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Cary cad120s running 4 ohm speakers?

Hi everyone I was wondering if some one uses or experimented with speakers that are a 4 ohm load. With the cary 120s amp?

I am currently looking at Totem Acoustic Element Metals which are a 4 ohm load but are 91db efficient.

I was originally looking at the Totem Element Earths which are 88db efficient and an 8 ohm load. But hearing how loud the metals being played with a triode corp 30watt 6ohm ultra liner amp. Can not imagine the juice pumped out by my 60 watt triode cary tube amp could run these, or even in ultra liner mode.

So my biggest question is anyone running the cad 120s on a 4ohm speaker load?
128x128jakecanada
koestner
625 posts
 
My friend brought over his CAD 120 to play through my Montana XP (4 Ohms 92/db) and there was no issue with not enough power.
brf
1,715 posts
 
The Totem is a 4ohm "nominal" rating. You will need to look at the speaker's impedance over the entire frequency range to see where the dips and valleys. Tube amps don't like wide impedance swings. One of the draw backs of the Cary is the absence of alternate output impedance taps like their bigger brothers.

There are always exceptions in audio, but most Totem owners run their speakers with ss amplification. On "paper" not the best match.
polk432
1,142 posts
 
You should have no problem running 4 ohm speakers. I've run both on mine without any problems. The CAD 120 is more powerful than you may think. You may not even need ultra linear mode. I'm using the Cary SLP98P pre that has plenty of gain, and have run Klipsch Quartets, Forte, Chorus, Linn Katans, Ninkas, Majik 140's, Lipinski L707's, and Wilson Witt series II speakers with no troubles ever. Best of luck.
jerroot
104 posts
 
Agree with Polk432, you should not have any problems. For two years I ran my Totem Mani-2's with a Cary CAD-120S Mkii, and they are significantly less efficient the the Elements. If your pre is not of a significantly higher gain like Polk's you might consider having Cary upgrade your 120 to the Mkii. Have fun. Beautiful amp that CAD-120.
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