Interesting coincidence: I was browsing this post to find what old school speakers people were metioning and the first one I see mentioned are RTR speakers. Having owned a pair of these since the mid 70's, they continue to serve well, even having survived the many stereo wars valiantly fought in college. I have the xpr 12's and yes, they are 8 ohms. They were certainly not mainstream speaker as this is the first time I have heard or read of them since I bought mine. A few things they were noted for besides delivering an incredible bang for the buck were solid wood enclosures and nice hi, crisp tweeters. They even have an adjustable crossover and a "reset" button should they be wired out of phase or exposed to to an amp that was turned distorting. Great speakers..