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Does running 8ohm speakers at 6ohm improve sound?


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Hang on a minute. An amplifier NEVER dictates what impedance a speaker operates at. The load always comes from the speakers and the amplifier will do its best to provide power to that load.

If you have an amplifier that is rated only down to 8ohms and connect 4ohm speakers, guess what, your amp will still provide power to those speakers, but because it is not designed to work on loads that low, it may overheat easier/go into protection/shutdown.

Setting "6 ohms" on the amplifier (/receiver) doesn't change the impedance of your speakers, it just switches some of the amplifier's circuitry/protection features so that it can safely provide more current than when it is running in "8ohm" mode. For example, in "6ohm" mode the amplifier's internal fans might run a bit faster to provide additional cooling to safely handle the extra heat generated, or certain programmed voltage safety limits might be increased so the amplifier doesn't shut down unnecessarily.

By running 8ohm speakers and setting the amp to "6ohm" mode, you're just setting the amplifier up to handle a hard load, which 8ohms isn't, it's a relatively easy load.

 

So in short, it won't damage your speakers, it won't damage your amp and it shouldn't have any effect on the sound quality/characteristics.

 

Take note of this warning from the manual,

post-104891-0-51297000-1416489474_thumb.

 

 

So if you're connecting 8ohm speakers, you have to set the switch in the "6ohm" position.

Edited by ~Spyne~
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Hang on a minute. An amplifier NEVER dictates what impedance a speaker operates at. The load always comes from the speakers and the amplifier will do its best to provide power to that load.

If you have an amplifier that is rated only down to 8ohms and connect 4ohm speakers, guess what, your amp will still provide power to those speakers, but because it is not designed to work on loads that low, it may overheat easier/go into protection/shutdown.

Setting "6 ohms" on the amplifier (/receiver) doesn't change the impedance of your speakers, it just switches some of the amplifier's circuitry/protection features so that it can safely provide more current than when it is running in "8ohm" mode. For example, in "6ohm" mode the amplifier's internal fans might run a bit faster to provide additional cooling to safely handle the extra heat generated, or certain programmed voltage safety limits might be increased so the amplifier doesn't shut down unnecessarily.

By running 8ohm speakers and setting the amp to "6ohm" mode, you're just setting the amplifier up to handle a hard load, which 8ohms isn't, it's a relatively easy load.

 

So in short, it won't damage your speakers, it won't damage your amp and it shouldn't have any effect on the sound quality/characteristics.

 

Take note of this warning from the manual,

attachicon.gifYammy Manual.JPG

 

 

So if you're connecting 8ohm speakers, you have to set the switch in the "6ohm" position.

thanks for that reply, answered the question succinctly!

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Hi there,

I don't understand much about audio science, but I have 8ohm speakers and I am experimenting at setting the AV receivers'

impedance to 6ohm..will that wreck the speakers? Does it make them sound better??

How about if I bi-amp the front l/r???

Thanks

Here's why there's a 4/6 ohm mode in AVRs

In 8 ohm mode, say it's rated for 100W.

P = V^2 / R

The Power output is dependent on the Impedance R. The voltage is the same for different speakers.

In this mode, when the AVR is presented with a 4 ohm load, it would try to push out 200W.

With a 6ohm load, the AVR would try to push out 150W.

That's going to put a lot of pressure on the power supply in the AVR.

So most AVRs have a more conservative mode (labelled 4 or 6 ohms) which may be rated for 150W into 4ohm for instance. Sounds better doesn't it? 150W instead of 100W.

But that's not really the case.

In this mode, when you use an 8 ohm load, the AVR would only need to supply 75W. So it's running in a more conservative mode instead of 100W in the original mode.

Does this help?

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Great answer Spyne.

As it has 5.1 pre outs you can add a power amp, even just a stereo for your main l/r speakers will improve things or if possible get a 5 channel one.

What are your speakers?

Hi @@Hifiplus..My speakers are B&W 685 S2 L/R, B&W 685 s1 centre, Jensen X1 surround and Jensen Subwoofer...I am looking to either get an integrated valve amp for the front L/R, or some sort of power amp...Any recommendations under $1500?

Edited by Shmockolovitch
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Hi there,

 

I don't understand much about audio science, but I have 8ohm speakers and I am experimenting at setting the AV receivers'

impedance to 6ohm..will that wreck the speakers? Does it make them sound better??

 

How about if I bi-amp the front l/r???

 

Thanks

 

Hi Yuval, didn't you trust my original answer when you asked this question after I suggested trying your AVR's 6-ohm setting, in your other thread:)  I told you it won't damage your speakers!  ^_^

 

I took into account what model speakers you use, I took into account that their specified minimum impedance is 3.5 ohms despite their overall impedance being averaged at 8 ohms, I took into account that I couldn't find a proper impedance plot of your speaker on the internet, and I suggested that you try the 8 and the 6 ohm settings on your receiver and decide for yourself if one sounds better.

 

The impedance of your speakers isn't "8 ohms" -- that is just a weighted average number that the manufacturer uses as a guide to consumers. Its impedance varies quite a lot, depending on the frequency of the music signal. B&W say that its impedance drops to 3.5 ohms at a certain frequency (they don't specify the frequency), and that means that there are other frequencies where it is 4, 5, 6, and 7 ohms too. I'll wager that the impedance goes as high as a few dozen ohms at certain other frequencies too -- probably in the range of 50 to 100 Hz -- where its bass port resonates.

 

So, impedance is not a precise number, and matching speaker impedance to amp impedance is not a precise matter. It does need careful consideration in some cases (exotic speakers sometimes drop to very low impedances at some frequencies and demand a suitable amp), but your speakers and amp are both 'in the normal range', and you can safely try either setting on the amp.

 

What will happen when you choose 6-ohm on your amp, is that the amp will technically deal a little better with the speaker at the frequencies where the speaker is 3.5 ohm to 6 ohm of impedance -- especially when playing very loudly and nearing the amp's limits. But if you choose the 8-ohm amp setting, the amp can deliver a little more power (and loudness) to the speaker at frequencies where the speaker is 8 ohms or more of impedance. Whether any of this makes an audible difference is something I suggested you learn by trial -- especially since you stated you want a bit more warmth to the sound.

 

It's a compromise. And it's the same for any amp and any moving coil speaker.

 

My guess is that you are not playing music loudly enough to draw more than 10 watts from the amp, in which case it will deal quite safely with either setting, and probably with little to no sonic difference either. But why not try it?

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I play music quite loudly at times, but not longer that an albums worth  :thumb: ..I have been using the 6ohm setting you suggested I just didn't understand the science behind it..I think my speakers are now in check, my next step 

will be a new integrated amp with AV passthrough and potentially a new subwoofer :hiccup

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