Can I run 4 ohm and 8 ohm speakers on the same receiver?

[louhamilton]

I have a sony STR-DE675 reciever that runs an 8 ohm Sony 5.1 satellite system. I was planning on upgrading the speakers first to LSi's and then upgrade my reciever to a Denon down the road.

I just realized that the LSi's are 4 ohm speakers.

What outcome will I experience if I get an LSiC and/or LSi9 first and run them with my 8ohm Sony surround speakers? Will I need to re-look my speaker thoughts and go with the RTi's at 8 ohms?

Thanks,

-Lou

[steveinaz]

I don't think its ever a good idea to run 4 ohm speakers off a receiver. 99.9% of receivers out there just don't have a robust enough power amplifier section to do 4 ohm speakers justice, especially lower efficiency 4 ohm speaks. But that's just my opinion.

[reeltrouble1]

If you are thinking in terms of HT the RTi line are made for this, RT means Reference Theater. For music well, lots of debate, but I like the LSI over the RTi all day.

That little Sony will not like the 4 ohm loads of the LSI line, at the least you will wont have enough current to really make them sing, at the worst you will damage your receiver and speakers.

RT1

[Tritonman]

The Sony is capable of pushing 4 ohm loads, and supposedly is rated full power at 100w @4ohm per channel.

But..as people have stated above..its not a good idea. You would require more power than the receiver can deliver to fully appreciate the line of speakers...also at the risk of blowing the speakers due to distortion based on insufficient amperage as well as damaging your receiver in the process.

You also do not want to run a mixed ohm environment as the 4ohm speakers will be louder than the 8ohm.

[reeltrouble1]

Power actually Current is going to be your problem, just not enough electrons dancing down the pipe.

Mixing speaks well its funky but OK, you will need to calibrate with a sound meter, but you still are going to have a current problem, dont think watts think current. You want a high current amplifier.

RT1

[McLoki]

I called Onkyo about this when I was purchasing my LSi's. They said that I could run a 4 ohm load (but it is not officially recommended) but I should not put different ohm speakers on different channels.

I called Cinepro after I got my amp and asked the same question and they said I could hook up anything I want anywhere I want with no issues. (2 ohms on up)

Based on this response I would say it just depends on the quality of the amplifier you are running. Without knowing for sure, I would bet your sony is alot closer in quality to my Onkyo AVR rather than my Cinepro amplifier.

Michael

[MacLeod]

Agreed^^^

Ohms are only a measure of resistance and an amp needs resistance to hold it back otherwise itll make 100% power which will quickly overheat it and quite possible kill it.

A better built amp will handle the power itll make with less resistance like 2 ohms where a cheaper amp will fry itself with anything less than 8 ohms to hold it back. So like McLoki said, you pay more for an amp itll be built better and stronger and able to handle making more power, i.e. lower impedance speaker loads. You pay less and get the cheap amp it wont have the durability or build quality to tackle anything lower than 8.

[Eric W]

You can mix various speaker impedances on the same receiver, however I'd be concerned that Sony receiver does not have the current capable of driving the LSi (the 9's particularly) to a loud enough level.