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can you use any speakers with any receiver?

post #1 of 28
6/7/10 at 7:27pm
Thread Starter 
im prettt much new to all this and dont know all the technical terms like ohms and pass through or passive etc....i was just wondering if any speakers could be used with any receiver.I'm guessing no but im upgrading from a Sony htib i brought about 3 or 4 years ago and wanna build a new one so the first thing i would buy is the receiver but i still wanna use the speakers with the new receiver until i get the rest,the system i have now has 600 watts total power and i would buy a receiver thatoutputs more than that.i could get the rest if the technical details if you need them but just want the first question answered before i go through anything.
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post #2 of 28
6/7/10 at 7:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jkiller122 View Post

im prettt much new to all this and dont know all the technical terms like ohms and pass through or passive etc....i was just wondering if any speakers could be used with any receiver.I'm guessing no but im upgrading from a Sony htib i brought about 3 or 4 years ago and wanna build a new one so the first thing i would buy is the receiver but i still wanna use the speakers with the new receiver until i get the rest,the system i have now has 600 watts total power and i would buy a receiver thatoutputs more than that.i could get the rest if the technical details if you need them but just want the first question answered before i go through anything.

So the basics in a nutshell.

8 ohm speakers are your best bet for use with budget and mid-range receivers.

4 ohm speakers present a tougher load on receivers. They could cause the receiver to shut down for example.

High efficiency speakers are nice, but not always an option. They will put out more sound for less power. You will see this listed something like 90 dB sensitivity.

If an HTIB says something like 600 watts, it's probably HIGHLY optimistic.

As for using HITB speakers with a receiver, it may work. But the speakers may have been optimized for the HITB system.
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post #3 of 28
6/7/10 at 10:46pm
Thread Starter 
I have this system http://www.amazon.com/Sony-HT-DDW670.../ref=de_a_smtd i dont know if it can be paired with any other receiver since iit doesn't show the specs on the speakers but i was thinking on getting the denon-avr791 or the onkyo Tx-sr608,they both are 3d compatible the onkyo puts out 700 watts and is a 7.2 channel receiver and the denon puts out 875 watts and is a 7.1 channel reciever,im guessing the difference between 7.1 and 7.2 has to do with how many subwoofers you can connect to it but correct me if i'm wrong cause im a bit clueless on that.thanks for your help.
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post #4 of 28
6/7/10 at 11:33pm
Since you are looking at a 7.1 3d capable you are planning to use 3d capability meaning purchasing a 3d tv in the relative near future correct? Don't forget the 3d blu-ray player

x.1 is 1 subwoofer pre-out, x.2 is 2 subwoofer pre-outs. Keep in mind for most people 1 quality subwoofer is enough.

If you don't plan on purchasing the 3d gear go with last years denon avr-1910. You'll get a great deal on it and it will allow some money to upgrade your front 3 speakers which will be a high improvement in overall performance
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The speakers with your system have a 6ohm impedence. You will have no troble using them with the reciever you wanted
http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/...specifications
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post #5 of 28
6/8/10 at 11:31am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jkiller122 View Post

I have this system http://www.amazon.com/Sony-HT-DDW670.../ref=de_a_smtd i dont know if it can be paired with any other receiver since iit doesn't show the specs on the speakers but i was thinking on getting the denon-avr791 or the onkyo Tx-sr608,they both are 3d compatible the onkyo puts out 700 watts and is a 7.2 channel receiver and the denon puts out 875 watts and is a 7.1 channel reciever,im guessing the difference between 7.1 and 7.2 has to do with how many subwoofers you can connect to it but correct me if i'm wrong cause im a bit clueless on that.thanks for your help.

Your old Sony speakers are rated at 6ohms, so they should be OK with those AVRs. The only problem is that your old Sony woofer is passive (unpowered) and all modern AVRs will only provide output for active (powered) subs. There is no practical way to use your sub with a new AVR.
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post #6 of 28
6/8/10 at 11:59am
He could hook it up in series with the left or right speaker. Would not be ideal, but would give a bit more bass I guess.
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post #7 of 28
6/8/10 at 2:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MichaelJHuman View Post

He could hook it up in series with the left or right speaker. Would not be ideal, but would give a bit more bass I guess.

