4 ohm Speakers on Cheap Receivers: Recipe for Disaster? 

Thanks, Gene, you covered everything well. The combination of skimpy power supplies, insufficient heat sinks, current limiting, and not enough output devices to handle the current demands of a 4 ohm speaker, most cheap receivers are compromised. This is one of your best.

This is why I watch you really know you're stuff thanks so much for bringing it to my attention you're the only one talking about this problem I was about to make this mistake cause I watched some other you tube videos and was misguided so when I saw the title of your video it immediately caught my attention I can't thank you enough

I remember you saying cover up the impedance switch on the back side of the receiver / amp with some tape. For they are practically useless. There was a built guy (maybe your VP) in the channel then. Many years passed, Im still watching the channel. Good work.

I still have the HK 3490 driving pair of jbl 530 in my bed room. I had the amp based on your great review back in the days. Amazing amp. Thanks Gene ;)

Thank you, Gene! Wonderful video and explanation! As usual. God bless!!!

When Gene starts to talk you better listen because you will learn something new and useful. Been a subscriber of this channel for like 7 years now. Thanks for bringing useful info to the audioholic world Gene!

always love your videos cause I learn a lot from them and use them to get my audioholic on lol,

Awesome job, diving into the world of AVRS's and need your guidance in choosing my starter AVR-I have three options -1. Denon 2700H 2.Yamaha RX-V6A 3. Yamaha-RX-V685

I haven't done an extensive amount of research but Elac is the only manufacturer that I have noticed that complies with the 80% rule for rating their speakers. Kudos to them for being honest

Best solution imo is to have a receiver with pre-amp outs and use decent 4-ohm capable amps to drive the channels. Receivers always have sub-standard amps compared to dedicated amps.

I just ordered pioneer avr with the 5.2.4 so i can have the 4 atmos. But just noticed this morning it is 4 ohms. My current avr is 8 ohms. Checked my speakers they are rated 4-8 ohms. So i am actually hoping this new pioneer one with 4 ohms will actially make my speakers sound better. On another note..love your jim and spock life sized cut outs.

I ran 4ohm Cerwin Vega monsters on a midrange Denon. The Denon still works (it runs rear channel duty these days).

I used a cheap Pioneer in my garage with some vintage 4ohm speakers. It never ran hot but it started a pretty loud hum when running after about a week.

Always a like for audioholics! And BTW, wrath of khan has an amazing soundtrack. James Horner rip, was a genius.

Great video! I have a question though. Since you were saying that about 8 ohm to 4 ohm, is there any way for me to run my 4 ohm DVC 12" subs on my receiver if I wire them to 8 ohm? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I am running 4 ohm Jamo D7 speakers on Yamaha Z11 which is set to 8 ohm according to your review years ago. I recently changed the connection to bi-amp to the front left and right. Do I have to keep the same 8 ohm setup on the receiver after bi-amp connection? Thanks

Thanks for that. I wanted to ask is selecting 4 or 8 ohms in the avr menu, the same as the selector switch that you were alluding to ?

The very best tip I could give to a up and coming audio enthusiast is to learn about ohms. Parallel and series wiring is a absolute must know. This goes for car audio and home audio. It is the most basic knowledge that you must know.

Hello thank you for the video. I have an Onkyo TX-8211 which is stamped min 4-16 ohm and I’m using a pair of HECO speakers from the 70’s that are 4 ohm. I’m only using those alone. Do you think I’m doing any harm on either end?

Hi Gene, after years of money saving, I finally got the my Marantz 8015, it's great and i really love it! Currently I have a pair of Klipsch 6000f (the new tweeter version) as front channel and a pair Klipsch 160m (the old tweeter version) as surround, but I don't have yet a center (so it would be a 4.1). You think it's right to use the Marantz 8015 with the 6000f together with the 160m, and for couple of months WITHOUT using the center channel channel or I may damage/stress the my new Marantz? Thank you in advance for the help.

Question. If I want to run my 4 ohm speakers off my old Pioneer 5 channel Receiver would this really be an issue if they were just computer speakers? Volume doesn't have to be too loud as I am right in front of it while working at my desk.

