[Bengalih]

I am looking to reuse a set of Cambridge Sound Works 5.1 speakers. These came with the DTT3500 5.1 set which I bought as a boxed HT solution for my PC 5 years ago. I believe back then the set cost about $400 (that was 5.1 speakers and the decoder).


I remember them sounding pretty good on my PC, but the decoder box no longer works properly. I would like to use these with my HT setup until I can find something else I like at an acceptable price. I have been reading about wire gauge and how it impacts based on the impedence (Ohms) of your speakers. Unfortunately, no documentation exists on what the Ohm rating of these speakers is. I e-mailed Cambridge and got the following answer:


"These speakers have never been test rated for use with anything other than the supplied amplifier.

Therefore, it is not recommended to use the speakers outside of this application.

Within the system, the wattage rating is 7 watts to each front/rear

21 watts to the center and 23 watts to the subwoofer."


I would like to use these with my Onkyo 602 receiver, however it warns not to use speakers less than 6 ohms. Is there a formula to discover the Ohms based on the info above?


I would also like to know how these speakers may be comparable to what's out there today. Are they crud? Or are they as good as say the Polk RM6500 or some other $200-300 5.1 set?


These are all the specs I have (some may have been for the receiver):


Drivers

4 pieces of satellites (front right, front left, rear right and rear left)

1 unit passive subwoofer

1 piece of center satellite


RMS Power

Satellite : 7W per channel

Subwoofer : 30W

Center Satellite : 21W

Total : 79W (7+7+7+7+30+21)


Frequency Response

20Hz - 20kHz


S/N Ratio

70dB



Are they decent speakers still? What Ohm rating should I use when determining AWG (with cable length)? Is it worth it to upgrade to a different $200-300 5.1 set or not cost effective. I do plan on just hooking them up to listen to them, and I realize you can't listen to them, but I'm hoping on the specs and on the rep of the company you may know something.


Thanks!

 

[louthewiz]

Most computer speakers are rated at 6-8 ohms so you should be fine ,but dont expect reference sound levels with those speakers so just don't abuse them. Lou

 

[Bengalih]

Can you explain "reference sound levels"?

 

[r:o:b]

refernce sound level is loudest point your RECIEVER can put out. normaly its the 12 oclock position, on my h/k its the 0dbs volume. when u exceed this point you begin to clip your speakers and they can blow. but your dont really have to worry about this unless you are blasting the crap out of your music. u can hear clipping when distortion occurs or your turn the volume up and the speakers dont go louder

 

[DonoMan]

That's not true. You can clip LONG before hitting 0dB. It depends on the size of your input signal. On the other hand, it is possible that 0dB won't clip at all. It is not a reference to any sort of wattage, SPL, or anything. It simply is the attenuation of the preamp (which is followed by the gain of the amp)


Basically what we're saying is "don't crank it or you'll blow them"