. But since this one is rated at 150wpc into a 8 ohm load, i was wondering if i can add resistance and drop the Maggies to 1 ohm to get 1200 or to 2 ohm to get 600 wpc out of it. The KSA 150 does not have paper specs with no backup, the KSA 150 was used to drive the first Apogees

I love tubes, and i have a preamp plus a tube hybrid. But the "pure tube" like the Pathos Twin Towers just cant drive my large 3.6.... the 12 ? mmm maybe. But definetly not the 3.6

[Garrardman]

But since this one is rated at 150wpc into a 8 ohm load, i was wondering if i can add resistance and drop the Maggies to 1 ohm to get 1200 or to 2 ohm to get 600 wpc out of it.

You do realise that your chances of ever running your amplifier at maximum power are extremely unlikely?!!
At normal listening level it will be pushing out between about 5 and 10 watts.............
I'd stop worrying about pointless impedance modifications and just enjoy the music!!!

Adam.

[Tomr]

The AMP can drive loads below 1ohm !!! Its nice to own a 100lbs AMP

I seen external devices for Maggies that can raise the imp. to 16ohm which makes them able to use Tubes for the power section.

what are these devices? will they work with other speakers? would they bring 6 ohm speakers to the 8 - 16 ohm range?

[Lord_Magnepan]

Should works. Here is all the info you need

http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls....wek&1109253572

[Jace]

ok. im awake this time so i can explain the details of this whole idea for you and what will happen.

ok. that link you posted is for a unit that increases the resistance of your speaker. to do this, you need to add resistance in series. you, however, want to lower your resistance. to do this, as i said in my last post, you need to add resistance in parallel.

there are problems with this. big ones. lemme esplain! when you add impedance in parallel you have two main characteristics. you have an identical voltage across your speaker and your resister that you added. on the other hand, you have different currents flowing through the speaker and the resister you added based on the resistors value, compared to the speakers resistance. now, to get say a 2ohm overall resistance, you would need a 4 ohm resistance in parallel with your 4ohm speaker. since the values are equal, half of your current will go through your speaker and half through the resister. this means that the resistance is lower overall, causing the current to be higher for the same voltage (ohms law. it doesnt really matter.). this will in turn increase the power applied to your load (power = voltage x current). the problem is this: your power will now be split half and half between your speaker and your resistor. so in essence, you will get more power overall, but less to your speaker and the other half of the total power to your resistor. with all this power going to your resistor, you will need an incredibly huge resistor to handle the power so it wont just turn into a baseboard heater and then go up in flames. so really, the resistor is impractical and there really wont be any gain in power applied to the speaker.

since half your power is wasted on a resistor that doesnt produce any sound (actually at that power level, your resistor will produce some sound which will just be added noise), the only way you would get any useful power gains would be to use another speaker of the same power specs and resistance in parallel like you would in a car subwoofer situation for example. since that is just as impractical, i would say, you arent gonna get anywhere.

thats the short and skinny of it.

-Jace

[Lord_Magnepan]

Well thank you very much for this information. Now i know that it just wont work ;-)
Well off to the next tweaking idea ;-)

Thanks again

[Jace]

no problem. glad to help. besides, i couldnt let you just go ahead and blow something pretty up lol!

-Jace

[Lord_Magnepan]

Yeah saved me a couple of grand

[Feanor]

to lower the resistance, you would need to add resistance in parallel with your speaker. still, i cannot comment on the affects it will have and if it would work well or not or just blow your speaker up lol.

-Jace

I'm no electrical engineer, but I'd say it would be pretty useless to put a resistor in parallel with speaker.

In in effect, the power output of the amp would be split, a portion going to the resistor and a portion to the speaker in inverse proportion to their impedances. The amp, of course, would be putting out more power (current), but the power going to the resistor would be wasted, being released as heat by resistor.

[Jace]

well im an electronics engineering technologist and in answer to that, read the second post that i made. it says in great detail exactly what you just described.

-Jace