7:20 "mid ranges more chocollately" is something I'm going to start using way more often now

Hello Gene, greetings from Colombia. I have a Denon AVRX 6500 H with two floorstanding 4 Ohms Emotiva T2 first generation. Also I bought an AC INFINITY T 10 to help it with internal heat. Actually I’ m operating the Denon with the Auto mode. Do I continue that way ? My Denon can drive those speakers without affect it’s longevity? Thanks for your videos and advice. I appreciate very much your knowledge and experience.

Great info. Love this channel.

Gene, I'm curious how the Sonos Amp can be recommended to run 6 of the Sonance for Sonos speakers?

Thank you so much because I was thinking of pairing the 4ohm Polk Reserve series with the Denon 2800H, so that's probably a bad idea hey?

I have an Onkyo TX-RZ720 (Power Output: 175 W/Ch (6 Ohms, 1 kHz, 1% THD, 1 Channel Driven, IEC)) amplifier which I had LG 12ohm speaker connected to, and sounded terrible. Due to limited budget, I decided to get Kicker 3way DSC6930 6x9 (90w rms and 360w max) connecting 1 speaker to each channel. It does mention high current power to drive 5 ohm speakers. What are your thought on this? Will this be better than the LG 12Ohm speaker setup and I am I risking damage/power output to speakers?

Sorry my dude, it's me again :) omg, It seems I only find your channel like once a year when I have to talk cables to someone ;) OK, now I subbed. Here is the issue and I don't wanna make you "work", but maybe you think it is an interesting subject to clear up the alchemy surrounding it some time: So this related to bi-amping. I am a more-components-is-better fetishist and so I am still going for dual mono amps etc and actually looking to bi-amp with 4 monos. Now, I had already gotten all the specs sheets for my stuff as far as available and also bothered the manufacturers, trying to get some more info, but they are all coming back with philosophical, not practical BS. I had also asked the PS Audio "ask Paul"-service, but they could not / did not get specific in their advice. But what I gathered is that I have to gain-match amps if I want to use a fat monos for the base and maybe tube amp monos for the tweeters. - But at least via spec sheets, there is no way to do this. Now I have seen one guy, who apparently set up a mic and measured the output in his room and he seemed to have some kind of device that can adjust/split the signal for the chosen amp pairs. - So what was he doing/am I supposed to do to get this to work? Also, what kind of kit am I looking for? Are such devices automatically studio-grade? Obviously, I do not want to go through all the effort only to mess up my signal on the last step with a sub-par gain/splitter-thinggy from China... I can see how this is not the most popular subject, but maybe you feel like geeking out on it some day, or point me to a good resource. I have 4-way (or 3.5 way) speakers with 2 sets of binding posts, as most speakers have anyway, but I could not even get out of the manufacturer how the 4 ways are related to the 2 pairs of binding posts internally, so I am not even sure how much power a second pair of (maybe tube-) amps would require for the tweeters... so right now my only solution would be to use two identical pairs of mono amps, but I think that would already be overkill for the tweeters, as they are 170W each and the entire idea was anyway to mix it up with some tube amps. 1st world problems !! :)

Gene but what about the other side of the equation with a beefy AVR like the Onkyo TX-SR 805? I have an SVS Ulta front soundstage. Towers and center, all low ohm (4-5) rated through testing. That AVR weighing in at 51 lbs with a big e core transformer), should have no problem driving them, right? I also have an Onkyo HTR 940 driving the rear surrounds, also a semi beefy receiver (rated at 100 X 7 for real with testing) drive the four rear surrounds without issue, right? Please advise.

Need help please!!!! I have SB CH73 Panasonic speakers. Which amplifier should i use to play the two speakers. The stereo amp section showed 4 ohm 2x53 W RMS. PLEASE HELP!!

@Audioholics I recently got a Denon AVR-3808CI from my brother in law who recently replaced it with a Denon 4700H. I thought about using it strictly for 2 channel listening and the streaming ability. My speakers are 4ohm nominal impedance, Klipsch Forte I rated at 100watts continuous. On the back of the 3808CI ( 7 channels x 130 watts)it says for use with 6-16 Ohm speakers for . Since it has so much power would it be okay to use for a 2.1 channel set up with the 4 ohm speakers. It weighs 35#'s. Should I stay away from it? If it wasn't free, I wouldn't be asking this question. You guys did a review of this AVR back on 7/3/07.Thanks. Live long and prosper.

