Was thinking about buying a pioneer elite receiver VSX-56TXi but the receiver only goes as low as 6 ohms and my speakers are 4ohms. What problem I will I encounter if its not a 4 ohm receiver? Is there a 4ohm receiver under $1500
The Yamaha's can drive 4 ohm speakers, look at the yamaha rxv1500, rxv2500. As with the elite, I am not sure if they can drive 4 ohm speakers so ask the sales guy at your local shop. If they can then I would definately suggest you get the 56 cause it is a great unit.
Thanks d lowe ! Actually! I emailed Pioneer and they responded that none of their receivers are recommended with 4 ohm speakers. Do you know what will happen if I use a 6 ohm receiver with my speakers?
I don't think it will hurt it, but don't go on my advice since i really don't know, just going by what other people have said, maybe someone else will speak up here.
Since ohms is a unit of measure of impedence (the resistance of a circuit to current flow), the lower the number the closer it is getting to a short circuit.
As such, 4 ohms is a challenging load for a mass-market receiver to drive. The speaker is literally sucking the current out of the receiver and as a result, the receiver is stressed more than a speaker with greater impedance (i.e., easier to drive).
The transformer and output stage become stressed, may overheat and unit life may be shortened.
This said, I think a lot of the mass market companies will not officially certify any of their products to drive 4 ohm loads. It isn't because they aren't good enough or don't know how to make a product that can, but rather it's more to do with regulations and safety requirements.
Buy from a place you can return it. Listen for audible signs of strain when putting the unit through its paces on demanding music/movies and check for excessive heat output from the unit. Worse comes to worse, the protection circuit will click in and the receiver shuts down.
Good luck and yes, there are receivers under $1500 that are capable of 4 ohm loads.
Thanks again guys for the advice ! I actually have them running with a Sony STR-DA2ES who knows on how many ohms ! (I better read that manual again) and I have not have a problem with it overheating. I am trying to improve my HT and I started with the speakers ( 4ohm Polk Lsi series ) and the receiver is the last piece of the puzzle. I am very pleased with the sound of the Lsi's, (compared to some bose I had) Anyway! again thanks for all the advice and a great explanation of what a 8, 6 or 4 ohm speaker is all about...
You can look at the back of your receiver, where the speakers outputs are located and check to see if they can handle a 4ohm load. You may not see a problem and it probably won't show any signs of a problem until you get an amp error and the receiver goes into protect mode. By then, it may already be too late. Read your specs and make sure.
I am from Brazil and facing a similar problem. I've just bought the Jamo A355PDD speakers kit and they have 4 ohms frontal, 8 ohms center and 6 ohms sattelites (what a salad!!!). I also have a receiver Pioneer VSX 514 and I'm afraid of turning on this package. I've been searching for solutions and the Onkyo TX-SR502 receiver seems to handle speakers from 3 to 8 ohms, but I am still insecure about that. If someone could bring some light on it, I would be very grateful. By the way, this Onkyo is not expensive at all.