Need a receiver to drive 4 ohm speakers

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Totally wrong and misleading. I looked at the specs you are quoting and it is NOT actual power output. It's the receiver's dynamic power output. Dynamic output has alway been a dubious spec as there is no real standard on how dynamic output should be measured. Dynamic output is measured by finding how much power an amp can deliver without clipping for a SHORT period of time. There are so many variables about how this is measured that varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. Such as how much time is used to measure this power burst? At what frequency is this burst being measured at? Is this measured with all channels driven?


The only real measure of an amp's prowess in power output is it's RMS rating with all channels driven into specified loads. No receiver can sustain high power outputs at 3 Ohms; even 4 Ohms is questionable.

ijd is correct. Onkyo typically produces about 1/3 of their rated power with 5 channels driven, as does Sony, and that into an easy 8 Ohm resistive load, which does not correspond to any loudspeaker that I am aware of.


However, much like several other big name manufacturers have done, Onkyo will eventually figure out how to engineer a high-voltage (low current) power stage so that they will be able to maintain close to their no load spec with more than 2 channels driven. The only problem with that is no speaker actually presents a simple resistive 8 Ohm load to an amp. Virtually all better speakers present much closer to 4 Ohm active load. That's where the high-voltage, low current designs stumble.


Stick with a brand known to honestly produce high-current, an indicator of which is the ability to produce, at minimum, its 8 Ohm power into 4 Ohms, with more than 2 channels driven. Of the mass market, mid-level brands, H/K, NAD, Pioneer Elite and Marantz will generally produce more power into 4 Ohms than 8. The list ends about right there.