Help! 8 ohm L/R fronts paired with a 4 ohm center

[lordshiva]

I want to know how bad it is going to sound, or if I'm ok. We're redoing our living room, and installing in-wall speakers. I just wanted good speakers and a 7.1 setup (using a Denon AVR 2310 CI) receiver so it can split 5.1 into 7.1), so what i initially did is this:

The center WAS going to be an Polk MC85 on its side.
The L/R fronts are Polk RC85i's (rectangles).
The L/R sides AND L/R rears Polk RC80i's (round).
The subwoofer is a Velodyne SC-600.

After I had bought all the speakers and they were being set up, my question of "is this center going to be awesome?" was answered with "yeah, it'll be ok" which prompted my "Only ok?" which was answered with "yeah, it'll be ok. It's just not a center speaker and only has one tweeter so it won't be as strong as a normal center."

Not realizing the differences in ohm's, I went back to the phone to where I bought the speakers and found out that the only in-wall center Polk makes is something called a "LCiC" (http://www.polkaudio.com/customaudio/lci/index.php#lci-c) - but it cost a whopping $600 bucks. Going online, I found a place selling it for $317 and decided that I wanted a real center speaker. I purchased the LCiC (which is in the mail) and returned the MC85.

It was around here that I was told "cool center, but it's 4 ohms," to which I replied "So?" and was answered with "well, the other speakers are 8 ohm speakers" to which I stared at the guy and said "So?" and the was told that a 4 ohm center and 8 ohm fronts will ruin my surround sound and that I'm going to be able to hear a big difference anytime a sound moves from left to right or right to left from the front speakers because a "4 ohm speaker is a lot stronger then an 8 ohm speaker" - he then went on about how the Polk RC's are more geared toward audio (listening to CD's, etc) then movies, which they hadn't mentioned before... also, EVERY review I've read on the 'net about the RC85i's and RC80i's have been nothing but positive toward being used as in-wall speakers.

So anyway, the current setup (waiting on the RCiC in the mail) will be:

Denon AVR 2310 CI Receiver.
Polk LCic center.
The L/R fronts are Polk RC85i's (rectangles).
The L/R sides AND L/R rears Polk RC80i's (round).
The subwoofer is a Velodyne SC-600.

Will the LCic ruin my 7.1 surround sound system or am I overreacting?

[jvc]

Does your Denon receiver have the option in it's setup menus, to set it to 4 ohm? If so, do that, and you should be ok. If not, you should still be ok, as long as you don't listen at loud volumes, for extended periods. 4 ohm speakers, with an 8 ohm receiver, can possibly cause it to run hot, go into "Protect" mode, and shut down.

My front three speakers are 4ohm, and the other four are 8 ohm. But my Onkyo receiver has the option to set it to 4 ohm. It said in the manual: If any speaker is 4ohm, set the receiver to 4 ohm. I set it to 4 ohm, and have had no problems, even at loud volumes.

Your center speaker isn't really a match for your other speakers, even though it's the same brand. They need to timbre match. In order to timbre match, they need to be from the same series, as well as the same brand. You really should return it, and get one from the same series.
Good luck!

[Hyfi]

I'm doing it the opposite way. My HK Receiver is rated at 8ohm and does not give a spec for 4ohms in documentation. My center is 8ohm but my rears are Dynaudio 42s at 4ohm and my fronts are the 82s at 4ohms. I do run the fronts through my main 2 ch setup via the pre outs for the fronts.

If your HT receiver does not have any outo sound setup, the worst thing that may happen is you will actually be able to hear the dialog over the background sounds because it will play louder at the same output wattage(becuse it close to doubles as you half the ohms). You also have to be sure that your receiver can handle a 4ohm load but I doubt a center would cause too much problem.

Just let your setup or meter set the volumes correct and you will be fine.

[pixelthis]

I want to know how bad it is going to sound, or if I'm ok. We're redoing our living room, and installing in-wall speakers. I just wanted good speakers and a 7.1 setup (using a Denon AVR 2310 CI) receiver so it can split 5.1 into 7.1), so what i initially did is this:

The center WAS going to be an Polk MC85 on its side.
The L/R fronts are Polk RC85i's (rectangles).
The L/R sides AND L/R rears Polk RC80i's (round).
The subwoofer is a Velodyne SC-600.

After I had bought all the speakers and they were being set up, my question of "is this center going to be awesome?" was answered with "yeah, it'll be ok" which prompted my "Only ok?" which was answered with "yeah, it'll be ok. It's just not a center speaker and only has one tweeter so it won't be as strong as a normal center."

Not realizing the differences in ohm's, I went back to the phone to where I bought the speakers and found out that the only in-wall center Polk makes is something called a "LCiC" (http://www.polkaudio.com/customaudio/lci/index.php#lci-c) - but it cost a whopping $600 bucks. Going online, I found a place selling it for $317 and decided that I wanted a real center speaker. I purchased the LCiC (which is in the mail) and returned the MC85.