Sure, he would get some effect.
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post #8 of 28
6/8/10 at 6:00pm
Just thinking outside the box I understand not everyone can afford an ideal setup.
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post #9 of 28
6/8/10 at 10:45pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for you guys help,now i'ma do some research on speakers and subs and just buy it altogether as it really wouldnt make sense to have the receiver with old speakers and no sub. one more question,when a receiver is listed as 700 watts x7 channels that doesnt include the subwoofers wattage right.
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post #10 of 28
6/8/10 at 11:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jkiller122 View Post

Thanks for you guys help,now i'ma do some research on speakers and subs and just buy it altogether as it really wouldnt make sense to have the receiver with old speakers and no sub. one more question,when a receiver is listed as 700 watts x7 channels that doesnt include the subwoofers wattage right.

No it doesn't. BUT active subwoofers which are extremely more common than the one you have, have their own internal amp. All you need to do is run a RCA cable from the subwoofer pre-out on the reciever to the input

What is your budget for reciever and speakers? Do you absolutely want 7.1 or will 5.1 be enough (most movies are still in 5.1)? What is the size of the room you are going to put the home theater? Are you planning to purchase one of those new 3d televisions in the near future?
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post #11 of 28
6/9/10 at 4:28am
You can run a passive subwoofer off an old receiver (2-channel or otherwise). You can use the primary receiver's cutoff to send only lower frequencies to the second receiver that is used to power the subwoofer.

At around $200 range, individuals in this forum like the BIC F12 and Premier Acoustics PA-120 subwoofers.
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post #12 of 28
6/9/10 at 7:59am
Thread Starter 
that's good to know about the subwoofer as far as my budget goes i wouldn't mind spending about $1500 or more for everything as long as i have good qualitystuff for that price the room I'm in now is pretty small as i still live with my parents but i might put it in the living room until i get my own place so i wanna build a system that will last me years and have room to upgrade in the future,the problem is that I'm only limited to best buy because i have their credit card and a $100 gift certificate that i wanna use but they have some pretty decent things in their regular store and at magnolia home theater.another question my receiver that i have right now that came with the htib has a subwoofer out output so i should be able to connect a new subwoofer to it right.
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post #13 of 28
6/9/10 at 8:33am
If you connect the passive sub in series with the front speakers it will increase the resistance. Just do not wre it in parallel. Also that Sony HTiB lsted at 600 watts is not real. Check the power consumption on the rear of the receiver. My Sammy 3250 is rated at 1000 watts, but only consumes 87 watts. Just FYI.

You do not need a receiver outputting true 100 watts per channel unless you have extremely inefficent speakers or want sound levels that surpass comfortable levels. Take my setup as an example; Yamaha RX-V665 (300$) Jamo S406HCS1 (250$) and TSC T100 (160$). Also have a Def Tech PF 15", but I have a large room. Anyway, this set up at just over 700$ will blow the Sony HTiB away for sure. Now replace the Yamaha for a Onkyo 608 for 3d (usually 400-450) and for 800-850 you can have a killer setup from what you had before. There are alternatives as well, like Jamo 413 package that includes a powered sub and the speakers are a lttle smaller for about the cost of the S406 w/o sub.

Good luck!
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post #14 of 28
6/9/10 at 9:10am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by 4theLuvofHD View Post

If you connect the passive sub in series with the front speakers it will increase the resistance. Just do not wre it in parallel. Also that Sony HTiB lsted at 600 watts is not real. Check the power consumption on the rear of the receiver. My Sammy 3250 is rated at 1000 watts, but only consumes 87 watts. Just FYI.

