4 ohms rated a/v receiver

[NICKNJ]

Team,

I am looking for a/v receivers that supports 4 ohms speakers for ( 5.1 HT).
I checked Marantz website do not see , it is rated for 4 ohms.
I do see integra 40.3/50.3 are rates for 4 ohms..

any suggestion which one to pick.

price range 800-900 max..

thanks,
NJ

 

[deedubb]

harmon/kardon are high current and usually support 4 ohms.

 

[bikdav]

4 ohm amplifiers are very rare. Furthermore, I wouldn't seriously worry about that. Even speakers that are rated at 8 ohms are not 100% truly that and may drop much further than that at many points. Also, any amplifier that truly balked at low impedances would not last on the market very long. That is just plain poor design.

 

[deedubb]

4 ohm amplifiers are very rare. Furthermore, I wouldn't seriously worry about that. Even speakers that are rated at 8 ohms are not 100% truly that and may drop much further than that at many points. Also, any amplifier that truly balked at low impedances would not last on the market very long. That is just plain poor design.

Years ago when I first bought my PSB Stratus Golds, I had a Sony receiver and it would shut down every time the volume knob approached half maximum. Once I switched to Parasound, all was well again. You're absolutely right that an 8 ohm speaker will drop below that, same goes for a speaker rated 4 ohms. I think it is important to look at that spec in a receiver if you like to play it at relatively high volume.

 

[sholling]

Onkyo's TX-NR709 and above are certified for 4ohm loads. Newegg has the TX-NR809 on sale right now for $650. These run warm so be sure to give it room for air to circulate.

 

[PENG]

harmon/kardon are high current and usually support 4 ohms.

I am sure their older amps were great but don't assume the same with their AVRs. I have seen lab measurements (I posted a couple links before) that showed their models clipped at well below the output of others such as Denon in the same price range. Their protective circuit also would activate rather early, but that may not be a bad thing. They do rate their units more conservatively but you get may be 10 to 25% more relative to others rated (per spec) outputs but that 'likely' won't compensate for the fact that they typically provide lower rated (again, per spec) output than others in the same price range.

For 4 ohm rated AVR I would stick with Denon AVR-4311, NAD and the higher end Onkyo/Integra models. Even then, if you speakers are really power hungry such as those specified recommended power>150W, adding a 2 ch amp for the L/R speakers will be a safer bet.

 

[enrique]

been driving 4ohm speakers with a Marantz for cpl years now 24/7 no problems.Adding an amp i'm sure would may make things easier but thats not allways the case or necessary.

 

[NICKNJ]

deedubb,bikdav,sholling,PENG,enrique Thank you verymuch for your feedback..

I am thinking of placing order for marantz SR6006.Spoke to Marantz tech team and they mentioned it does support 4 ohms speakers.
based on users feedback( many blogs/forums) it seems many issues with "Integra and Onkyo AVR".

thank you and Happy New Year.

 

[bikdav]

Marantz is a great choice.

 

[j_garcia]

Very few receivers are truly capable of 4 Ohm stability at elevated levels. If you look at the back of any Marantz receiver or amp, ALL of them will say 6 Ohm operation minimum, however I have used 4 Ohm speakers with various Marantz amps and receivers over the years. You just have to be careful about cranking it up.

 

[Knucklehead90]

Not all 4 ohm rated speakers are created equal. No mention by the OP of which speakers he owns. I've driven 4 ohm Emotiva speakers with a lowly Onkyo SR-506 when my Onkyo SC-885 needed to be swapped out. For the 2+ weeks I used it to drive my 5.1 setup it didn't get hot and never shut down. Granted - I didn't push it to find the limits of it's capabilities but I didn't baby it either.

If the OP has easy to drive 4 ohm speakers like the Emotivas he may not need an external amp. On the other hand if he is planning on driving something like Magnepans even the TOTL Onkyo or Denon AVRs probably won't be up to snuff. There are some easy to drive 4 ohm speakers - there are a few difficult to drive speakers - and some in-between speakers.

IIRC the Emotiva ERTs lowest dip is to 3.2 ohms at some frequencies and actually are over 4 ohms for much of the frequency range.

The first question should have been: "which speakers are you using - or thinking of using"?

 

[j_garcia]

Yes, speakers would be a good thing to know, but also need to know if the OP tends to listen very loud and/or has a large room to fill. Even an 8 Ohm speaker can stretch a lesser receiver to its limit if the SPL is high and the room is large.

My speakers are 4 Ohm, and though they are higher sensitivity (91dB), I tend to listen loud so I added amps. My receiver is 120w and it wasn't enough for the levels I was after in the large room I have.

 

[NICKNJ]

Knucklehead90,j_garcia, Thanks for feedback..

I am going to use for Monitor Audio RX-8 series.

RX-8 Front
RX-CX Center
RX-FX rear
and Sub -VTF-3 MK4

thanks,