8 Ohms receiver - 6 Ohms speaker

[muk]

Hi

I am planning to buy a set of 5 speakers for my 100 Watt, 8-16 Ohms
rated receiver and I have read the threads about the danger of
connecting 6 Omhs speakers to 8 Ohms amplifiers.

What may happen (in terms of sound quality etc.) if I connect the
following:

- A pair of front speakers (rated 60W nom./220W max. 8 Ohms)
- TWO CENTER SPEAKERS (RATED 60W/180W 6 OHMS) in SERIES (to add up to
12 Ohms)
- A pair of rear speakers (rated 70W/140W 8 Ohms)

Regards

Muk

[Bill]

muk wrote:

>I am planning to buy a set of 5 speakers for my 100 Watt, 8-16 Ohms
>rated receiver and I have read the threads about the danger of
>connecting 6 Omhs speakers to 8 Ohms amplifiers.

It's usually not a big issue, unless the speakers dip really low in the
impedance curve. Most amps will have no problem driving them.

The bigger concern is sound quality by driving two center channel
speakers...it likely won't sound as good a single speaker. And I'm
guessing the speakers are not timbre-matched since the fronts and
centers have different impedance ratings.

Will it work ok? Probably.
Will it sound great? Maybe.

Much more detail is needed to give a more specific reply.

[rdclark]

muk wrote:
> Hi
>
> I am planning to buy a set of 5 speakers for my 100 Watt, 8-16 Ohms
> rated receiver and I have read the threads about the danger of
> connecting 6 Omhs speakers to 8 Ohms amplifiers.
>
> What may happen (in terms of sound quality etc.) if I connect the
> following:
>
> - A pair of front speakers (rated 60W nom./220W max. 8 Ohms)
> - TWO CENTER SPEAKERS (RATED 60W/180W 6 OHMS) in SERIES (to add up
to
> 12 Ohms)
> - A pair of rear speakers (rated 70W/140W 8 Ohms)

Why two center speakers?

Other than that, nothing untoward should happen, except (as noted by
Bill) the center channel may sound funky, and may not give you the
benefit you expect it to compared to a single, timbre-matched center
speaker that's just turned up louder if that's the goal.

RichC

[muk]

"rdclark" <rdclark2@comcast.net> wrote in message news:<1107987526.211722.219180@l41g2000cwc.googlegroups. com>...
> muk wrote:
> > Hi
> >
> > I am planning to buy a set of 5 speakers for my 100 Watt, 8-16 Ohms
> > rated receiver and I have read the threads about the danger of
> > connecting 6 Omhs speakers to 8 Ohms amplifiers.
> >
> > What may happen (in terms of sound quality etc.) if I connect the
> > following:
> >
> > - A pair of front speakers (rated 60W nom./220W max. 8 Ohms)
> > - TWO CENTER SPEAKERS (RATED 60W/180W 6 OHMS) in SERIES (to add up to 12 Ohms)
> > - A pair of rear speakers (rated 70W/140W 8 Ohms)

---
> Why two center speakers?
---

I can't find an 8 Ohms center speaker from that manufacturer (it's
Yamaha)so I'm trying to get around the danger of high impedance (8
Ohms) amp/low impedance (6 Ohms) speaker by combining the two center
speakers to have a total impedance of 12 Ohms.

I'm thinking of another alternative - buy an additional pair of the
rear speakers (they're 8 Ohms, 3-way ones) and use one of them as a
center speaker.

[Rich Clark]

"muk" <mnauzeer@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:bd242680.0502111313.3d7a82d1@posting.google.c om...

>> Why two center speakers?
> ---
>
> I can't find an 8 Ohms center speaker from that manufacturer (it's
> Yamaha)so I'm trying to get around the danger of high impedance (8
> Ohms) amp/low impedance (6 Ohms) speaker by combining the two center
> speakers to have a total impedance of 12 Ohms.
>
> I'm thinking of another alternative - buy an additional pair of the
> rear speakers (they're 8 Ohms, 3-way ones) and use one of them as a
> center speaker.

Here are some random thoughts:

1) You may be worrying too much about the center channel's impedance. Having
one channel draw a little more current from the power supply probably won't
affect the receiver unless you listen very loud. Especially if the speakers
are set to "small" and the crossover is fairly high; it's low frequencies
that draw the most current.

2) If the receiver's inability to deliver high current (the usual reason for
8-ohm+ limitations) is causing you not to choose the speakers that work and
sound best to you, maybe you should replace it. You can buy a reconditioned
Onkyo 502B for $150 that's rated for 4-ohm loads.

3) You may be able to find a different manufacturer's center channel speaker
that matches your mains. Buy from a store that takes no-questions-asked
returns, and you can audition them in your system and return them if they
don't sound right.

4) "Same manufacturer" is no guarantee of timbre-matching anyway. Especially
from a company that doesn't really specialize in speakers.

5) A series connection to two center channel speakers is almost certain to
change the sound of the center channel enough that timbre-matching stops
being a factor anyway.

RichC

[neilnewsgroups@hotmail.com]

I wouldn't worry too much about this stuff. These sort of specs on
speakers are often inaccurate and the impedance (which is the ohms)
will vary at different frequencies too, making these specs even more
meaningless.

If you read some speaker reviews in magazines, you'll see what I mean
about ohm ratings of speakers. If you had speakers that were really low
impedance (like 1 or 2 ohm), your receiver might run hot, but the
speakers you have should work fine.

I wouldn't bother with 2 center speakers either. That's unnecessary,
IMHO.

If you're concerned about the impedance, check your receiver
occasionally and make sure it's not getting too hot.

(And of course, as with any receiver, you'll want to make sure it's
getting enough ventilation.)

