Can the Sony AVD-S50ES handle 4 ohm loads? (1 Viewer)

[Yousaf]

I realize I may eventually need to get to Sony about this, but before I spend 2 hours on the phone waiting to talk to the right person, I just wanted to ask here to see if anyone knew. The question is, of course, the one in the title...does anyone know if the Sony AVD-S50ES can handle 4 ohm loads?

 

[Chu Gai]

It has a 6 ohm rating hence it likely failed the UL high power 1 hour heat test into 4 ohms. Provided you don't run your receiver maxed out with a 4 ohm load and bass heavy material you could get away with it. Otherwise you'll be back here posting something about an overload message coming on.

 

[Yousaf]

LOL thanks Chu. I figured as much but I needed to check. I don't suppose that anyone else has actually used 4 ohm speakers with the AVD-S50ES?

And Chu, since you seem to know a lot, let me ask you this. You mention that bass heavy material will be harder on the amp. If I cross the mains over at 80 or 100 Hz would this let me play the speakers louder before causing the amp to go into overload?

See, the main reason I am asking this is because it uses digital amplifiers, and I have no idea how those handle lower impedance loads. I know that a normal receiver will be able to play 4 ohm speakers but not at max volume, but for all I know the Sony will just shut down right away.

 

[John Garcia]

Yes.

Now the other thing is, I believe you were talking stereo only when we talked about your speakers? If that is the case, I would suspect it will be OK. As I said in the other post, my A/V-2s are 4 Ohm, and the receiver states 6 Ohm min, though it is able to drive them fine without sounding strained (a bit compresed at very high volume). The problem with the receiver not shutting down though, if that is the case, is that you could push it to distortion and damage the speakers. I don't have any insight as to how the digital amps handle lower impedance though.

 

[Chu Gai]

When I figure how to make money in the stock market then I'll know a lot. I'm not familiar with that particular unit, but yes, the use of a sub will facilitate matters. Do you presently have 4 ohm speakers? Even a digital amp is going to have to deal with some heat and this needs to be dissipated. Further, there is undoubtably some circuitry in the amp that is sensitive to either the heat or the currents that would be required to provide the power into a low impedance load. Got to be some compromises with a unit that melds a DVD & a receiver into one. Other alternatives would be the digital Panasonic receivers and an inexpensive DVD player.
From the few graphs that I've see with digital amps as you approach the rated power distortion products will increase as expected but at some point, they'll just shut down.

 

[Yousaf]

I'm currently using 8 ohm speakers, which is why I am posting this because I don't know what to expect.

 

[Chu Gai]

Well then you're in as good a position as you can be Yousaf with your present speakers. If your short term plans include different speakers that might be 4 ohms, then I'd let thoughts like room size, speaker sensitivity, etc. guide me. I think you'll do well.

 

[Rachael B]

I bought one of these for my bedroom and returned it.

1. It distorted on 2 out of 3 stereo SACD's I played on Paradigm Mini-Monitors. Weird digital distortion.

2. Totally sucky remote!

3. The S-video monitor output was too crooked to accept a cable.

4. Overall, it just looked and seemed low budjet....which it was for $500. Bad remote and ergonomoics, although I never saw the menus because you must use S-video for that. It didn't distort on any DVD's despite never being properly set-up. The digital amps had a different sound that un-nerved me a bit. ...I suppose an overall impression of UN-quality. I didn't even want to try another unit.

 

[Yousaf]

Well, Rachael, I already have it so allow me to respond to your statements.

1. I haven't tried SACDs yet, although the unit has not shown any problems with CDs or DVDs. I guess I'll have to try sometime but I am in the middle of buying other stuff first.

2. The remote may not be the greatest, but I was coming from a Harman Kardon receiver so I found it to be more than acceptable. HK owners know what I'm talking about

3. My S-video monitor output is just fine; in fact, I have it hooked up to my monitor and that is how I have been using it.

4. I don't see how it looks that low-budget...it's just a standard, clean faceplate. Feels pretty solid too. Are you saying that not distorting on DVDs is a bad thing? Finally, I think the digital amp sound is fine. It bests my HK AVR-320, which, while hardly being the reference in sound, was a pretty capable unit.

It's very possible you did indeed have a unit that was defective, in which case I guess you can comment on Sony's quality control but your opinions on the receiver itself are a bit biased. For what it's worth, on some other forum there was this huge (30+ page) discussing the Sony receivers and they were pretty well-reviewed. Also, they discovered that oddly enough, the digital amps needed some time to break in. Sucks that you had such a crappy experience, but not everyone's is that bad.

 

[Rachael B]

Yousaf, I was careful to tell you that I couldn't set it up properly. I really freaked when it distorted on the SACD's. This was at really moderate volumes too. I was afraid it could damage my speakers. I hope you have better luck with it!

 

[Yousaf]

Well, in case anyone was interested I can say that yes, the Sony seems to do just fine with 4 ohm loads. These digital amps surprise me...for some reason I figured they'd die when driving