I'm powering my Martin Logan Motion 40's (4ohms) with an Arcam SA20 which is rated at 150W per channel at 4ohms. I've never had any issues. Should I be concerned?

I have a Marantz 4270 4 channel (70w x 2) and (25w x4) It was manufactured in august of 1975. I have a pair of Cerwin Vega D9 that state on the speaker, 4-8 0hms. Do you think it is safe to drive these 350watt Cerwins with that Marantz 4270 receiver? I have read a couple places that it would NOT be recommended to run speakers that reach 4ohm on the Marantz 4270 receivers. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

I got Dali 505 speakers. They are second hand bought. What amplifier should i use?

Serious question: I have the Denon H3500X, and all Parts Express speakers, all of which speakers are rated at 4 or 6 ohms. I set the Denon for 6 ohms. Should I just reset it to 8, and not worry about it?

very good video. It gives answers in short period of time. excellent job. Please can you inform us about videos or articles in which you have reviewed entry level av amplifiers (like Denon AVR-X1600H, Sony STR-DH790, Pioneer VSX-933 Onkyo TX-SR494 and Yamaha RX-V585) and small size speakers for small size rooms (10''x 10'')(3x3 meters) and bigger rooms as (15''x15'')(5x5 meters). You see there are people with small size rooms and small size budget. Please can you help with a piece of advice ?

Can you use external amplifiers and the receiver strictly for processing to get around this issue @audioholics

I thought putting speakers, any that are bass or subwoofer speakers, in parallel is bad anyway because it plays around with the tone of those speakers...so it could raise or lower the passive crossover points...essentially the speaker plays in a way that it's unintended. Is that true?

Using avr denon 6500h to drive monster vintage SDA SRS 1.2 polks and so far so good.

Gene I really want to buy the New Polk Reserve R 200s but only have 2k budget for the whole system. I was going to go with a emotiva Pt-100 and a crown 1502 but the Pt-100 is having issues hooking up to my Samsung TV. The TV optical out isn't being picked up by the Pt-100 I saw a post when I asked Google Emotiva Pt-100 and my tv. I can get a Yamaha Rxa2a for 600 bucks. But don't think it will be strong enough for the Polk lsim703s or the Reserve R 200. What do I do ?? Thanks

Some receivers will pop the fuses or go into protect when at an "extreme" resistance.

It's good to be cautious. Avoid the combination if possible. That said I've done it several times and have had no problems. The receivers never got hot. However, I never turned them up much. Just low level background listening.

I’d love to buy the magnepan lrs speakers which are 4 ohms ... I have a marantz sr7013which is not a cheap receiver . I use it for 2 channel music and 5.1.4 for theatre . Would you think the amp would run the Maggie’s ?

Any recommendation for an amp with around 100-150w at 4ohm?

Hi ..i have a question...i bought 4x4ohms 1x4ohms central and 200watt woofer from jbl. I would like to connect it to my macbook pro and not pay a fortune for amplifier. Any suggestions? I live in Germany( shipping😉)

Any help would be greatly appreciate, I am really new to this, my dad gave me a a pair of Polk Audio LSi9 speaker and and the lsic center. I have a pioneer VSX-LX102 and and it is running the speakers well I guess. Should I upgrade my receiver? I mostly play Xbox and watch movies not sure if that matters.

I use a Hammond 1642 SE output transformer with its 4 Ohm tap to drive Magnepans. But I use a radio station transmitter tube run gently at 1000 Volts on the plate which I am sure is more than enough power. It is more than loud enough if I turn t up too high. But this is very different from a solid state amplifier.

Don't the cables-with-batteries (tm) keep the smoke to a minimum?

OK, what about playing a Cerwin Vega RE 25 6 ohm speakers with a set of Fluance 8ohm speakers with a Technics SA 303? Will that work? Please Reply THANKS.

Hello, new to the channel and new to stereo equipment. I have bought the sony str-dh190. I have 4 Klipsch speakers. All of them are 8 ohms. Is it safe to connect all the speakers and run the receiver in A+B?

