Can connecting only one speaker damage an AV Receiver ? (1 Viewer)

[boblite]

I ask this because I want to directly compare a Sony 1080 with an Onkyo NR676 by hooking each to one speaker in mono mode and playing the same CD on the Onkyo and then the Sony, and repeating until I get a good idea whether there's any clear difference.

I prefer the connectivity of the Onkyo but have read a somewhat persuasive article arguing that the Sony AV receivers tend to more faithfully reproduce the original sound of instruments.

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

I’ve never heard anything indicating that running only one speaker is bad. It’s usually recommended to have no signal on the vacant channel, however. This would easily be accomplished with the balance control, panning it over to the channel you have the speaker connected to.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[Dave Moritz]

The only way I am aware of is if the wires cross on the channel where the speaker was disconnected. I have never heard of damaging a receiver or even a power amp by running it with one speaker or even no speakers.

 

[Jay968]

This used to be a problem with tube amps but I too have never heard of any problems with solid state amps.