receiver for 2.1

[BrianChia 10+ year member]

Almost all solid state amps and recievers today handle 4 ohms nominal with no problems. If you get a decent amp, I wouldn't worry about it at all, just don't crank it up all the way and you should be fine. I use my Denon on speakers that are around 4 ohms minimum with no problem at all, even though it is rated at 90x2 8 ohms. If you do get a receiever that has a 4 ohms/8 ohms switch, don't switch it to 4 ohms. Keep it on 8 ohm or you'll sacrifice your sound quality and dynamics by running your reciever through a "protection circuit".

If you are truly worried about the impedance, then you could just add an inline 4 ohm resistor on your crossover. But honestly, you aren't going to damage your receiver running it at 4 ohms.

For more information, read this thread:

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=396

 

[Spud2388 10+ year member]

sweet. my cousin is selling a pioneer VSX-517-K, he just bought it not too long ago, and im getting a really good deal on it. So that would work, its supposidly 110w x 5 @ 8ohms.

 

[Spud2388 10+ year member]

so i would leave the reciever in "8 ohm" mode and set it so send 100w @ 8ohm using a dmm?

 

[BrianChia 10+ year member]

I'm not quite sure what you're asking about with the DMM, but I would just keep it set in 8 ohm mode and hook it right up to the speakers but just don't crank it all the way to max power. If you keep it at normal listening levels you should be fine.

Impedance selector
This so called feature, used by some manufacturers, is designed to prevent overheating of the receiver or damage to its output transistors because of excessive current flow. The manufacturer accomplishes this in one of 2 ways: 1) Stepping down rail voltage supplied to the power amp or 2) feeding half the signal strength to a voltage divider of power resistors. Both of these methods severely limit dynamics and current capability of the power amp. This results in an audible decrease in bass capability and dynamics transient sound because the 4 ohm setting effectively increases the receiver's output impedance. Unfortunately many manufacturers put these features on their products to ease customer concerns with driving low impedance loads and for safety reasons when getting UL approvals. Note: In order to meet UL requirements, a receiver cannot be rated down to 4 ohms without having this switch onboard. Receivers without this switch are usually rated down to 6 ohms. In most cases, well designed receivers can easily handle 4 ohm loads safely and efficiently. It is highly recommend to keep the impedance switch set to 8 ohms regardless of your speakers impedance and make sure your receiver has plenty of ventilation.

 

[Spud2388 10+ year member]

yea your right. had a brain fart there. i was thinking about something way different.