I have a Yamaha AX-930 2 channel integrated amplifier (manufactured 1990). It is rated down to 6 ohms. RMS power 130W per channel/Dynamic power 300W @ 4 ohms. I plan to hook up 2 Cerwin Vega RE30 4 ohm speakers (RMS 250W), as this is the equipment I have. Can I offset any issues the amp might have by running a couple of computer fans set in exhaust mode on top of the amp grill above the heat sink. This would remove much heat and thus avoid overheating. As long as the amp components stay cool, does this offset any problems caused by the amp having to provide additional current? Also, I am buying new cables (GearIt). Does wire gauge have any bearing on any of this? I have ordered 14 gauge pure copper wire-2 runs of 15 feet. Thanks for any help. Your channel has great content-very helpful.👍

HOW about using 8 ohm's center of 30--60 power wattage channel with Yamaha AV RX 3050,

Great topic as always

Yep. Bought a pair of Martin Logan 60XT`s. 4 ohm rating. Hooked to a Yamaha RX497. 75w rating. Cuts off many times. Use a Yamaha A-S801. 100w rating. Runs but, very hot to the touch. Finally use a Yamaha A-S1200. 90w rating. Problem goes away. Thing runs just barely warm. So, watts are not the answer. Power supply, caps, heat sinks are.

As someone who taught acoustics and worked in the pro audio industry for some 15 years, Gene DellaSala is spot on. Heed his advice.

this week I'm going to be hooking up my totems dream catchers to my marantz PM 5005.

Hello. I recently got a set of vienna acoustics speakers and currently have marantz 5009 I want to upgrade my reciver that can handle 4ohms,Sonos,and 4k. And my budget is $2,500. Is it possible?

At the risk of encouraging energy inefficiency... Tubes rock! and they're kinda weird, they have some special relationship with current, where modern amplifiers swing voltage, tubes swing current, I don't fully understand it. Tube amps then have different output taps for different impedances, and pretty much the same watts into the different loads. I saw a debate recently, where someone asked where they should plug in their 6 ohm speakers, into the 4ohm tap, or the 8ohm. The answers were totally bifurcated. No consensus, and even I, the great knower of things was logically torn on which way to go. Maybe you could do a followup for tube amps, and tube hybrids. I got a 70lb beast of a tube amp used for $1700. I'm considering doing that twice more and running a surround system on them. The problem is, they're RCA, the new model is XLR, which feels like a better path to take, especially as I'm considering using long interconnects to locate them around the room. The debate of longer interconnects, or longer speaker cables, is a good topic to explore too. Sub harmonics were once scientifically thought impossible. But there was some research study that came out recently, which found that higher frequencies can harmonically manifest lower octaves! (will try to find it) Which means that filtering high frequency noise beyond the audio band may actually affect lower frequencies. Which I feel may be an important piece in explaining cable audibility, as the subtle capacitance and inductance of cables effect inaudible high frequencies, that create emergent phenomenon in standing waves in the reflections between speaker crossovers and amplifier's damping factor. Which may explain the observed phenomenon of cables. As it stands, I think the affects of cables are really affects of the amplifier-speaker damping-factor relationship, and whether that affects feedback-based-amplification, and that cables ever so slightly buffer that relationship. All I'm saying is that I'm looking at some interesting stuff, that may explain some stuff. I think scientifically, we may have to start measuring whole systems, and the affects of cables in them, rather than just measuring single cable lengths. And by WE I mean you Gene lol, your whole life now revolves around disproving a negative lol a topic I know you've delved ad-nauseam. But I think resonance between driver's/crossovers and amplifiers, and then the standing waves of them in cables, may cause audible effects with amplifiers of lower damping factor. So if cable affects come from basically being an extension of the amps damping factor ( from cable resistance, induction) then that could explain allot. Suddenly that higher resistance skinny single strand of snakeoil, is a resistor reducing oscillation between the amplifier and the crossover. If a wire is a tunnel, we know that when you drop a pebble in a tunnel it amplifies the sound, lasers amplfy by bouncing between mirrors. Maybe there's something similar going on at high frequencies in wire, something that inductance and resistance would mitigate, or some airy highs that capacitance would sparkle to life. Anyway, I'm just being open minded, these are my own thoughts btw, not some advertised nonsense, sorry for being long winded, you know how I is. ;P

Great video very knowledgeable

Great video! When you say in parallel you mean more than 1 speaker on a single channel? I have a pair of B&W 603DM S3 towers and just ordered the Sony STR DH590. Should I be worried...? As I can change my order if needed.

