Ohms (1 Viewer)

[Chris Huber]

I was checking out some Axioms.
http://www.axiomaudio.com/products.html
and
Elite 94TX
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pn...tailsComponent


The heavy duty speakers (VP150, M80, QS8) all say 4 or 6 ohms. If a Pioneer 94TX reciever lists 140watts @ 8 ohms, what would happen if you hooked up these 4 or 6 ohms speakers? Would it not play as loud or efficient?

Also, some speakers say 6 ohms (compatible with 8 ohms AVRs). Whats this mean for the above AVR? Does that mean it'll work, just not play as loud?

So whats the best way to go? Stick with the right ohms, in this case 8 with the 94TX? Or select biggest speakers, and ohms that do not match? (I think I know the answer here). Just wanted to see if I was missing anything...

 

[JeremyErwin]

Essentially, it will get hotter.

 

[Chris Huber]

So, the AVR will get hotter? Will it still play loud with a 4 ohm load?

 

[Robert_J]

There's less resistance to the current going to the speaker. The receiver will output more wattage and get hotter. Will it play loud? Depends on how far you turn up the volume.

-Robert

 

[John Garcia]

It depends on a lot of things, like the sensitivity of each speaker, the size of your room and how loud you listen / what you consider "loud". At 4 Ohms, a speaker will draw more or less twice as much current as a similarly sensitive speaker that is 8 Ohms to achieve the same SPL.

 

[Matt Tucker]

If your receiver had an ideal power supply, lowering the speaker impedance by 1/2 would get you about twice the power output. However, power supply voltages will drop with a heavier load (lower ohm speakers) and your power will not go up nearly as much.
The output transistors (in the receiver) will get more hot with more power coming out of your receiver and that is why many receivers can't handle 4 ohms speakers (not enough room for heat dissipation or a big beefy power supply).

I would recommend sticking to 8 ohms speakers if your receiver says 8 ohms. But, if you are not feeding deep bass to the speakers connected to the receiver (using the bass management on your receiver for all speakers) then you can probably use 6 ohm speakers without worry. The bass is where a lot of the power is and speakers impedances are not flat... they often drop in impedance at lower frequencies.

Matt

 

[Raymond lee Leggs]

You will have a serious case of *pop* goes the receiver if you don't watch the ohms, because a 4 ohm speaker can drop down to 2 OHMS!

 

[JeremyErwin]

It varies from speaker to speaker. I have 8 ohm speakers that drop down to 3 ohms. But the Magnepans are 4 ohms across the board.

 

[Mort Corey]

I would consider the Axiom 50 series......or, replace the receiver.

Mort

 

[JeremyErwin]

If you feel you must, you can switch the receiver over to 6 ohm mode. And you can add a 2 channel amp for the front two channels.