It was around here that I was told "cool center, but it's 4 ohms," to which I replied "So?" and was answered with "well, the other speakers are 8 ohm speakers" to which I stared at the guy and said "So?" and the was told that a 4 ohm center and 8 ohm fronts will ruin my surround sound and that I'm going to be able to hear a big difference anytime a sound moves from left to right or right to left from the front speakers because a "4 ohm speaker is a lot stronger then an 8 ohm speaker" - he then went on about how the Polk RC's are more geared toward audio (listening to CD's, etc) then movies, which they hadn't mentioned before... also, EVERY review I've read on the 'net about the RC85i's and RC80i's have been nothing but positive toward being used as in-wall speakers.

So anyway, the current setup (waiting on the RCiC in the mail) will be:

Denon AVR 2310 CI Receiver.
Polk LCic center.
The L/R fronts are Polk RC85i's (rectangles).
The L/R sides AND L/R rears Polk RC80i's (round).
The subwoofer is a Velodyne SC-600.

Will the LCic ruin my 7.1 surround sound system or am I overreacting?

Dont worry about it.
If you have the option of 6 ohms run it at that.
I have a 8 ohm center, two 8 ohm rears, and two 4 ohm fronts.
Everything runs fine.
Its probably better to run a speaker at a higher impedance, but in any case it wont affect the sound.
Might affect the vollume, the lower the impedance the louder the speaker will be,
as a general rule:1:

[Mr Peabody]

OMG, you bought your equipment from an idiot, I hope they aren't as stupid when it comes to the installation.

1. Most center channel speakers only have ONE tweeter. The tweeter is usually between two larger drivers.

2. What JVC said, it is important, more so than ohms or whatever, that the speakers match, same series and timbre. This way you get a seamless panning of sound. If the speakers don't match it would be almost like listening to a stereo with two mismatched speakers. It is a good idea to have a good performing center channel though because most all dialog and all center screen action will happen there.

3. In wall isn't the way to go for best sound but maybe that's what you prefer for looks.

4. And to answer your question, basically the 4/8 ohms is a non-issue as long as your receiver's amp section can handle it. 4 ohms will draw more current from the amp but it can probably handle it fine.
> The reason it's a non-issue because the receiver's set up has a separate independent volume setting for each speaker. So how and the world can one be louder? When setting up the receiver each volume control should be set to where each speaker is equally audible at the listening position.

As a set up tip you want to measure the distance from each speaker to the listening position and then set the speaker delays in the set up. Of course, your Denon probably has auto set up and that may be the best way to go if not experienced with doing it manually.

[lordshiva]

Well originally I was going to have a MC85 as a center and it was only late that I realized that it wasn't a "true" center and all it was was a side speaker on its side - but they suggested that because of the 16' limit between studs. The LCic is powerful but can still fit in-wall and between studs.

And yeah, the reason we're going in-wall is to make the room look cleaner. It's a living room and if I had 7 speakers lining up in the room I might really like it but my wife definitely would not lol

So I decided to give in-wall a try and, well, they do look awesome in the walls. Eventually I will upgrade the front left and right with the LCic equivalent, but right now they are too expensive. I just hope they sound as good as they look!

[jvc]

I'd tell the wife, "Hey.......I don't tell you how to layout the kitchen! I'm gonna layout the HT, the way it needs to be laid out!" (I'm serious) My wife doesn't say anything about the HT, since I let her have the say about everything else.

Which LSi speakers are you considering for fronts? LSi25, LSi15, or LSi9?
I have the LSi9s, and they are excellent sounding, for music and movies. I've never heard the others, but the folks at the Polk forums seems to like them. The LSi series are kinda expensive, but they are Polk's top of the line speakers.........
Good luck.

[pixelthis]

Well originally I was going to have a MC85 as a center and it was only late that I realized that it wasn't a "true" center and all it was was a side speaker on its side - but they suggested that because of the 16' limit between studs. The LCic is powerful but can still fit in-wall and between studs.

And yeah, the reason we're going in-wall is to make the room look cleaner. It's a living room and if I had 7 speakers lining up in the room I might really like it but my wife definitely would not lol

So I decided to give in-wall a try and, well, they do look awesome in the walls. Eventually I will upgrade the front left and right with the LCic equivalent, but right now they are too expensive. I just hope they sound as good as they look!

No such thing as a "center" or any other kind of speaker.
Speakers are specialized, such as woofers, but a lot of companies make speakers
that can double as both left, right, surround, and center, like B&W'S LCR speakers.
And while a speaker designed as a center is best , the ideal is three identical speakers
for left, center, and right.
Most speakers, laid on their side, will do for centers, dedicated centers just
spread the sound so that it wont be localized, creates the effect of coming from a screen better.
For inwalls, I would just use three identicals for the front three channels.:1: