[rjw2550]

Howdy all,


I'm trying to change the speaker setup of my 5.1 ht-ss360 HTIB.


Its a 3 ohm system.


What i am planning to do is wire 2 of the 3 ohm HTIB speakers in serial and then wire that duo parallel with one of my own 8 ohm speakers into each front port on the receiver, and use it as a 2.1 system with the sub.


I think the resistance calculated from my wiring scheme is 3.42ish (cant remember but its close)


I just wanted to know if this is a safe way to wire this system.


Thanks so much for your help!


-R

 

[Kal Rubinson]

Might work but why bother? It is likely to sound crappy.

 

[jettore]

Multiple speakers connected to a single channel is not going to sound right. Gonna have lobing issues. Just connect the best speaker you have to each channel until you get better speakers.

 

[rjw2550]

im doing this because im not getting enough power out of the setup that comes out of the box it seems. even after tinkering with the settings im having a hard time finding the "sweet spot" where i scan hear both dialogue and music at an acceptable volume. using this 5.1 system im constantly turning the volume up and down. my old sony system was 2.1 and worked brilliantly, its actually the system that im stealing the speakers from.


can i use 8 ohm speakers on a 3 ohm receiver?


the reason i wanted to wire the speakers like that was to reduce the ohms of the speaker, if that even makes sense.

 

[Kal Rubinson]



Quote:
Originally Posted by rjw2550 /forum/post/18103784


im doing this because im not getting enough power out of the setup that comes out of the box it seems.

If by power, you mean loudness, this ploy will not help at all.

Quote:
even after tinkering with the settings im having a hard time finding the "sweet spot" where i scan hear both dialogue and music at an acceptable volume. using this 5.1 system im constantly turning the volume up and down.

Doing this will not help.

Quote:
can i use 8 ohm speakers on a 3 ohm receiver?

Yes but you probably will get less output this way.

 

[sivadselim]



Quote:
Originally Posted by rjw2550 /forum/post/18103784


can i use 8 ohm speakers on a 3 ohm receiver?

Receivers do not have impedances. Speakers have impedances and the speaker that is connected dictates the impedance at which the receiver operates.


I wouldn't connect anything to that particular receiver that wasn't specifically made to be connected to it.

 

[rjw2550]

hmm i connected the speakers the way i said i would. i can't explain it much, but the difference is night and day. at volume setting 12, i get more sound out of this setup with 6 speakers running on 2 channels than i did with just the two puny speakers that came out of the box

 

[rjw2550]



Quote:
Originally Posted by sivadselim /forum/post/18104024


Receivers do not have impedances. Speakers have impedances and the speaker that is connected dictates the impedance at which the receiver operates.


I wouldn't connect anything to that particular receiver that wasn't specifically made to be connected to it.

this is untrue

 

[Kal Rubinson]



Quote:
Originally Posted by sivadselim /forum/post/18104024


Receivers do not have impedances. Speakers have impedances and the speaker that is connected dictates the impedance at which the receiver operates.


I wouldn't connect anything to that particular receiver that wasn't specifically made to be connected to it.

Quote:
Originally Posted by rjw2550 /forum/post/18104155


this is untrue

Well, the receiver's amp is undoubtedly not 3 ohms as the vast majority of amps have output impedances much lower than the loads they are meant to drive. OTOH, this receiver, regardless of its real output impedance, is intended to drive a 3 ohm load but I suspect that is because a 3ohm load will draw more power from a wimpy amp than will, say, an 8ohm speaker.


So, fundamentally, I endorse Backward Miles' recommendation that it would be ill-advised to think this receiver can handle any decent speakers or, indeed, almost any not made for it.

 

[rjw2550]

my question was whether it was safe. i didn't ask about sound quality, as i've already made an observation on that.



the reciever was meant to drive a 3 ohm load at each channel except the sub, which is a 1.5 ohm load.


the way i wired the speakers should theoretically equate to a 3.42 ohm load for each channel that i wired.



should this not be close enough>??


and if not, why?

 

[trekguy]



Quote:
Originally Posted by rjw2550 /forum/post/18104342


my question was whether it was safe. i didn't ask about sound quality, as i've already made an observation on that.



the reciever was meant to drive a 3 ohm load at each channel except the sub, which is a 1.5 ohm load.


the way i wired the speakers should theoretically equate to a 3.42 ohm load for each channel that i wired.



should this not be close enough>??


and if not, why?

Safe? Yes. Any load greater than 3 Ohms should be fine with program material. You might want to avoid test tones because the actual impedance at some frequencies might be much less than 3 Ohms--a real test of the amplifier's protection circuitry- if any.

 

[bluesky636]

A read of the Sony website shows the amp specs to be quite impressive:


Audio Power Output : 1000W (143w x 5 + 285w (1KHz, 10% THD))


A nice set of Bose Acoustimass speakers would probably be an excellent upgrade.

 

[trekguy]



Quote:
Originally Posted by bluesky636 /forum/post/18105905


A read of the Sony website shows the amp specs to be quite impressive:


Audio Power Output : 1000W (143w x 5 + 285w (1KHz, 10% THD))


A nice set of Bose Acoustimass speakers would probably be an excellent upgrade.

Hey, guys cut him some slack. He has what he has and if he wants to experiment a bit why not? He took the time to look up Ohm's Law and came here with a prudent question.


Sony's market driven specs egregious, as they might be, offer way more info than Bose does on it "HT systems". What he might have is a nice 5 or 10 WPC receiver with much better specs at those levels that sounds OK when pairs with efficient speakers in a small room. Moreover there are many, many, people that cannot detect distortion in music even at 10%


I have fond memories of my first Hi-Fi amp rated at 3 Watts at 3% THD driving an 8" co-ax speaker in a huge bass reflex box. Of course, that was before Al Gore invented the internet forum and led us into the light.

 

[bluesky636]



Quote:
Originally Posted by trekguy /forum/post/18106169


Hey, guys cut him some slack. He has what he has and if he wants to experiment a bit why not? He took the time to look up Ohm’s Law and came here with a prudent question.


Sony's market driven specs egregious, as they might be, offer way more info than Bose does on it "HT systems". What he might have is a nice 5 or 10 WPC receiver with much better specs at those levels that sounds OK when pairs with efficient speakers in a small room. Moreover there are many, many, people that cannot detect distortion in music even at 10%


I have fond memories of my first Hi-Fi amp rated at 3 Watts at 3% THD driving an 8" co-ax speaker in a huge bass reflex box. Of course, that was before Al Gore invented the internet forum and led us into the light.

Ok. We'll just wait until the OP comes back complaining he blew a speaker or amp channel during one of his "experiments."

 

[rjw2550]

why would I come back regardless of the outcome of any experiment? The first question I pose to this forum I get one guy who doesn't know what hes talking about, one guy who answers every question but the one that I asked, one guy who (i guess) was making fun of me by posting the amp specs and tells me to upgrade my speaker set, and one guy who clearly answered my question.


the point of this was to try and use what i already have in a way that creates a pleasant listening environment for me, and only me. I'm not an audiophile, and there's no way I'd even think about spending big money on a sound set. In fact, this one came free when i bought my xbr9 last year.


Using the system in 5.1 was unpleasant, driving 6 speakers on 2 channels clears things up quite a bit for me -- I can hear voices clear as day without turning the volume up very high -- I am a low volume listener, for the most part.


You people were so unhelpful that I had already wired the system before I finally got the answer to my question in the first place. 5 hours of movie/tv watching and the receiver was doing fine. Not much heat, and to my ears, no distortion. whaddaya know.

 

[bluesky636]



Quote:
Originally Posted by rjw2550 /forum/post/18108302


I'm not an audiophile, and there's no way I'd even think about spending big money on a sound set.

Probably a good thing.

 

[trekguy]



Quote:
Originally Posted by rjw2550 /forum/post/18108302


Using the system in 5.1 was unpleasant, driving 6 speakers on 2 channels clears things up quite a bit for me -- I can hear voices clear as day without turning the volume up very high -- I am a low volume listener, for the most part.

At least two of the those who answered you are recognized here and elsewhere as knowledgeable (check Kal Rubinson your search engine) and well known for their helpful comments. I do not speak for them and do not want to try, but with in the limits of your first post they gave you good and valid advice. Setting personalities aside there is good science in what they said and nothing in your actual results invalidates that.


The specs on your receiver tell us that it cannot deliver full power to each channel, from 20 to 20 kHz at low distortion and that the better ratings in stereo mode exclude the frequencies below 170 Hz.


The receiver is able to deliver more power in stereo mode, perhaps a great deal more power than when in surround mode.


The power amp stage in the receiver is designed to drive a 3 Ohm load; at full gain the power supply voltage will be at max as will the current. How loud this sounds is then a function of the speaker efficiency, distance to listener and room gain (or loss).


The Sony is claimed to produce 84 W into 3 Ohms. Using Ohm's Law that calls for a supply voltage of 16 V and that might be the practical max for your Sony--essentially auto radio territory.


What then happens if you attach speakers of more than 3 Ohms? Using P = E 2 / R we get 64 W and into 8 Ohms we get 32 Watts.


What then explains what you hear?


It could be that the Sony speakers are relatively poor performers that may not suit your listening environment and as a result do not sound clear or clean to you. I would guess that the bass response is poor and that perhaps the mid-bass has been boosted to give the illusion of a deep response.


Many people find full surround sound makes dialog hard to understand even with far more expensive systems. Switching to stereo solves that.


The speakers that you added may be better speakers; you might try using them without the HTIB Sony speakers.


NO warranty is expressed or implied.


Pax vobiscum all.