Shahinian Oblisk

I agree with all of the above, including Newbee. That is, the "typical" installation will have the speakers connected to a tap that is equal to or lower than the nominal impedance of the speaker. That can vary though depending on how accurate the nominal impedance of the speaker was rated and / or the actual impedance taps of the transformer itself.

It is quite possible that a tap that is higher in ohmic value may sound better with a given speaker. In such a case, the only real potential drawback that i see is that distortion may be a tad higher, damping factor slightly reduced and / or tube life might be shortened slightly. That's because the slight impedance mismatch will end up pulling more current through the tube than if a lower impedance tap was selected. Even then, i don't see this as being a major concern so long as on isn't consistently wailing on the throttle of a tough to drive speaker. The bottom line is that one should experiment in such a situation, but be careful and use common sense. Sean
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A very astute suggestion by Newbee. Try all of them and choose which voice you sounds best to you as none will cause any damage to your amplifier or your speakers.

Why not just give Richard Shahinian a shout. I'm sure he would be more than happy to speak with you and give you some insight how best to enjoy his product. Try him at 516-736-0036

I would like to thank all of you for your useful insight on this topic. It is because of people like you that makes this site a pleasure to visit. Happy New Years to all!!!

As a fellow Shahinian-McIntosh-owner, my experience is that the Obelisks sounds best with the 8-ohm-tap