Denon 2802 or Onkyo 696 foir low impendacne drive capability? (1 Viewer)

[Kyle_Y]

I have 4ohm ADS towers in front with Defitnive procinema surrounds(4-8ohm rating for the speakers). I need a receiver that can DRIVE my ADS towers which are very power hungry. I have a Pioneer receiver(non-Elitle) which keeps dying on me, it can't handle the low impendance, so at loud volumes, it shuts off. Will the Denon 2802 handle 4ohm speakers better than the Onkyo 696 or visa versa? DTSES is not a priority, although it would be nice. If one was to say the Onkyo 696 had better low impendance drive capability, I would surely choose it, but if the 2802 could handle it better, it would hands down be the 2802. I also feel that the 2802 probably would have better build quality since it is made in Japan and in light of the Onkyo 676's center channel cut out and receiver failures. By the way, I just caught the typos on the topic heading, sorry.

 

[Jeffrey_Jones]

Hello,

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think either receiver is rated to drive 4 Ohm speakers. They have the headroom to accommodate periodic 4 Ohm peaks but I'm not sure if I would feel comfortable driving those speakers all day. It could be very hard on the receiver's amp. I would consider getting a separate amp for your front speakers.

Again, If someone has had good luck driving 4 ohm speakers with either of these products, please correct me.

Thanks,

Jeff

 

[David Cohen]

The Onkyo 696 is UL certified to drive 6-Ohm loads. This is difficult certifciation to achieve and requires ample current supply and storage.

The 696 also features a microprocessor controlled amplifier that can be set to a 4-Ohm position when using a system of lower impedance speakers.

 

[Kyle_Y]

I know that they are both capable of criving 4ohm loads,I just want to know which is better. I think the Onkyo has a low-high impendance switcher on the back, I heard this was bad?

 

[Ryan Schnacke]

I don't see the big fuss over driving 4ohm speakers with a receiver. There may be a few extremely hard to drive speakers out there (planars?) but I'd be willing to bet that the majority of the time a the receiver shuts down its because it was asked to output well above its rated power.

Re: the 4/8 ohm impedance switch

The Onkyo is rated for 4 ohm speakers. They achieved this by adding the switch. Using the 4 ohm setting will cut the gain, I believe, for a given volume level.

Which is better? I don't know. The Denon isn't rated for 4 ohm speakers. But then again, it doesn't resort to an impedance switch either. If you're really concerned then buy them both, compare them and return the lesser.

 

[Holadem]

That is more like return the one you fry
--
Holadem

 

[Chris Eriksen]

Kyle,
I should be able to help here. Which towers do you own? I own a pair of the a/d/s/ L1290/2, and my receiver is an Onkyo 696. The L1290/2's are large 3.5-way towers with a pair of 9" drivers, a dome mid and a dome tweeter. My Onkyo 696 drives them with ease and stays cool, even though I have never set it to '4 ohm' mode.
I hope this helps!

 

[NickB]

Even though you don't set it to 4ohm it's still limiting it's power ouput to around 45 watts/channel when you have 4ohm speakers hooked up.

NickB