[Northman]

I know this question reveals all kinds of ignorance...

I have a "vintage" 3B amplifier. If I find another 3B of roughly the same vintage, can I switch them to "mono" and use them as monoblocks, feeding separate speakers?

Thanks!

[srb]

If your amp (and most 3Bs that I've seen do) has a stereo/mono bridging switch, then yes, but it is best to use 8Ω nominal speakers.

The bridged amplifier sees half the connected impedance, so an 8Ω speaker presents a 4Ω load to the amplifier, while a 4Ω speaker presents a 2Ω load, which is generally not recommended for these amplifiers.

[Northman]

Thank you srb. That's helpful. I'm considering the Maggies 3.7i, which are 4 ohm speakers. So it sounds like it won't work. I've had Maggies in the past and I've never found it straightforward to gauge how big an amp is needed. The salesperson said that my 3B would drive the speakers but, as he put it, "it depends on how loud loud is." I'm attached to my old amp, and was hoping to avoid a big amp purchase, but it sounds like I will need to reconsider.

[TJ-Sully]

hey again northman, I am also running Maggies. The 4B3 handled them very well. 14B3 even better..