onkyo txsr501 power ouput at 4 ohms?? (1 Viewer)

[Stephen Matthew]

i am currently building some cabinets for home theater use, 4 ohms unfortunately...my question is whether the onkyo txsr501 will handle 4 ohm loads.. i saw a recent review which showed that the model cut power drastically at full volume, and im wondering if the same protection circuit would kick in on a 4 ohm load.. i have an old pioneer POS which gets toasty at 4o hms but has no problems otherwise, and id like to upgrade to a quality reciever...

also, do the harmon kardon models do as much power per dollar in actual output as the onkyo's? i work at a dealer for both so it is one of the other, but when comparing the 25watts/channel less id get from the HK units i have to wonder...

thanks!

 

[ChrisLazarko]

4ohms will definantly make the reciever run hotter and if not properly ventelated you will have a problem. The Onkyo shouldn't have a problem.

As for the HK, it's a simple reason on why they are rated lower. Harman is very truthful on there ratings, somewhat unlike Denon, Onkyo, and Yamaha, along with others like Sony and so on....

HK is one of the few manufacturers that tests there recievers running a full load of 20Hz-20KHz ALL channels driven.

Companies like Onkyo, Denon, Yamaha will test there recievers at a 1KHz tone (sometimes it will be 20Hz-20KHz) but will test it only on 1 channel driven... which will yield much higher results on PAPER.

In reality the Harman is going to deliver the same amount of power if not more. Something you have to remember that the reciever is an amplifier, not a wattifier. The more clean amps being put into that reciever is going to yield a much better sound. HK includes some big power supplies in there recievers and I found HK to be one of the best at customer service as well.

I have seen people have all kinds of problems with HK recievers and the company will exchange there products without arguement. I have also seen people with products wayyyy out of warranty from HK that have broke and have called up HK and they have given them credit towards a new reciever, which is something you don't very many companies doing these days.

I hope this helps you out... I'm very tired right now so I am not sure if this will all make sense to you, hopefully it does.

Good luck on your decision.

 

[Stephen Matthew]

thanks for the input.. ive learned from car audio that a watt certainly isnt always a watt.. no surprise that home audio is the same way....though honestly i would have expected more from onkyo, etc...if im paying good money for a high end piece i expect it to do more than it says and exceed my expectations... i think i will go HK....

thanks

 

[ChrisLazarko]

Well onkyo and denon aren't "bad" but the worst I have seen is Yamaha and Sony... at least so far.