4 Ohm speakers with an 8 Ohm receiver?

[cjtalbot]

Hey guys,

I have an Onkyo TX-SR502 6.1-channel receiver that is rated at 75w per channel into 8 Ohms.

I was thinking of perhaps picking up my buddies used Magnepan MMGs, that are rated at 4 Ohms.

What's the word? No deal with the current receiver? Could it potentially damage the receiver?

Or is this not a big deal and I'll just have to turn up the volumne a bit?

I have no clue on this one, and I want to do the best thing for my reciever. So if this could potentially damage it in any way than I won't even think about it.

Thanks,

Chris

[psyopwak]

If you receiver has a protection circuit, it will activate if overload is present and it will shut down. Look in the owners manual of the receiver to see if it states you have that circuitry. If it does than I would try it- to see at a higher volume that this indeed happens when you
crank up the Magnepans. Is that an electrostaic speaker or ribbon? I have heard that electrostatic speakers or hybrids like the Martin Logans are very hungry for power.
Unless you have a high current, high watt amp it may not sound good. I would invest in a good power amp and use the receiver as a preamp/ processer and the Magenpans should sound very good.

(I have also heard that too LITTLE power going to a speaker will damage it.)

Psyopwak

[SpankingVanillaice]

I use to have 2 pairs of speakers that were 4 ohms but they worked fine when I hook them up to a 8 ohms Pioneer receiver that I have.

[SpankingVanillaice]

I used the speakers for a year and the amp is still working fine and it didnt over heated.

[psyopwak]

One of the reasons I had suggested getting a dedicated amp, was that I had some
4-ohm speakers that worked with my DENON avr-4800. It sounded good but once I upgraded to a powerful PARASOUND amp the speakers really shined. I mean it was like
I had new speakers costing twice as much money. I never knew they could sound so good, until I got the better more powerful amp to drive them.

[CharlieBee]

Most amps and receivers can be rated at 4 or 8 ohms. The watt rating against an higher 8 ohms speacker will be lower than against a lower 4 ohm resistance speaker. Thats why when comparing power ratings, 8 ohm, rms (root mean square), continous, both or all channels driven is the most honest rating. Most of the modern 5, 6 , 6.1 home theater type systems are not rated this way and why they are rated at 500 watts and weight 20 lb. My 250 watt (the honest way) 2 channel receiver weights 55 lbs (Sansui 9090db, from 1977).

Charlie