You do not need a receiver outputting true 100 watts per channel unless you have extremely inefficent speakers or want sound levels that surpass comfortable levels. Take my setup as an example; Yamaha RX-V665 (300$) Jamo S406HCS1 (250$) and TSC T100 (160$). Also have a Def Tech PF 15", but I have a large room. Anyway, this set up at just over 700$ will blow the Sony HTiB away for sure. Now replace the Yamaha for a Onkyo 608 for 3d (usually 400-450) and for 800-850 you can have a killer setup from what you had before. There are alternatives as well, like Jamo 413 package that includes a powered sub and the speakers are a lttle smaller for about the cost of the S406 w/o sub.

Good luck!

thanks,but when you say connect the passive sub(which i am guessing is the one that came with my htib)to the front speakers how exactly do i do that,each connection has one input so do i disconnect something or not,sorry for being a pain but as i mentioned earlier i'm new to all of this and i appreciate you guys help.
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post #15 of 28
6/9/10 at 10:22am
The ohms from each of the speakers add when wired in series. 6ohm + 6ohm = 12ohm. You are safer with more ohms because with too little ohms (from wiring in parallel) your receiver or amplifier can very rapidly overheat.

Take speaker wire from + on receiver to + on first speaker. Take - from same speaker using a speaker wire and connect to + on second speaker. Take - from second speaker and use speaker wire to go to - on receiver.

You do the same for both speakers.

The problem with this type of wiring with a subwoofer/speaker combination is that all frequencies are being sent to the subwoofer.

http://www.termpro.com/articles/spkrz.html
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post #16 of 28
6/9/10 at 11:25am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jkiller122 View Post

thanks,but when you say connect the passive sub(which i am guessing is the one that came with my htib)to the front speakers how exactly do i do that,each connection has one input so do i disconnect something or not,sorry for being a pain but as i mentioned earlier i'm new to all of this and i appreciate you guys help.

There is no good way to do that. You can connect it in parallel with either the left or the right front speaker but it will severely load down the amp in that channel. You can bridge it across the L and R (+) terminals but then you will only get the difference signal in it. Of course, if you connect it to both L + R channels you will destroy all separation in the main channels and probably blow up the amps.
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post #17 of 28
6/9/10 at 11:28am
Quote:
Originally Posted by wwinkler View Post

The ohms from each of the speakers add when wired in series. 6ohm + 6ohm = 12ohm. You are safer with more ohms because with too little ohms (from wiring in parallel) your receiver or amplifier can very rapidly overheat.

Take speaker wire from + on receiver to + on first speaker. Take - from same speaker using a speaker wire and connect to + on second speaker. Take - from second speaker and use speaker wire to go to - on receiver.

You do the same for both speakers.

The problem with this type of wiring with a subwoofer/speaker combination is that all frequencies are being sent to the subwoofer.

http://www.termpro.com/articles/spkrz.html

First, that will only work if he had 2 subs. Second, not only will all frequencies be passed through the subwoofer but the reactance of the subwoofer will filter what gets to the main speaker. Series wiring should only be used when interconnecting identical speakers and, even then, without expecting much.
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post #18 of 28
6/9/10 at 6:58pm
Thread Starter 
i wont even mess with it as it sounds too complicated and risky, but i should be able to buy a new sub and hook it up to this system replacing the old sub right since this receiver has a rca cable input for a sub.
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post #19 of 28
6/9/10 at 7:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jkiller122 View Post

i wont even mess with it as it sounds too complicated and risky, but i should be able to buy a new sub and hook it up to this system replacing the old sub right since this receiver has a rca cable input for a sub.

Bingo!
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post #20 of 28
6/9/10 at 8:45pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for all your help everybody i finally decided what i'm gonna get,for the reciever i'm gonna go with the denon avr791 and the definitive technology pc600,what do ya think
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post #21 of 28
6/9/10 at 9:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jkiller122 View Post

Thanks for all your help everybody i finally decided what i'm gonna get,for the reciever i'm gonna go with the denon avr791 and the definitive technology pc600,what do ya think

WHats the size of your room?

