Question on 4 ohm speakers and receiver

[ludespeedny]

I just snagged 2 Monoprice T6 towers and am working on building up my HT system. I currently have a Pioneer VSX-LX301 Receiver. Will this adequately power these? I am hoping to get the C6 Center channel at some point and possibly the bookshelfs as well.

 

[Alice of Old Vincennes]

Yes

 

[ludespeedny]

Any issues if I go their full line on my receiver on a 5.1 setup?

 

[Alice of Old Vincennes]

No, unless you turn volume to ear damaging volume.

 

[ludespeedny]

Thanks! Got the T6's today and ran them for a while, no issues and receiver is barely even warm.

 

[Alice of Old Vincennes]

Thanks! Got the T6's today and ran them for a while, no issues and receiver is barely even warm.

Great

 

[Chromatischism]

Just do not set the receiver to "4 ohm" mode. It doesn't do what you think.

 

[mhardy6647]

Just do not set the receiver to "4 ohm" mode. It doesn't do what you think.

That sounds so... ominous.
(EDIT: and/or it sounds like something Inigo Montoya could have said in The Princess Bride )


In seriousness, though: +1, with the caveat that the 4 ohm switch is provided for a reason. One does run an incementally higher risk of letting out the magic smoke that is responsible for the receiver's function if one does not flip the little switch (which, as @Chromatischism implies, is in essence a governor).

PS @Chromatischism is rather a cool moniker.

 

[fpitas]

Erm...what the heck IS the 4 ohm switch?

 

[mhardy6647]

Erm...what the heck IS the 4 ohm switch?

Don't Push It!

ahem.


It is not uncommon to find those switches on... shall we say... lesser A/V (and some hifi audio) receivers. They either limit the current capability of the power amp section, or perhaps just add some series resistance, so that the amp won't be overtaxed by a low impedance load. Yamaha fan that I am, I'll note that Yamaha is notorious for employing this kludge. I guess the switch, even if it also has some ancillary circuitry besides some power resistors , is cheaper than building a power amp/power supply with sufficient grunt to handle 4 or 8 ohm loads equally well.

Rando internet photo -- although, with some chagrin, I must admit that I have one of these. I picked it up from the freebie pile at a regional antique electronics swapmeet a few years back, OK?

 

[fpitas]

I'll be polite and think it adjusts the output SOA limiters.

/Uh huh

 

[AnalogSteph]

Implementation seems to vary. In some Yamaha integrateds, it does actually switch the transformer secondaries. Receivers may be a different story though.

 

[ludespeedny]

Thanks for the info. My receiver doesn't have the switch, or even mention that it supports 4ohm which is what led me to the discussion.

 

[Chromatischism]

On Denons, it produces exactly the same amp/wattage draw reduction as using Eco Mode, only it's less user friendly because it's not based on volume level and it can't quickly be toggled with the remote. In most cases it's not needed but I will say that I use it in the summer in situations where I'm not demanding a lot of output and I want to reduce room heating. During the winter I don't mind as much