hola all! I am hoping for a relatively simple answer to the below question:
Am I about to blow up my amp?
I have a Sony STR-DG800 amp. It's rated for 100 watts per channel minimum RMS power with 8 ohm loads, both channels driven. It also lists:
8 ohms 20Hz - 20kHz THD .09% 100W + 100W, 110W/ch
8 ohms 1 kHz THD .07% 110W + 110W, 120W/ch
8 ohms 20Hz - 20kHz THD 10% 125W + 125W, 150W/ch
I don't pretend to entirely understand the above, but I figure it's just a range of power consumption.
I also have five surround speakers from an old Sony DAV-C990 all-in-one surround sound system. The speakers are listed as 3 ohm impedance and appear identical. They each have four 2" woofers and one 1" balance dome tweeter. The amp from that system was rated at 75 watts minimum RMS, per channel with 3 ohm loads with both channels driven, from 150-10,000 Hz. It also lists:
Stereo mode 100 W + 100 W (3 ohms at 1 kHz, THD 10 %)
Surround mode Front: 100 W + 100 W
Center*: 100 W
Rear*: 100 W + 100 W (3 ohms at 1 kHz, THD 10 %)
Subwoofer*: 100 W (3 ohms at 100 Hz, THD 10 %)
OK. So here's my questions:
1) If I hook up these five 3 ohm surround speakers to my 8 ohm stereo receiver in 5.1 mode (the subwoofer is powered and plugged in to the receiver's sub pre-out), am I going to blow up my receiver?
2) If indeed the amp goes into Protect mode, have I permanently damaged it, or juts made it pout? (this has not happened yet)
3) If add a pair of 8 ohm floorstanding speakers rated for 100W (let's say I hypothetically stumbled on a free pair of Sony SS-MF750H speakers) and change to a 7.1 setup, am I going to blow up my receiver even more? Or would that possibly improve things?
If I blow the speakers, no problem, they have Outlived Their Usefulness. If I overheat the amp but it doesn't cause any permanent damage, no problem, I'll get better speakers. But if I permanently damage my new receiver, I will cry and self-recriminate unduly. Please help preserve my self-esteem. Lend me your wisdom.
Or alternately, if these specs are insufficient to make an educated guess as to the stakes I'm playing for, let me know.
Thanks all!
-Noah
Addendum: In a perfect world I would run the five surround speakers from the DAV-C990 system as the five surround speakers in a 7.1 system, with floorstanding speakers as the front left and right for a better sound when playing music. Yes, this whole thing is kludged together, but I'm pretty much totally out of money and would still like a surround setup that won't set off my smoke detector. I would think that two 8 ohm 200W 90dB-sensitivity front speakers would leech off the surround channels and even things out, but I have no idea what I'm doing and can't be trusted to plug in a toaster without permanent bodily injury.
