New ELAC unifi speakers

[Tool34]

Hey-

I have an older Sony receiver. I have contacted ELAC with concerns of my amp having enough watts to push the speakers. They assured me that if the receiver can push 60W per channel then I should be fine. I checked the specs on the receiver and it says that it goes up to 70W per channel. So I think I am good. However, with the impedance it has on the ELAC speakers 4 ohms; with a minimum of 3.4 ohms. My Sony receiver says 6-16 ohms. Am I ok with my current receiver? Any info would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[KenM10759]

Get the speakers, they're REALLY good. Run them at your listening level. Be prepared to upgrade the receiver just in case, and you're probably due for that anyhow. You'll be so enamored by the speakers that you won't mind getting a better receiver one bit.

 

[Tool34]

Thanks for the reply. I'm definitely going to get a new receiver, but for the immediate, I just want to make sure that my current receiver do not affect the listening experience with the ELAC.

Have you listened to the UniFi? Thanks for the feedback.

 

[j_garcia]

It will be fine as long as you don't expect to crank them up. Older Sonys aren't known for being 4 Ohm stable, but 60W should be adequate to have some sound. If it starts to sound unclear then you are already at the point where damage could occur to the speaker.

 

[Tool34]

Are the stock wires that came good enough?

 

[j_garcia]

Do you know the AWG of the wire? Is it pretty thin? With 4 Ohm speakers, 20AWG is only good for 6 feet, so if they are more than 5 feet away I'd go get some decent, inexpensive 14AWG wire and that should work for nearly anything.

 

[Tool34]

Yes, it is pretty thin. At most, the speakers will only be 4-5' from the receiver for my current setup.

 

[j_garcia]

It should be OK. Long term I'd still get at least some cheap 16 or 14 AWG when you eventually upgrade the receiver too. I don't think there's an actual risk involved, just that the signal may be attenuated, usually rolling off of the highs is something you may notice, but sounds like you'll be OK for the time being.

 

[Tool34]

I'm going to get different wire this weekend. Thanks for the info.