4 ohm stable receivers

[stevez80]

Hi, For my first apartment I'm looking to buy a 7 channel receiver that capable of pushing 4 ohms for a pretty extended period of time. My budget is around $500 so Arcam, NAD, etc. are out of the question unfortunately. I'm looking for about 100x7 RMS at 8 ohms, but I still want the option of running it with a 4 ohms load. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[MacManNM]

Hi, For my first apartment I'm looking to buy a 7 channel receiver that capable of pushing 4 ohms for a pretty extended period of time. My budget is around $500 so Arcam, NAD, etc. are out of the question unfortunately. I'm looking for about 100x7 RMS at 8 ohms, but I still want the option of running it with a 4 ohms load. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Unless you buy one of the flagships, forget about it. Products like the Denon 3805 have current limiting designs. I know there are guy's here doing it, although manufacturers do not recommend it. The only unit I would say (because I have done it) you could use is the Marantz 8400, it will push a 4 ohm load. Now, if you aren’t planning on pushing the unit HARD, any of the better units will work.

 

[stevez80]

Does the 8400 heat up much faster and hotter with a 4 ohm load. The 7400 is $600 and I'm thinking about going that route.

 

[MacManNM]

Does the 8400 heat up much faster and hotter with a 4 ohm load. The 7400 is $600 and I'm thinking about going that route.

Any receiver is going to heat up when you push it. I don't know about the 7400, but you can get the 8400 for the same price. Why not go that route?

 

[stevez80]

really? where can I get the 8400 for that price with the marantz warranty?

 

[j_garcia]

All of Marantz receivers are rated for 6 Ohm minimum. I'm running 4 Ohm speakers on my 8300 and it does get warmer than with my previous 8 Ohm speakers, though it will do it. The problem is, if you have all 4 Ohm speakers or pretty inefficient/current hungry ones, they will still stretch the limit of the 8400 (still better than the 7400 though).

At $500, you are pretty much going to have to look used, because there are almost no 4 Ohm capable receivers at that price. About the only one I know would be the NAD T743 which MSRPs about $700, but can be found for a little less than that online from an authorized dealer.

 

[MacManNM]

really? where can I get the 8400 for that price with the marantz warranty?

Oh, you want a warranty??????? I bought mine on ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/BRAND-NEW-MARANTZ-SR8400-770W-Home-Theater-Receiver_W0QQitemZ5794680757QQcategoryZ14981QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[stevez80]

hmm, alright. I don't need the receiver to be 4 ohm sanctioned by the manufacturer, as long as it works at moderate volume levels for several hours. Kinda like what you guys are doing I guess.

 

[stevez80]

I thought it would be good to have the warranty since i'll be using it at a questionable impedence, but now that I think about it, I'm fine with taking my chances. I'm used to living on the edge

 

[j_garcia]

You can get a refurb from www.ac4l.com and it will have a 1yr warranty.

 

[stevez80]

I don't know about that site Jerry. They sell the 8500 for $1,100 and the 7400 new for $700 when Marantz is selling the same model on ebay for $600 with a 3 year warranty. Thanks for the help though.

 

[jcPanny]

For 500 bucks . . .

I would purchase a good receiver that works well as a Pro/Pro like the Yamaha RX-V1500 or the more expensive RX-V2500. You can upgrade to an external amp later if you don't think it has enough power to drive 4 ohms for long periods.

 

[j_garcia]

Who's Jerry? No relation...

The 7400 was $629 with a full 3yr warranty last week on that site. The rest are refurbs, which is why they don't give you a full 3yr warranty, and I didn't say they had the best prices. I just don't trust flea-bay all the time. Unless that is the buy it now price, you can't guarantee that is the price you will get.

I usually buy from private parties for less than what and don't worry too much about the warranty as long as it was bought from an authorized dealer and has the original packaging.

 

[stevez80]

jeez, my bad man. I was thinking Jerry Garcia. He played lead guitar for the Grateful Dead. Anyway, the Ebay thing I was talking about wasn't a shady internet dealer as most of them are. It was fully authorized by Marantz.

 

[stevez80]

Wait, is your real name J. Garcia, or were you just messing with me? Now that I look back and see the " " I don't know what to think any more.

 

[j_garcia]

jeez, my bad man. I was thinking Jerry Garcia. He played lead guitar for the Grateful Dead.

Yeah, I know who he was; no problem. It happens a lot actually, and I hadn't thought about that when I registered using that name here, since I usually use my full name.

I know there are authorized resellers who now sell on the web. Cambridge Soundworks recently stopped selling older models, b-stock and open box items in their stores around here, and sent all of that inventory to some central location. I figured they would start putting this stuff up on their own website or e-bay or overstock or something like that, so there's a chance that is where those came from.

 

[stevez80]

ahhh alright