Anyway, as long as your receiver isn't running too hot, you're going to
be fine. If your receiver runs hot, then just turning down the volume
may solve that problem.

BTW, you can forget about the watts ratings on your speakers. Those
figures are usually meaningless.

[Archer]

BTW be careful about taking advice from message boards you could have
a lot of money invested in home theater and ratings and watts and other
specs are important and advice like "turning the volume down if your
receiver gets hot" is bad advice. Your receiver should operate normally
with the right speakers and under any conditions

Here is a link that might help in choosing speakers:

http://www.crutchfieldadvisor.com/ISEO-rgbtcspd/learningcenter/home/speakers_faq.html

[Archer]

I wouldn't bother with 2 center speakers either. That's unnecessary,
IMHO.


That is is the whole idea of having a home theatre with 6.1 surround
sound.
You might as well by an amp with just stereo, rather than getting a
home theater receiver.

[Archer]

Does your Yamaha amp have rear center as well front center if not it
would better to use just one, I have a yamaha receiver that has front
and rear center speaker connections and it say 8ohms for those.

I personally have sony book shelf speakers rated a 100 watts each for
exactly the same for front and rear.

Then I bought one more pair and use them for front and rear center.

Then I have sony sub woofer.

My receiver is Yamaha, I think the idea is to have similar speakers, or
my case all the same quality and brand, not necessarily the same brand
as the amp.

I did not pay a lot money either, the speakers were 99 dollars a pair,
and the subwoofer was 99 dollars and that is powered.

It works great!

So it was about 400 bucks total.

[neilnewsgroups@hotmail.com]

Archer wrote:
> BTW be careful about taking advice from message boards you could
have
> a lot of money invested in home theater and ratings and watts and
other
> specs are important

IME (of which I have decades of), it's very easy for consumers to take
those sort of specs, especially from speaker makers, way too seriously.
(Which is one reason some speaker makers don't supply those specs at
all. And as anyone who reads and understands speaker test reports can
tell you, the specs many speaker makers supply are often wrong or
meaningless anyway.) Anyway, most any home speaker (there are a few
high-end, very oddball designs that work at 1 or 2 ohms and that are
exceptions and not available to a typical consumer) will work fine with
any receiver in any typical use.

I notice that unless I've overlooked it, there isn't a single example
of a typical home speaker that won't work fine with a typical receiver
in a home setting.

>and advice like "turning the volume down if your
> receiver gets hot" is bad advice.

If your receiver is overheating, you definitely want to turn the volume
down, or better still, turn it off.

>Your receiver should operate normally
> with the right speakers

Correct.

>and under any conditions

Or at least under typical home conditions.

> Here is a link that might help in choosing speakers:
>
>
http://www.crutchfieldadvisor.com/ISEO-rgbtcspd/learningcenter/home/speakers_faq.html

I skimmed the above and it confirms much of what I've said.

Anyway, for anyone who's concerned about these issues, I recommend you
shop and work with a knowledgable local audio/video dealer who can demo
any combination of gear you're interested in using. Actually, I
recommend that to any consumer.

[Archer]

You bring up valid points.

But there a lot of people out there, who have high end end equip and
use inferior speakers, and wonder why their amp shuts down.

"If your receiver is overheating, you definitely want to turn the
volume
down, or better still, turn it off."

But I would add fix the problem before you turn it back on.

Also it's amazing how receivers takes all kinds of abuse, and still
work.
Abuse like inferior speakers and speaker wires.

[neilnewsgroups@hotmail.com]

Archer wrote:
> You bring up valid points.
>
> But there a lot of people out there, who have high end end equip and
> use inferior speakers, and wonder why their amp shuts down.

The most likely reason that a receiver would shut down is that it's
being driven too hard and overheating, so it shuts down to prevent
damage to the receiver.

BTW, I haven't noticed anybody in this thread mentioning speaker
sensitivity (AKA efficiency), yet another confusing (and sometimes
meaningless) speaker spec that confuses many consumers. ;-) It's
another spec that not all speaker makers provide, probably because it's
confusing and too easy for consumers to focus on.

Most any consumer receiver or amp will have enough power to drive most
any consumer speaker in almost any home situation, so consumers really
shouldn't worry about specs too much. Over the years, I've paid less
and less attention to manufacturers' specs and more and more attention
to what the gear (mainly the speakers, which make by far the biggest
difference) sounds like. I couldn't even tell you the specs for most of
the gear I have now. It's way too easy to focus on specs that are often
(in the case of speakers) inaccurate or meaningless.

> "If your receiver is overheating, you definitely want to turn the
> volume
> down, or better still, turn it off."
>
> But I would add fix the problem before you turn it back on.

Good point.

As most readers here will know, some HT receivers, if not ventilated
adequately, can get pretty hot. I owned an HT receiver awhile back
where the manual stated that the receiver should never have anything
stacked above it, because the receiver could run pretty hot and might
shut down if not ventilated. I was reading a post awhile back from
another owner of that receiver, and he said that when his receiver got
too hot (he used the receiver in an enclosed cabinet that didn't allow
proper ventilation), the receiver would get kinda confused and wouldn't
properly follow commands from the remote. I guess the overheating
affects RAM or something, like an overheating PC.

> Also it's amazing how receivers takes all kinds of abuse, and still
> work.
> Abuse like inferior speakers and speaker wires.

The receiver doesn't care what speakers and wires are used, as long as
they're functional (i.e., not shorting out).

(The exceptions would be: (1) Really, really low impedance speakers
(like maybe 2 ohm or less) that almost no consumers will use or even
have a dealer for. (2) It's also possible that really, really long
speaker lengths of really, really skinny speaker wire could also cause
impedance problems, but I've never seen anybody go far enough for that
to be a problem.)