The "quote" about smoke and electronics is great. The average home system amplifier shouldn't be expected to perform well below 8Ω. The damping factor in the cheaper amplifiers really gets bad below 8Ω. It is better to buy a powered subwoofer than try to get good sound from an overtaxed amplifier.

Thanks for the explanation! I thing Im in trouble... Im trying to get Atmos going for really cheap and ordered the cheapest 7.2 receiver and 5.1 speakers I could find.. The Sony STRDH790 and JBL Cinema 610 system, The JBL is 4ohm but the Sony says 6ohm... Do I need to get different speakers?

Excellent video.

where is the link?

Is it the same with integrated amplifiers? Some models claim they can handle even 2ohms like NAD amps.

Excellent advice

I've the new Yamaha Receivers r-n602 and r-n803 running my 4 speakers JBL 8 ohms. What happens it that... I bought 4 new Yamaha NS-777 (all are 6 ohms). What I have to do to connect the Yamaha's stereo receivers (can I put 4 ohms or 8 ohms) to the Yamaha 6 ohms speakers? I never get that kind of answer on all the Internet for 2 months trying, neither by Yamaha. How to connect 4 (yes, 4) 6 ohms speakers to a Receiver (stereo), usually 8 ohms. It's better to try to put all the receivers (stereo) into 4 ohms to run 6 ohms speakers or to put the receivers into 8 ohms? I don't think my new Yamaha stereo n-s602 or 803 has a way to put into 6 ohms. What will be safe for me (sometimes I use low volume and full Loudness to hear my musics, but sometimes I use high volume... I love BASS, and a little middle or high frequencies. Using my other Yamaha, the n-r700 with my 4 JBL S-312 (8 ohms), and the receiver set into 8 ohms, it's all okay (I can have both low and high volume for hours). But now, with the Yamaha's speakers NS-777 (all 6 ohms), I don't know what I have to do. I'm very loss here. Can you help me, please? I love your explanation here, but because I have more than 65 years and always use 4 (four) speakers at once, I'm really loss here. Thanks.

I just ran into your video and I have a Denon Dra685 series that will run 4ohm all the way up to 16ohms and so what are your thoughts about that receiver.

What about tube amps. I have 4 ohm taps on my Rogue Audio but I have to go inside the amp to change them manually. Should I still leave it on the 8 ohm taps.? I only have one set of speakers that are labeled as 4 ohms but I use those with a different set up using a solid state separates amp. I was aware that 8 ohm rated speakers do dip. I just always tried playing it safe with tubes. Would be nice to know if I really didn't need to change them with your recommendation with solid state.

I've got a question about some MTX Al 154 4 ohm speakers they're brand new basically anyways I want like a 70s era the receiver that I can run those forum speakers and I've been watching forums and listening to guys talk for a week on the internet and nobody can just give me a straight answer I'm not going to play it blaring loud but I like it a little loud I'm going to technic's turntable that I'm using with my pioneer clippish home theater right now but I want an old '70s say pioneer realistic you know something in that area you know 500 bucks under receiver what should I use thank you for all your help

Ok….so you are the guy who can possibly help me with a question that nobody really seems to have the time to help me with. I bought a Pyle PMXAKB2000 karaoke mixer thinking that something idiot proof would sound great but nowhere seems to have a recommendation for speakers. So with all your knowledge about cheap amps….do you have a suggestion on type and brand of speaker I can pair with my amp? Please

Gene, you gotta test a pro amp vs hifi amp

Gene how do you feel about the Yamaha RX-Z9 with 4 ohm speakers? I know you did a very favorable review of that receiver way back when. I have mine driving seven 8 ohm Polk RTxxi series, but once got my hands on some 4 ohm Polk LSi9's and used them as my rear surrounds (set to "small") with the Z9 on the 8 ohm setting. I listen very loud and while I had no thermal shutdown and everything sounded normal, it turned the music room into a sauna! The Z9 I guess has a reputation for heat generation even under normal circumstances.

Toughest amp i believe ive had is a yamaha m4, i ran a set of klipsch fortes and infinity kappa 7 pair and i mean ran them hard and the yamaha didnt flinch or even excessively hot, i was really shocked, keep in mind this was all 4 speakers at the same time.

