[SOLVED] Can I use 8 ohm speakers on a 4 ohm receiver?

[r2t262]

I have an RCA 5.1 receiver and I want to use some Philips speakers I have instead of the included ones (The included speakers have the wire soldered directly to the speaker). The Philips speakers are 8 ohms and the receiver is 4 ohms (center channel is 3 ohms).

 

[faalin]

4 ohm receiver with 8 ohm speakers is ok, whatever the the watts per channel for a 4 ohm speaker will be around half for a 8 ohm speaker. the 3 ohm center might cause an issue as it will overdrive that channel, the lower resistance of the speaker will allow the amp to push more wattage on that channel.

You could ideally run 2 8ohm speakers in parallel per channel and get a 4 ohm load.... just a thought but it would double your speakers per channel.

 

[r2t262]

Just making sure I have it right. I can use an 8 ohm speaker on a 4 ohm channel, I cannot use an 8 ohm speaker on the 3 ohm channel and (optionally) I can run x2 8 ohm speakers on a 4 ohm channel in parallel.

 

[HamSwolo]

Don't run lower ohm speaker than your reciever. You technically can just don't push the amp hard ,think of the speaker as the brakes. A 4 ohm speaker doesn't slow down the amp enough it can burn it out. An 8 ohm load will give the anp th resistance it needs.

 

[faalin]

Just making sure I have it right. I can use an 8 ohm speaker on a 4 ohm channel, I cannot use an 8 ohm speaker on the 3 ohm channel and (optionally) I can run x2 8 ohm speakers on a 4 ohm channel in parallel.

i miss understood you i thought all the channels are 4 ohms and you wanted to run a 3 ohm speaker on the front.

If the front and rear are 4 ohm and center is 3 ohm for the receiver you can run 8 ohm speakers on all the channels. Like hamswolol said, just dont run speakers with ohms lower then what the receiver is ratted for.

 

[delaro]

What is the Receiver model number? Almost everything on the market lists the minimum Ω and not the maximum. It's actually harder to run lower Ω than higher Ω speakers from the amps perspective.

If the Power rating of an amplifier is rated "X Watts at 4 Ohms" the maximum output at 8 Ohms can be as little X/2 or one-half the rated output at 4 Ohms. As Ohms go up, maximum SPL (sound pressure level or volume) goes down. As the Ohms go down, the amplifier tries to deliver MORE power.