2 difficult to drive speakers on a 7 ch receiver

What reciever and speakers?
What do you use it for, music/movies or both a lot?
Do you play loud or at low volume?
Large or small room?
Are your speakers set to small or large(bass management or full range)?
Do you have a sub and what crossover settings?


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Lindahl said:

So if I have difficult to drive speakers - 4 ohm, 87 dB, when the impedence dips it’ll demand a lot of current from the receiver at higher volumes. Most receivers can’t deliver this amount of current for 7 speakers, but with only 2 speakers with these specs it should be ok right, because its power supply is designed to deliver current to many more speakers 3x as many)?

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As with most mid level receivers, the more channels you add the more your per channel capabilities diminish. If you're running 4ohm speakers full range (no sub) and like to turn it up some, a good robust amp may be a good idea assuming your AVR has pre-outs to support it.

Lindahl said:

So if I have difficult to drive speakers - 4 ohm, 87 dB, when the impedence dips it’ll demand a lot of current from the receiver at higher volumes. Most receivers can’t deliver this amount of current for 7 speakers, but with only 2 speakers with these specs it should be ok right, because its power supply is designed to deliver current to many more speakers 3x as many)?

Click to expand...

AVR power ratings are generally only into 2CH driven while with 7CH driven the power rating drops to about 50%. At average TV listening volume levels you should be fine, otherwise, at higher movie reference level volumes, the AVR may shut down in protection mode, thus requiring a more robust external amp. If you don't already own the AVR, best to get one with at least Front L/R pre-outs to add an external amp if required.

With low impedence speakers, the power supply becomes the limiting factor doesn’t it? And power supplies are singular. So really, a low impedence speaker isn’t much different than a high impedence speaker when you’re dealing with 2 channels out of a 7 channel amp? Or... not?

Lindahl said:

With low impedence speakers, the power supply becomes the limiting factor doesn’t it? And power supplies are singular. So really, a low impedence speaker isn’t much different than a high impedence speaker when you’re dealing with 2 channels out of a 7 channel amp? Or... not?

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The powersupply in most AVRs arent very big. But what you need depends on your use and how much money you want to spend.


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Also heat can be a major issue for many AVRs, ut again depends on how you use it, distance/volume etc.


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As long as your AVR can handle it, the lower the impedance of the speaker the more power the amp will put out. If you are just running 2 speakers, you will get the full rated power output of your AVR (they measure with only 2 channels driven) and it should be more than enough unless you have a very low power AVR. It would help a lot to know what AVR and what speakers you have. Unless you are really cranking it to the limit, I've never really found any AVR that can't go loud enough even with inefficient speakers.

My two channel system is driving 87db speakers with a 13-watt per channel tube amp -- there are limits on how loud that will go, but it's a lot louder than you would expect based upon the numbers.

Is this a system you already own, or one that you are thinking about buying?

Lindahl said:

So if I have difficult to drive speakers - 4 ohm, 87 dB, when the impedence dips it’ll demand a lot of current from the receiver at higher volumes. Most receivers can’t deliver this amount of current for 7 speakers, but with only 2 speakers with these specs it should be ok right, because its power supply is designed to deliver current to many more speakers 3x as many)?

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Is your post just designed to generate discussion or are you referring to a planned setup, perhaps with some existing equipment?

Whether this is a thought experiment or a question about an actual existing/planned installation you need to supply answers to the questions asked to you by other members on this thread. Without more information the answers all circle around a central core of: "That depends..."

Whether or not an AVR can drive low impedance, low sensitivity loudspeakers depends upon multiple factors..
Including:

• Price class of brand/model AVR
• How loud for the average SPL
• Type of content being played, compressed, uncompressed
• Room size
• Distance of listener from loudspeakers

Today the majority of AVRs selling for

The price point of the speakers doesn't make sense to invest in a more expensive receiver or separate amplifiers.

> Driving only 1 pair of low impedance loudspeakers does ease the pain somewhat

This is what I was wanting to know - that if dropping down to only a single pair of speakers for a multichannel receiver does mean that lower impedance speakers could potentially be used (than if all 7 speakers were said lower impedance).

I'm determining what receiver to purchase but the price point must be low. Trying to assess how the number of channels may indicate the ability for it to drive the lower impedance speakers at the cheaper end of things.

We're living abroad temporarily, so it doesn't make sense to invest in a nice setup (I have my nicer setup in storage back in the US).