So a Yamaha Adventage A860 is a budget product. I had the A830 which is an older version, but same power delivery and it was okay until I got an Anthem MRX 300 and it completely put my A830 to shame. After that, I only buy Anthem AVRs now. No more big name brands for AVRs for me anymore.

Can you help an old fart with Yamaha speakers from the 80's NS-4 serial # 41697 which I could not find on Google. Will they match up with the Yamaha receiver Yamaha RN303BL. I live in small apt. around 450 SQ FT

Hi, I purchased recently Sony STR-DH590. It's requires at least 6ohm speaker. But I have small 3ohm speakers (Sony home theater speakers). Can I connect 2 3ohm speaker in series or should I purchase bigger 6ohm speaker?

2 questions: 1. What benefits are there of 4 ohm speakers? 2. Why are all car audio speakers 4 ohms?

What about an 8 Ohm load on a cheap receiver. Let’s not mince words, the data on audiosciencereview on the Sony STR-DH190 look very convincing when put up against the Yamaha A-S801 that nearly an order of magnitude more. I don’t get it what I’m missing here.

I got all of the steps setup correctly right off the bat. Didn't have to change anything😎😎😎.

I always thought that as long as there wasn't an abnormal amount of smoke it should be ok;-)

With something as budget friendly as a polk s20 bookshelf dipping to 4.5 ohms at 140hz this should be taken seriously. Gene, should recievers that only list 8 ohm and 6 ohm spec be used with some caution? Marantz's 2 channel power amp ($800) does not show a spec for 4 ohm loads.

100% true, also there is speakkers rated 8ohms and they actually have under 2ohms resistance 50-150Hz. 🤠

Flagship Yamaha avr has also problem with 4ohm speakers?

The problems only arise if you're pushing it (power/volume) pretty hard though, right? I've got an old pioneer (about 15 years old) AVR running two large 4 ohm Cerwin Vegas and two small 8 ohm bookshelf speakers and one 8 ohm center. I've had this system running daily for almost 13 years with no problems, but then, I hardly ever turn it up very loud.

marantz 2270 receiver can I play 4 ohms speakers 🔊 🤔

Are 6 Ohms safe?

Well said!

Nice pec bounce!

I don't see a link for the Marantz anywhere

I literally learn everything I know from you. Thank you! What about 6 ohm? Just got JBL Studio 590s and wondering what my Pioneer elite will now do. Thanks

Pure power amplifiers (or integrated amps) are ALWAYS BEST when driving speakers - from power/drivability, SQ, robustness, and fail-proof/simplicity standpoints. Most receivers (even "TOTL" models) have too many compromizes in their power supplies, designs, and layouts to be competitive with power/integrated ONLY amps - because they have to fit all of the power, signal, and digital circuitry all inside of ONE CASE. All those mis-matching power and signals going through them (high voltages, low voltages, signal voltages, digital signals, hi and low currents, etc) automatically causes many problems with interference, isolation, and signal/voltage/power bleeding into wires that shouldn't be passed on them. The more I think about it - the more I lean towards separates ONLY. Reasonably-priced separates will sound better, perform better, and last longer than any one box solution - not to mention being more flexible in setup and upgrading.....

4 ohm 3 way car speaker connecting to 8 ohms amplifier using a 4 ohm resistor in series ??? Please reply..🙏🙏🙏

Solid state amps are current amplifiers. Vacuum tube amps are voltage amplifiers.

I run 4ohms into a Yamaha A-S801, the heat sinks in this receiver as massive

Probably not much, most cheap receivers or amps have digital/tripath amps that usually handle low ohm speakers and are only limited by the power supply. although, I may be talking about stuff "too cheap" to review. A lot of cheap gear based on car amps are rated at 2 ohms to maximize the amount of power available on a 24 vdc (+12 / -12 voltage swing).

A cheap alternative is to add a proper value capacitor before the speaker (if it is not subwoofer/ need not produce low frequency

i did in car radio. 2 ohm speaker on 4 ohm output. the amp have circuit protection. so it turn off by it self. because 2 ohm draw more current. hot

Could you do a how to video on a DIY measure speaker impedance over full range? I thought it could be done with REW but I don’t know how to do it.

Careful with that Tribble man!!