Onkyo Receiver: 4ohm vs 6ohm

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Posts: 14,873
edited July 2007 in Electronics
Burning question for me. By defualt my Onkyo is set to 4ohm and it has the option for me to set it at 6ohm. Is there any reason why I shouldnt (with my setup)?
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Post edited by Unknown User on

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  • Posts: 3,277
    edited July 2007
    Try both. Less stress on the amp at 6 ohms. I believe your speakers are 8 ohms. I surprised nothing has fried.
  • Posts: 11,435
    edited July 2007
    My think was allows that the higher ohm settings can be more stressful not less. I believe a resistor is added to circuit when 4 ohm is set to limit the load seen by the amp if the speakers are 4 ohm, this way the amp see's a 8 ohm load not 4 ohm load.

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  • Posts: 14,873
    edited July 2007
    I read the manual and it says this "Speaker impdance Sub-Menu"

    If the impedance of even one speaker is between 4 and 6, select 4

    If the impedance of all speakers are between 6 and 16 select 6.

    All my speakers are 8 so I would guess I should pick 6.


    Se setting is:

    "minimum of 4 or 6"
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  • Posts: 4,798
    edited July 2007
    Try both. Less stress on the amp at 6 ohms. I believe your speakers are 8 ohms. I surprised nothing has fried.

    Why would anything fry? The higher the impedence of the speaker, the LESS the amp will be strained.

    I think you are confused on the 4/6 ohm setting. It does not add power, but limits the current the amp can put out, to protect it from overheating. It's there because the amp is really not capable of handling 4 ohm loads. There is less stress when set to 4 ohms.
  • Posts: 25,311
    edited July 2007
    In most if not all instances this switch enables a receiver to go into protect mode much earlier than if it thinks it's driving an 8 ohm or in this case 6 ohm load (which is not nec a good thing). Severe current limiting ruins the sound and really has no sonic benefit whatsoever. You are better off running very efficient 8 ohm speakers. If you have to have a switch to run a lower nominal impedence speaker obviously there is a poor/cost cutting design in action.

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Puritan Audio PSM136 Pwr Condtioner & Classic PC's | Legend L600 | Roon Nucleus 1 w/LPS - Tubes add soul!

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