The Def-Techs pc600 are good in small rooms

If you are willing to spend $1,500 you can get an amazing system
-BIC Acoustech PL-76 Home Theater Speaker System
-Pioneer VSX-1020-K 7.1-Channel 3D Ready A/V Receiver
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post #22 of 28
6/9/10 at 9:38pm
Thread Starter 
my room is only 9x15 sq ft but i might put it in my living room which is about18 x 16,i know these are gonna sound great in my room as my outdated htib sounds pretty good and im prettt sure it will sound great in the living room too, all together its going to cost me $1200+ so if you guys think this is a bad move please let me know before i shelve out that money and how big does the room have to be before these stop sounding good? Also im only limited to bestbuy shopping so do you think that pioneer receiver is better than the denon and if so why?
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post #23 of 28
6/9/10 at 10:25pm
Bigger rooms mean (generally) more distance from listener to speakers which requires more power for the same SPL.

Room shape affects acoustics, but that's a whole 'nother discussion.

Receivers are not made the same, but on the other hand evidence suggests they sound the same when not overdriven.

Near as I can tell, and I have not owned either, Pioneer and Denon both make good products. So there's no simple rule on which is better. You could always pick the heaviest one, or the one with the highest power consumption figure, on the basis that could indicate something about the power supply...or not

Some say Denon manuals are confusing. Some say budget Pioneer models have very low power (there's some bench tests which back that up, sorta.) Ask 10 people, and get 10 different answers That's audio for you
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post #24 of 28
6/9/10 at 10:58pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by wwinkler View Post

You can run a passive subwoofer off an old receiver (2-channel or otherwise). You can use the primary receiver's cutoff to send only lower frequencies to the second receiver that is used to power the subwoofer.

At around $200 range, individuals in this forum like the BIC F12 and Premier Acoustics PA-120 subwoofers.

I'm in a situation kind of like his, I purchase a new receiver I'm using my old speakers, my sub is a passive one , how exactly I can connect my old receiver and sub to the new one to make the sub work till I get a new one

Thanks
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post #25 of 28
6/10/10 at 7:34am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by MichaelJHuman View Post

Bigger rooms mean (generally) more distance from listener to speakers which requires more power for the same SPL.

Room shape affects acoustics, but that's a whole 'nother discussion.

Receivers are not made the same, but on the other hand evidence suggests they sound the same when not overdriven.

Near as I can tell, and I have not owned either, Pioneer and Denon both make good products. So there's no simple rule on which is better. You could always pick the heaviest one, or the one with the highest power consumption figure, on the basis that could indicate something about the power supply...or not

Some say Denon manuals are confusing. Some say budget Pioneer models have very low power (there's some bench tests which back that up, sorta.) Ask 10 people, and get 10 different answers That's audio for you

ain't that the truth,i'm gonna go with the denon since it puts out more power and i feel more comfortable with it,thanks
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post #26 of 28
6/10/10 at 9:24am
Quote:
Originally Posted by aztlan67 View Post

I'm in a situation kind of like his, I purchase a new receiver I'm using my old speakers, my sub is a passive one , how exactly I can connect my old receiver and sub to the new one to make the sub work till I get a new one

Some subwoofers from HTIB systems cannot be connected up to play.

You can try:
In your case, you can run a standard subwoofer cable (rca connectors at each end) from the subwoofer out (or LFE out) to the old receiver. You can use any input on the old receiver (say use the auxiliary input). You can run a speaker cable from the old receiver to you subwoofer. You will use one channel of the old receiver to power the passive subwoofer.
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post #27 of 28
6/19/10 at 6:00pm
Thread Starter 
i just got my denon and def tech speaker system today,havent took it out the box yet so will give feedback on it later but i have a question. As i told you guys earlier in this thread im replacing this system http://www.amazon.com/Sony-HT-DDW670.../ref=de_a_smtd, i also have this system in my living room and was wondering if there was anyway to use two systems for one source,for example both receivers in the living room and both sets of speakers but a adapter box or something so i can plug the optical cables into the box and plug a third optical cable from the box into a tv,cable box etc... i doubt this is possible but let me know if it is.
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post #28 of 28
12/6/12 at 6:52pm
what speakers would someone recommend with the strdr 1030 Sony Receiver
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