Combination of 6ohm and 8ohm Speakers in a 5.1Setup

[Prodigy]

Hi Folks,
I was looking at various forums and blogs to see if I can find an answer but I didn’t
Given a scenario, let’s say I have a pair of 6ohm BS or FS Speakers which j am running as a stereo setup in a 5.1 AVR and if I wish to add Surrounds to it to make it a complete 5.1 or 4.1 can I look at buying 8ohm Speakers or should I stick to 6ohm only.
Please advise. Thank you.

Regards,
Som

 

[efernand1]

Hi

No harm if 6 ohms or 8 ohms speakers are added.....i use a mix on a marantz......

There are various articles......here is one of them

http://www.audiogurus.com/learn/speakers/speaker-impedance-rating/1092

 

[Prodigy]

Hi

No harm if 6 ohms or 8 ohms speakers are added.....i use a mix on a marantz......

There are various articles......here is one of them

http://www.audiogurus.com/learn/speakers/speaker-impedance-rating/1092

Hello efernand1...
Thank you very much for your response.
Let me go through the article and update my knowledge.
Cheers!!

 

[raghupb]

Impedance rating is always nominal.
8/6 ohm means most of the time they will stay at or above this number.
At certain frequencies (depending on content) they can dip below.
Sometimes to 3 or 4 ohms (unless they are Harbeth 6 ohm means 6 ohm min).

In a 5.1 or 2.1 it should not matter. SQ wise, it makes very little difference.
Just take care when in 2.0 mode you don't run the system at insane levels (requires high current).
This is true for either 8/6 ohms.

If you have a choice, choose 8 ohm.
If you don't have a choice (meaning you have 6 ohms already) don't lose sleep over it.
Enjoy the show or music or whatnot!!

Cheers,
Raghu

 

[Prodigy]

Impedance rating is always nominal.
8/6 ohm means most of the time they will stay at or above this number.
At certain frequencies (depending on content) they can dip below.
Sometimes to 3 or 4 ohms (unless they are Harbeth 6 ohm means 6 ohm min).

In a 5.1 or 2.1 it should not matter. SQ wise, it makes very little difference.
Just take care when in 2.0 mode you don't run the system at insane levels (requires high current).
This is true for either 8/6 ohms.

If you have a choice, choose 8 ohm.
If you don't have a choice (meaning you have 6 ohms already) don't lose sleep over it.
Enjoy the show or music or whatnot!!

Cheers,
Raghu

Awesome. Thank you very much for your explanation. The only reason why I asked coz in my current setup (i.e 2.1) I am running a pair of 6ohm speakers and sub. On the AVR, under Speaker Configuration I have set up the Fronts as “Small” and Sub as “Yes” and Subwoofer Setting to LFE+Main and kept the at crossover for Sub at 80Hz and the same to the Fronts too at 80Hz.
As my room current size is slightly big (approx 260sqft, I end up bumping the volume between 60 and 65 while listening to music sometimes (Especially when in Kitchen) and the sound does not fill in until then. So I was planning to buy a pair of Polk Audio T15’s Speakers which I am getting it around 8K and making it a 4.1 so that I can run it as multi Channel Stereo.
Since the Polks are 8ohms I wanted to know if it was okay to have Speakers with different impedance rating.

 

[efernand1]

Hi

It is perfectly fine....

Increase your source volume manually and you will not require to increase overall volume to 60 or 65........you will be content at 50 or 55...

After auto caliberation, most levels are kept very conservatively.....thus the hidden potential of a AVR lies untapped unlike a stereo amp where there are no speaker or source level adjustments....check owners manually to understand how this can be done....

 

[MaSh]

On the AVR, under Speaker Configuration I have set up the Fronts as “Small” and Sub as “Yes” and Subwoofer Setting to LFE+Main and kept the at crossover for Sub at 80Hz and the same to the Fronts too at 80Hz.

Impedance is not a fixed value. So if the speaker says 6/8 ohms nominal, its perfectly fine to mix and match. Most of the amps support 6-8 nominal ohm speakers. Issue comes when you have 2-4 ohm speakers. Then one needs to check the amp specs whether they can support that or not.

I would set the Sub to LFE only and cross it at 120-150Hz with all speakers crossed at 80 or above Hz.

MaSh

 

[raghupb]

Awesome. Thank you very much for your explanation. The only reason why I asked coz in my current setup (i.e 2.1) I am running a pair of 6ohm speakers and sub. On the AVR, under Speaker Configuration I have set up the Fronts as “Small” and Sub as “Yes” and Subwoofer Setting to LFE+Main and kept the at crossover for Sub at 80Hz and the same to the Fronts too at 80Hz.
As my room current size is slightly big (approx 260sqft, I end up bumping the volume between 60 and 65 while listening to music sometimes (Especially when in Kitchen) and the sound does not fill in until then. So I was planning to buy a pair of Polk Audio T15’s Speakers which I am getting it around 8K and making it a 4.1 so that I can run it as multi Channel Stereo.
Since the Polks are 8ohms I wanted to know if it was okay to have Speakers with different impedance rating.

Get a Soundpot or any basic BT speaker for kitchen.
They will love the aroma of cooking
Then you can really rest easy about playing the main system too loud.
Cheers,
Raghu