4 ohm (or 6) Bookshelf speakers. Pass Labs 30.8

@georgehifi   Agreed, that is what I am shooting for.  Just, not a boat load of 4/6 ohm shelf speakers out there, but they are out there, and increasingly enough it seems I have enough options to consider this amp as something for me (where as before I was concerned there just wasn't a selection of 4 ohm speakers in the shelf form).  Do you think very sensitive speaker, say 95 or higher @8ohm, would be just as good or better than a speakers sensitivity at 85 with 4 ohm?  Do you have a preference?  Just curious, seems like both methods might get the same result, just different ways.  Thanks!

@jsautter   Thanks for the input!  Just to make sure we are on teh same page, my goal is to keep the amp running in class A for my listening needs.  at 8 ohms, it produces 30w/ch.  at 4 ohms it produces 60w/ch.  So, there is more headroom fro Class A, making it a bit more practical for when/if I want to go a bit louder, though I do prefer lower volumes.  60w/ch isn't much though in a world of massive mono blocks!  Should be fine for me though.  

When you say "perform better in 8 ohms", what do you mean?  

Once I can validate a speaker will very likely produce the volumes I am seeking, I'll add it to the list of speakers to listen too.  An 8 ohm speaker at a sensitivity of 86 will likely not be ideal, for example.  I want to give the amp a chance, and have to be selective in the speaker to do so.  

I’ve run a 30.5 through an AR pre to 8 ohm 86db sensitivity speakers in a fairly small room. No problem at all with volume to pretty loud levels. I don’t believe it ever got out of class A but have no way of verifying that. Pass will also tell you that there is no sudden change in sound when it goes to A/B. If mine ever changed to A/B I didn’t know it. This 30 watt amp was tested long ago by Stereophile to output about 150 watts I believe, which is slightly higher than the .8 model.

@yogiboy 

" The Aerial 5t is a 4 ohm speaker. BTW, why do you feel that you need a 4 ohm speaker? The impedance changes with most speakers!"

Ok, well, I don't know anything about impedance changing.  Not that I needed another variable in the mix, but if it's there, it's there!  One thing I did not clarify earlier on because I was still learning, was that I want to stay with in the amps Class  A rating, and at 8 ohms, that is only 30w/ch.  By going with a 4 ohm speaker (as in, only 4 ohm), the amp is now making (advertised) 60w/ch, fully class A. 

So I guess in short, my answer is volume and headroom.  How much of that I'll need depends on the speaker and likely the source, too. Though my listening levels will tend to be low, sometimes moderate, I can appreciate knowing that I have some flexibility there.  60w/ch still isn't a lot, most amps today make 100/ch. 

One thing thats hard to pin, is what is the minimum wattage any speaker needs to sound full or at it's potential.  That varies with speakers, and I don't know how to validate what power they need minimum.  Maybe most book shelfs only need 10 watts to sound good?  Others, more?  And thats where sensitivity comes into play.  Most book shelf speakers, or stand mounts, seem to be rated 85-86.  Not helpful with low output amps.  95 would be a different story, etc.  But I seem to be finding more and more 4 ohm speakers,not so much highly sensitive ones.  I do know Klipsch makes some, though.  So, that said, I'm also open to highly sensitive speakers, I just don't know at what sensitivity level they are on par with twice the volume, which would only be needed as a reference point so I could calculate other sensitivity figures, too.  

@stttt Those look good, thanks!  Added to list!