4 ohm speakers too much for old school receiver?

[Tarheel_]

This is stated in the owner's manual...

Rated minimum sine wave RMS power output 20 Hz-20 kHz both channels driven 0.09% THD 40 watts (8 ohms)

[thekid]

This is stated in the owner's manual...

Rated minimum sine wave RMS power output 20 Hz-20 kHz both channels driven 0.09% THD 40 watts (8 ohms)

If the owner's manual does not state any specs for 4 ohms then its telling you the unit should'nt be run with 4 ohm speakers or probably even 6 ohm. As a recent convert to Klipsch I would second Mr. P recommendation because they are very efficient. While older gears stated wpc is often understated versus much of the stuff out their today my guess is that might not be true of your Technics which I am guessing is from the 80's. As mentioned by others it would most like struggle with any power hungry speakers.

[Hyfi]

If the owner's manual does not state any specs for 4 ohms then its telling you the unit should'nt be run with 4 ohm speakers or probably even 6 ohm. As a recent convert to Klipsch I would second Mr. P recommendation because they are very efficient. While older gears stated wpc is often understated versus much of the stuff out their today my guess is that might not be true of your Technics which I am guessing is from the 80's. As mentioned by others it would most like struggle with any power hungry speakers.

Interesting since I have a HK AVR-635 that only mentions 8 ohms in any documentation yet has no trouble driving Dynaudio 42s at 4 ohms.

[thekid]

Interesting since I have a HK AVR-635 that only mentions 8 ohms in any documentation yet has no trouble driving Dynaudio 42s at 4 ohms.

You can certainly run any speaker through any receiver. The question just becomes how long you can do it before you have an issue with either the receiver or the speaker. I don't know enough about either of your pieces to know if you could be hurting them. Receivers that are pushing speakers with lower impedenance than what they were designed to run tend to run hotter especially if asked to push loud volumes over a period of time. Excessive heat is the bane of many receivers and amps. Speakers not getting enough power based on their minimum requirements can also have problems over a period of time. Again I don't know enough about your gear or how you use it so you could be okay or long-term you could be asking for trouble. You might try asking HK additional questions if the manual does not mention anything about running 4 ohm speakers. It could just be a simple omission.