JBL Olympus C50 speakers ohms question


I have a tube amp...push pull...EL 34 tubes....80 watts per channel
I have 4 - 8 ohms Taps.
My JBL Speakers are 16 ohms...
My question is ...will that be a problem.
Please advise.
rocky1313
No I have JBL C36s and C38s with less expensive 030 driver driver combinations in each pair. The C 50 Olympus generally came packaged with the more massive 175 tweeters and sometimes even the vaunted 375. If you have those tweeters you are very fortunate. Mostly C50s used a 3 driver set up.
Each of my speakers are rated at 16 Ohms. As with virtually all tube equipment there is an impedance mismatch between the speaker and amp and when you raise the speaker impedance the more effective the output is from the amp. A tube amp with a nominal 80 watts per channel at 8 ohms will drive the 16 ohm speakers easily and reach unbearable volume levels without any strain on the amp.
Vintage JBLs from that era typically have sensitivities in the mid 90s db/ W/ Meter but my experience is that they are even more sensitive than that. Remember the amps from that time were low power and required such speakers. In short -worry not. Hook them up to your 8 ohm tap and very carefully raise the volume lest you injure yourself or blow the cones out and fracture the compression driver diaphragms.