Cambridge Audio S30 speakers - impedance questions

[silencer51]

Hello everyone, first post here.

My old (read: close to 30 years!) Boston Acoustics speakers have been dying a slow death for the past couple of years, so I went ahead and bought a pair of Cambridge Audio S30 speakers to use with a Yamaha RX-396RDS receiver.

The old speakers had an impedance rating of 8 ohms. The new ones, according to the manual, are rated at '4-8' ohms.

My question is this: should I change the switch on the back of the receiver from its current 8 ohm setting to the 4 ohm one? A quick google search yielded interesting results - apparently its better to just leave the switch at the 8 ohm setting, since the lower setting just cuts down on rail voltages to keep the unit from overheating, resulting in worse sound.

Is this correct? Should I leave the switch at 8 ohms or should I drop it down to 4 ohms?

Thanks in advance!!!

 

[j_garcia]

Yes, what you found is most likely the right answer and is what I normally suggest also. That spec suggests the speakers drop to 4 Ohms within the range, but should not be a difficult load to drive. Keep it at 8.

 

[zieglj01]

The Cambridge is not that difficult to drive - you will be fine.
However at higher volume levels, they will do better with a
stronger receiver.

 

[silencer51]

Thanks for the advice guys. I'll keep it at 8 ohms