Surround Sound newbie - can I mix & match speakers? (1 Viewer)

[Kyle Knapp]

My son just upgraded his HT system, and persuaded me to take his older Onkyo HT-S6200 7.1 system off his hands.
I've never had a surround system before, and previously have been pretty happy with my old stereo (plus subwoofer). I'm very pleased with the HT-R670 reciever, easy to set up, and makes it easy to control all my components.

I'm experimenting now with speaker setup, So far I've set up only the 2 front speakers + center speaker + sub, and I'm hoping to get some advice before I go much further.

First off, I'm disappointed with the sound coming from the SK?-670 speakers (all 7 speakers are identical I think, except for the 3rd digit of the model number, which seem to correspond to placement). I did an A-B comparison with my old Sony SS-U201 cabinets, which I've had since the 1980s - the Sonys have a much richer, fuller sound. (The grilles don't come off, so I don't know for sure what's inside them, but from what I can feel through the grille I think they're 3-way, or maybe 2-way with a port, with 8" drivers).


My question is, can I just use my old Sony speakers in place of the Onkyos for front left & right? (possibly important detail: the Sonys are rated 8 ohms/200watts, Onkyos are 6 ohm/130w - I don't fully understand what this means, is it a problem? Does the number of speakers matter - ie, can I get away with using a pair of 8 ohm speakers if I set up as 5.1 instead of 7.1?)

Thanks so much!

 

[schan1269]

Yes, use your Sony.

That AVR is compatible with pretty much every speaker made 6ohm and higher, and can safely be used with 4ohm.

6 and 4ohm(and up) represent 95% of home speakers...ever made.

The difference ohm load makes...

The lower the ohm load the less resistance. Think wind in your car. Headwind(higher ohm load) takes more effort for a given speed.

In essence, a lower ohm load simply means more power is created from a given amount of input. Amplifiers can only provide a finite amount of power.

4 ohm simply requires less input.

If you took physics in high school, electrical ohm load is 2nd week stuff.