Can an 8-ohm amp drive a 4-ohm speaker?

[Prefuse]

The specs of my NAD C340 Integrated says it can give 50 watts continuous into 8 ohms.

I plan on upgrading my speakers to a pair of Dynaudios which have a nominal impedance of 4 ohms.

I will eventually upgrade my amp, but for the meanwhile, will it be able to drive these speakers in a fairly small room? Will I run the risk of frying my amp? Thanks.

[markw]

Read your specs more carefully. It has ratings for 4 ohms as well as 8 ohms. It can easily drive a pair of 4 ohm speakers... indefinitely.

[Prefuse]

Thanks for the reply,

The specs I got from the internet only specified the 50 watts into 8 ohms. Only until I began reading on another site about the NAD's use of its ISC technology did I discover that it could drive 50 watts into 4 ohms as well.

Another question, will my amp get hotter as a result? It is currently in an unfavorable location on my equipment rack. Thanks.

[Geoffcin]

The specs of my NAD C340 Integrated says it can give 50 watts continuous into 8 ohms.

I plan on upgrading my speakers to a pair of Dynaudios which have a nominal impedance of 4 ohms.

I will eventually upgrade my amp, but for the meanwhile, will it be able to drive these speakers in a fairly small room? Will I run the risk of frying my amp? Thanks.

Absolutely, you'll be able to drive them. NAD amps are very good for having a lot of headroom, and I'm sure they put protection circuts in them so I wouldn't worry too much. The problem arises when you try to play them loud, and you drain you amps current dry.

Your going to want a new amp eventually. The danes can take a lot of current. I auditioned a pair once (the big Contours) that was hooked up to a 500 wpc amp, and they sounded quite remarkable. I liked them better than the B&W speakers that were priced in the same range.

[Kursun]

Thanks for the reply,

The specs I got from the internet only specified the 50 watts into 8 ohms. Only until I began reading on another site about the NAD's use of its ISC technology did I discover that it could drive 50 watts into 4 ohms as well.

Another question, will my amp get hotter as a result? It is currently in an unfavorable location on my equipment rack. Thanks.

It will surely run hotter. For producing the same amount of power (W) into 4 ohms instead of 8 ohms, the amplifier will be required to handle about %40 more current (amperes). You have to try and see if the temperature rises to uncomfortable levels when driving 4 ohm loads.

BTW your NAD should produce somewhat more Watts into 4 ohms. In fact amplifiers with perfect power supplies (and output stages) double their power with each halving of load impedance.