Denon 3805 & Lsi25, Lsi15, Lsi9. ARE THEY COMPATIBLE?

[Tweakerhead]

I recently emailed Denon's Tech Dept, to ask about the capability of the 3805 & 4ohm speakers in general, particularly the Lsi25,15, & Lsi9. Here is the email.

Hello,
Can the Denon avr-3805 comfortably power a 5.1 Speaker system that consists of only 4ohm speakers. I have heard different opinions & was wondering what your opinion was. Thank You, Eric

DENON's response
Hi,
We do not recommend using 4 ohm speakers with any of our units. It may cause the unit to overheat and shut down at higher volumes. Please use 6 ohm or higher.


I need some feedback from people who own a denon 3805 & some Lsi polks. I have heard that the Lsi Polks actually run closer to 6 ohms in "real world" use. I get the feeling denon responded in that way due to warranty issues. An old word called Liability. I want to get a denon 3805 with an lsi25,15,9...not sure yet...lsic,lsifx,lsiw... Everyones input is welcome especially people who actually own the equipment in Question. Thank You, Eric

[Frank Z]

In a recent thread on the Sound & Vision forum a member stated that he had been told the EXACT opposite of what you were told.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, If the specs from the manufacturer do not state that the the receiver is rated to handle a 4 ohm load, then IT IS NOT RATED TO HANDLE 4 OHM LOAD!!!

To many people rely on what they've heard, or read somewhere and that ain't right. Preserve your warranty and use a speaker that is within the spec's published by the manufacturer. If you want to use a 4 ohm speaker, the only way to do so properly is to use a receiver or amplifier that is rated to handle that load. "My Buddy Say's..." or " I've heard that...." is not the type of technical advice that's going to do anyone any good.

When all else fails....Read the manual!!!

Rant over!!

[Tweakerhead]

What Receiver would you reccommend $1000 or less. Thank You

[PolkWannabie]

I think you'll find that for the LSi's that no one here will really recommend using a receiver to drive them and although there are probably a few that can do an adaquete job it's not clear you'll find one in the sub $1000 range unless you go with used equipment.

If that's where you're headed then look at B&K or Sunfire among a few others on eBay and/or Audiogon although these may be difficult to find used at under $1000.

[amulford]

I highly doubt you'll find anything Sunfire under $1000. If you do, I'd be wary...

[PolkWannabie]

Not in terms of their receivers ... but one could have a real nice 200+ wpc @ 8 ohms * 5 CG or CG II for about that price used and if one already had a receiver with pre-outs then ... and of course the Sunfire's will provide double the wpc at 4 ohms.

I know ... this is a little off from the original topic/question but it's certainly not a horrible solution for someone who already has a semi decent receiver.

[amulford]

Very true.

[Shell]

If the specs from the manufacturer do not state that the the receiver is rated to handle a 4 ohm load, then IT IS NOT RATED TO HANDLE 4 OHM LOAD!!!

Frank, what about the Rotel RSX-1067? It is not rated at 4 ohms.

[PolkWannabie]

As someone said ... RTFM ...

http://www.rotel.com/support/pdfs/manuals/RSX1067.pdf

On page 14 it says ...

NOTE: Speakers should have an impedance of 4 ohms or higher ...

[rskarvan]

Denon's have enough trouble adequately powering 8-ohm speakers. I have a Denon 3801 and I'm a bit disappointed with the amp in that unit. Great receiver/pre-processer. Lousy amp section.

[ezc]

You may want to look for a used Rotel RSX 1055. The 1055 should power the LSi's nicely. I use a RSX 1065 & am very happy! I would have gone with the 1055 but decided on a 1065 which i planned to keep for a while. There are other Club Polk members who have used the 1055 to drive thier LSi's & were very happy! I tried a Onkyo 595 & it was not good at all, I recently tried a Denon 2805 just to see what it would do & there is no compareson to the rotel! In the $1000 range Id look for a rsx 1055!

[Steve@3dai]

Arcam AVR-200 or 300 drives 4ohm speakers just fine.

And I lived to tell you about it!

http://www.arcam.co.uk/downloads/AVR200.pdf

Page 7.

[Jpt]

All Yamaha Receivers' are rated down to 2 Ohms. They usually have an Impedance switch on the back panel. And Yamaha Receivers don't sound bad either! Niether do they go into Standby through overloading like the Denon's do.

[PolkWannabie]

Jpt,

Welcome to the club ...

The switches on all the Yamaha receiver back panels I've seen provide a choice of 6/8 ohms ...

[Jpt]

Thanks for the welcome. I’m afraid your point is not true. Switch the Impedance switch to the left side and you’re operating the Receiver down to 4 Ohms and higher. Leave it switched to the right side and you're operating the Receiver at 8 Ohms and higher.

However, the specifications on my humble RXV630 are as follows:
Dynamic Power
8/6/4/2 Ohms 90/120/150/190Watts.

The given rating of 2 Ohms clearly shows it can do it.
Tweakerhead only wants to get to 4 Ohms… connect Polk speakers, switch a Yamaha Receiver’s Impedance switch to the left side and away he goes.

[Emlyn]

The impedance switch on Yamaha and certain Sony receivers is there to meet UL safety rating requirements. It's actually a current limiting device to assist the receiver in not overheating when being overdriven. Denon chooses not to use such a switch in its circuitry and will only rate its receivers to be compatible with 6 ohm speakers because of this. Most Yamaha receivers are rated to handle 4 ohm speakers as the mains, but only 6 ohm speakers for the center and surrounds at the same time. Any receiver can function with a dynamic peak 2 ohm load. As far as being stable into a 2 ohm load continuously, one has to get a dedicated two channel or monoblock amplifier from companies such as Krell, Bryston, or a few others.

Older electrostatic speakers present 2 ohm loads for extended periods, but few others do. I certainly wouldn't recommend trying to use a receiver with these kinds of speakers, even one with a switch. And, like others have said if one wants to run LSis in a home theater system well, get a separate amp or a high end receiver.

[PolkWannabie]

Originally posted by Jpt
... connect Polk speakers, switch a Yamaha Receiver’s Impedance switch to the left side and away he goes ...

LOL ... Yep ... He'll be going away alright ...

Anyway ... If you look at the back panel it says 8/6 ohm on the switch and the manual says MINIMUM 6 OHMS ...

[Jpt]

Emlyn said ‘Yamaha receivers are rated to handle 4 ohm speakers as the mains, but only 6 ohm speakers for the center and surrounds at the same time’ with which I completely agree. And if 2 people saying the same thing still isn’t enough evidence then go to Yamaha.com and download any Receiver PDF manual and get to the Impedance Selector page (under the heading ‘Speaker Setup’) to see it for yourself.

[PolkWannabie]

.

[PolkWannabie]

That's a tad different then your original claim that ...

Originally posted by Jpt
All Yamaha Receivers' are rated down to 2 Ohms.

What I see in the section that you point at of the manual for the 650 is what is below ... the 2400 does make mention of one being able to make connections to 4 ohm mains under the conditions that Emlyn described ...

The wording and chart in the 630 appear to be more or less the same as the 2400 with the implication being that one would not be having 5.1 or 7.1 set up utilizing all 4 ohm speakers which is what the original post in this thread was about i.e.

Originally posted by Tweakerhead
I want to get a denon 3805 with an lsi25,15,9...not sure yet...lsic,lsifx,lsiw... Everyones input is welcome especially people who actually own the equipment in Question. Thank You, Eric