hoping somebody here knows this. I am driving an old astatic 10ohm cutting head from an external 8 ohm amplifier. Seems to work fine, but would it better to make an amp that has exactly 10ohm impedance?
best
astatic 10ohm cutting head
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Re: astatic 10ohm cutting head
Hi,
That should be no problem for a modern solid state amp. It would be more of an issue if the head was much lower than 8 ohms. The only side effect will be that you will develop less power to the head than the amp is capable of. For example, an amp rated for 100 Watts into 8 ohms will only deliver 80 Watts into a 10 ohm load. Also, keep in mind that a typical head is not a pure resistive load. The impedance will vary from a low value at DC and increases as the frequency is raised. The impedance given by the head manufacturer is at some specific frequency and in many cases is not stated. Typically, it would be measured at 1Khz. Hope that makes sense.
Mark
That should be no problem for a modern solid state amp. It would be more of an issue if the head was much lower than 8 ohms. The only side effect will be that you will develop less power to the head than the amp is capable of. For example, an amp rated for 100 Watts into 8 ohms will only deliver 80 Watts into a 10 ohm load. Also, keep in mind that a typical head is not a pure resistive load. The impedance will vary from a low value at DC and increases as the frequency is raised. The impedance given by the head manufacturer is at some specific frequency and in many cases is not stated. Typically, it would be measured at 1Khz. Hope that makes sense.
Mark