OHM Impedence.....

solace
solace Posts: 7
edited July 2003 in Speakers
Can someone please elaborate on Impedance of speakers and receivers. Most receivers I've seen on the market are rated at 8 ohms and am wondering if I hooked up 6 ohm speakers to the receiver. Will it fry the circuit board of the receiver?

My Sony STR-DE475 is powering Polk bookshelf speakers and center at 8 ohms but has previously powered some Aiwa 6 ohm speakers (mini system speakers) do you think any damage occured to the receiver while powering the 6 ohm speakers?

Thanks
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,649
    edited July 2003
    solace,

    Please post your question in one place only. You would probably do yourself a favor by replacing that basic Sony. Sony ES makes nice gear, but the basic stuff isn't very good.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • VR3
    VR3 Posts: 28,747
    edited July 2003
    Whether it can or not isnt the question.......the question is......WHY? Why would you want to? lol
    - Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit.
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  • organ
    organ Posts: 4,969
    edited July 2003
    You' shouldn't have a problem. A lot of receivers with 8-ohm outputs can handle 6-ohms. I once used an Onkyo receiver to power my LSi9 and didn't have a problem with the receiver even though it was rated at 6-ohms minimum.

    Maurice
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  • Lee Bailey
    Lee Bailey Posts: 71
    edited July 2003
    I see the Sony DE snobs are everywhere!

    The only damage would come from overheating when running lower impedance speakers. Obviously, the amp is still working, so stop worrying about it.
    Please feel free to visit my Home Theater Page at The Bailey's Home Theatre in our Living Room.
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  • HBombToo
    HBombToo Posts: 5,256
    edited July 2003
    Depending at what spl levels you run your system at will determine whether or not damage could be caused. First off with a reduced impedance your amp would clip prematurely and the damage would be at the speaker before the amp. If you ran your amp at clipping for prolonged periods of time it could **** the bed but I highly doubt you did that because it is still running.

    Note: Clipping is when the amp cannot support the required current levels. When this happens, instead of the current looking like a SIN wave it looks more like a dc current which will fry your voice coils of the speakers. Speakers do not like DC current

    Don't sweat the small stuff and if you like your Sony and the way it sounds that is all that matters.

    Hope this helps
    HBomb
    ***WAREMTAE***
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