Staff Answer
Jun 27, 2022 - 09:32 AM
Speakers are designed to sound the same in each impedance. Assuming both speakers are broken in, they will sound nearly identical (as close as one can expect, given manufacturing tolerances) when properly paired with the right output settings on a tube amp with 8 and 16-ohm outputs. However, this is where it gets complicated...
Not all tube amp output transformers with multiple taps are created equal. The amp itself may sound different (in some cases, very different) with the different output settings, even when matched with the correct impedance speaker. That is not the fault of the speaker. Or, in the case of your amplifier, it seems to have only one output jack with no way to select the impedance. It just says (8-16 ohms) on the output jack. You'd have to confirm with H&K, but that leads me to believe there is only one output impedance, and they are just claiming the the amp is robust enough to handle a mismatch. The actual impedance of the output could be 8-ohm, 12-ohm, or 16-ohm. In which case, changing speaker impedance would absolutely have an audible impact on the tone, which may lead one to believe the speakers sound different at different impedance, but it is really the amp causing the change. Best guess would be you'll hear slightly more mids using a 16-ohm speaker vs an 8-ohm speaker.
Not all tube amp output transformers with multiple taps are created equal. The amp itself may sound different (in some cases, very different) with the different output settings, even when matched with the correct impedance speaker. That is not the fault of the speaker. Or, in the case of your amplifier, it seems to have only one output jack with no way to select the impedance. It just says (8-16 ohms) on the output jack. You'd have to confirm with H&K, but that leads me to believe there is only one output impedance, and they are just claiming the the amp is robust enough to handle a mismatch. The actual impedance of the output could be 8-ohm, 12-ohm, or 16-ohm. In which case, changing speaker impedance would absolutely have an audible impact on the tone, which may lead one to believe the speakers sound different at different impedance, but it is really the amp causing the change. Best guess would be you'll hear slightly more mids using a 16-ohm speaker vs an 8-ohm speaker.
