Onkyo receiver says no lower than 6 ohms...

[Sonnybu42]

But... All my 8 ohm speakers read 5 ohms... even my best JBL.
What do I do?
What impedance do Onkyo speakers read at?

 

[t53186]

How do you measure impedance..not with an ohmeter

 

[Sonnybu42]

How do you measure impedance..not with an ohmeter

See me sticking that knife into the power outlet?

Yes... I was just using an ohm meter... ???

 

[BFG-9000]

There's a really big difference between impedance and the resistance you are measuring with an ohmmeter. Impedance includes reactance at high frequencies. Most 8-ohm speakers will measure 5-6ohms resistance.

 

[velocityg4]

How do you measure impedance..not with an ohmeter

See me sticking that knife into the power outlet?

Yes... I was just using an ohm meter... ???

An Ohm meter will not get accurate results on a speaker it measure resistance not impedance. Just a ball park figure. As it uses a DC current to test. Speakers are AC and impedance varies as frequency changes. The manufacturers Ohm rating is an overall average. Testing requires much more complex equipment and testing.

With your regular multimeter. If the Ohm reading is somewhere in the 5 to 7 Ohm range. It is an 8 ohm speaker. A 4 ohm speaker would typically be in the 2.5-3.5 Ohm range.

 

[Sonnybu42]

There's a really big difference between impedance and the resistance you are measuring with an ohmmeter. Impedance includes reactance at high frequencies. Most 8-ohm speakers will measure 5-6ohms resistance.

Yes... I am used to 16 ohm guitar speakers reading 12 ohms... and this is OK for a Tube amp.

But for my New Onkyo solid state receiver that says no lower than 6 ohms... I am very confused.
Because I know that when a SS amp says that it means it! Just spoke with a Onkyo Rep says their 8 ohmers read 6 ohms.

That doesn't help... Bummer

 

[t53186]

You cannot measure impedance with an ohmmeter, however you can rely on the speaker manufacturer to reliably mark the speakers with the impedance. So it's safe to use speakers labeled at 8 ohm.

 

[Sonnybu42]

I guess I could wire all my speakers in series... lol and have a 10 ohm load... two of each everywhere. Good God...

 

[t53186]

You are overthinking this, Just plug in your speakers, as long as they didn't come out of a car or junk yard you will be fine.

I guess I could wire all my speakers in series... lol and have a 10 ohm load... two of each everywhere. Good God...

 

[Sonnybu42]

You cannot measure impedance with an ohmmeter, however you can rely on the speaker manufacturer to reliably mark the speakers with the impedance. So it's safe to use speakers labeled at 8 ohm.

Even if all my 8 ohm speakers read 5 ohms? I do understand what you mean... there is more to it.

It's just when Onkyo says thier 8 ohm spkrs read at least 6 ohms... and mine only read 5... it worries me.

 

[Sonnybu42]

You are overthinking this, Just plug in your speakers, as long as they didn't come out of a car or junk yard you will be fine.

I guess I could wire all my speakers in series... lol and have a 10 ohm load... two of each everywhere. Good God...

They are JBL Venue Series "Arena"

 

[t53186]

nice speakers, according to JBL website http/www.jbl.com/arena-series/ they are 8 ohm

 

[BFG-9000]

The worst that can happen if impedance is too low is the receiver overheats and temporarily shuts down because halving the impedance doubles the power output supplied by the amp, to possibly beyond its continuous rating.

I don't know about you but my receivers seldom are driven higher than a few watts as my speakers are all >90dB per watt (and most of the power consumption is from powered subs). They would work fine with 4ohm speakers although perhaps with a bit more THD.

 

[Sonnybu42]

nice speakers, according to JBL website http/www.jbl.com/arena-series/ they are 8 ohm

Thank you... I am looking forward to using them again.

Have been playing around with an old antiquated Bose Lifestlye 28 system... about had enough of that! No HDMI
Sounds good for Movies and Strings... But not my early 70's Rock.

Looking forward to experiencing ATMOS, and Dolby TrueHD etc...

 

[t53186]

You won't be disappointed

 

[Sonnybu42]

The worst that can happen if impedance is too low is the receiver overheats and temporarily shuts down because halving the impedance doubles the power output supplied by the amp, to possibly beyond its continuous rating.

I don't know about you but my receivers seldom are driven higher than a few watts as my speakers are all >90dB per watt (and most of the power consumption is from powered subs). They would work fine with 4ohm speakers although perhaps with a bit more THD.

Thanks! Yep... This Onkyo is just 80 watts per ch... my JBL's are rated at 88db I believe...
So when I do get more spkrs I am going to make sure of their higher efficiency... to get all I can from those 80 watts.

 

[Sonnybu42]

Hey! Thanks everyone! Tom's is great! I'm sure I will re-post here with my findings... 🙂

 

[jsmithepa]

All that ado for 1 ohm. U make it sound like SS amps are sissy bunch.

 

[Sonnybu42]

All that ado for 1 ohm. U make it sound like SS amps are sissy bunch.

What... They are! LOL Getting better however.... at low volumes.

Tubes bloom... Transistors get square and thin...

Sure I'll take a Sine wave over Square wave everyday.