Would the Denon 3802 be OK with 4ohm speakers? (1 Viewer)

[Luke_Y]

Would the Denon 3802 be OK with 4ohm speakers?

I am looking at Mordaunt-Short 500 system, the 502 fronts and the 504 center are 4ohm. The 506 rears are 8ohm.

The Denon manual says 6-16 ohms for the fronts and 8-16 for the rears I believe. But then just after that it has a blurb that the receiver may go into protection if speakers with too low impedance are used. It then says for example LESS than 4ohms. ??

So anyway I wouldn't want to get these speakers and have my receiver going into protect all the time just to wind up having to replace one or the other.

Any insight or experience would be appreciated.

 

[Luke_Y]

Bump- Anyone?

 

[Shane Martin]

Reading the Mordaunt Short site reveals the following:

Sensitivity (dB) 90

Impedance (nominal) (Ohms) 4-8

So based on this I will say that they aren't very power hungry and your Denon 3802 should be ok. This point is quite moot if you decide to crank it up to reference level. At that level your Denon may run out of steam if your room is of decent size. If that is the case, then you are a candidate to buy an external amplifier which you will probably want to do anyway down the road as I doubt any reciever will keep up with a quality amplifier when it comes to delivering power at reference level.

If you have a small room and don't play it that loud, then you are probably good to go as far as the Denon is concerned. IF you have a larger room, then keep the volume down if you are worried about running the Denon into protection.

 

[Rob Rodier]

I am looking at Mordaunt-Short 500 system, the 502 fronts and the 504 center are 4ohm

Hi Luke, I'll try and walk you through this one...

The above two quotes illustrate that what you are contemplating might create a problem. However, most of the empirical data regarding high quality receivers driving speakers with relatively low resistance shows that it can be done successfully, for the most part.

For stereo operation, I would not think twice. However, when three other speakers (at least) start tapping that toroid things might get sticky.

If you do decide to go with this setup, the 3802 will run hot. You will need ample ventilation, and maybe even an external fan.

If I were you, I would look into a different speaker system. If you have your heart set on the the M-S than you could always buy an external amp. Used 2ch models by Acurus, Adcom, Parasound and others can be found on audiogon.com for under $300. Any of these would also liven up your 2 ch music (if you care)

Of course, you could also roll the dice. Maybe a good return policy would allow you a test run?

Good luck

-rob