Why 8 ohms?

[Rattman]

Why do manufacturers make 8 ohm cabs? It would make more sense to just make a 2ohm or even 1ohm cab if you can put more power into those. Is there any reason for putting higher impedances in cabs?

Basic audio rule: You need to have a LOAD that your bass amp will "push" against,
or you can kiss that rig goodbye real fast! Yes, that head is gonna turn to toast
with a puff of smoke.. It's not nice to try to fool Mother Impedance :scowl:

 

[12bass]

But Eden does, and I've also heard this from many people of the years who know what they're talking about. [emphasis mine]:

"We have designed our amplifiers to operate safely at 2 ohms because everyone else is doing it and some users expect it. However, we much prefer operating at 4 or 8 ohms because of the markedly improved quality of tone and dynamic response."

I find it interesting that Eden makes this statement...... yet there are many Eden users who claim that their WT amplifiers are found lacking, and do not have much power or headroom when run into 8 ohms loads. Thus, counter to Eden's claims, it seems that Eden amps are best used with 4 ohm loads. This is my experience as well.

 

[ERIC31]

Watts=volts x amperes, so you can get more watts by increasing amperage or voltage or both. Increasing amperage is cheaper, you just add more output transistors and a higher capacity transformer. To get higher voltage output you need to use higher voltage transistors, transformers, and power supply componenets, and cost goes up exponentially as voltage capabilities are increased.

I had to laugh out loud with this paragraph. Not in an insulting way...it just makes me feel like I really need to go back to school to understand all this! LOL Man it was like reading in a language I don't understand.