8ohm and 4ohm speakers mixed together? (1 Viewer)

[MoG]

I'm thinking of getting 7.1 speakers. The front LCR will be 4ohm, while the 4 surrounds will be 8ohm. All 7 have power handling of 100 watts. BTW, the LCR are Gallo Due's and the surrounds are Gallo Micro's.

I've heard that many mid-range receivers have trouble driving 4ohm speakers. Is this true? Regardless, is there an issue mixing speakers with different impedances?

I emailed Gallo asking if this would be a problem and they replied with the following:

"No, although you will have to give the rears a little more volume level"

Thanks.

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

MoG,

It is true that some receivers can have trouble driving 4-ohm speakers. All things being equal 4-ohm speakers demand more current from the amplifier. It is generally accepted that using 4-ohm speakers with an amplifier not designed for them is risky but in reality just how much trouble they are to drive depends on the speaker, primarily where in the frequency range they operate at lower impedances, and how efficient they are. How loud you like to play the system also comes to bear.

It is no problem mixing speakers of different impedances – each amplifier channel only “sees” the speaker that is attached to it.

Regarding having to turn up the rears, that really has more to do with the speaker’s individual efficiency than impedance. However, presumably Gallo knows what you can expect from their speakers.

Regards,

Wayne A. Pflughaupt