A crazy idea?

[Hi Ho]

This came up in another thread of mine in the DIY forum. I wanted to post it here because this section gets more traffic.

Is it at all feasible to run a 4 OHM Advent Smaller Loudspeaker off the center channel amp of my Panasonic SA-HE100 receiver? Any receiver?

I am having second thoughts on being able to build speakers that will sound better then the Advents with my current budget constraints. I could pick up a pair of identical Advents on Ebay for not too much money. I would have a matched system to hold me over until I can afford to build some very nice DIY speakers.

Would I end up blowing up my receiver if I tried this? It does say in the manual, as in all receiver manuals I've seen, not to connect 4 OHM speakers to anything other than the main L/R channels.

EDIT: OK I was curious enough to take one of the Advents and hook it up to the center channel. I connected the center channel where the Advent was.

WOW! It sounds so much better this way. The Advents have much better and smoother highs without the extreme silibance I hear from the Polk, which is way too bright. Voices are much more natural. My guess would be that the Polk has some significant frequency peaks/dips that make male voices thin and female voices harsh. The Advents are simply superior.

I have played some loud scenes from Bourne Supremacy and Lord of the Rings and have not seen any ill effects. The receiver isn't getting any hotter than normal and it isn't going into protect mode. I think I might just have to go for the Ebay speakers which are available for local pickup.

 

[Sheep]

Usually you can't tell if the receiver is going to shut down.

I wasn't even running any speakers, just doing my subwoofer sine wave tests for my review and I ended up somehow (I think the subwoofer hogged all the power) making my receiver shut off. Then again, I have horrible wiring in my room. I share a 15A breaker with a fridge, built in vacuum, lighting in my room and everything else (computer guitar amp)... I want new electricity.

Sheepstar

 

[Hi Ho]

I wasn't even running any speakers, just doing my subwoofer sine wave tests for my review and I ended up somehow (I think the subwoofer hogged all the power) making my receiver shut off.

That's probably because having nothing connected to the amp puts no load on it at all. Unless I am mistaken, having nothing connected is like having a 0 OHM speaker and can cause the amp to overheat. I may be completely wrong about this though.

My receiver shares a 15 AMP circuit with a microwave and halogen lights. If someone happens to use the vaccum on that circuit when the microwave and receiver is on it will blow the breaker. I need more power too.

 

[j_garcia]

Having nothing connected to an amp means there is no load, and thus no work - definitely not the same thing as a short. I would suspect it was more likely what Sheep said, when the voltage from the wall dropped too low, the receiver shut off to protect itself.

So now that you've found that the Advents are what you like, I would definitely look for another pair or a matching center on eBay. ONE 4 ohm speaker should not create a situation that would stress most decent receivers; not sure about the HE100.

 

[Hi Ho]

It's actually three 4 OHM speakers, not just one. Left, center, right.

About having nothing connected to the amp. I have heard before that it is not advisable to run an amp with nothing connected. Obviously my reasoning was wrong but what would be the reasoning behind this? When I first connected the Advent to the center channel I had nothing connected to the right channel. The receiver got quite hot. I connected the center speaker to the right channel and the receiver cooled back down to normal.

 

[j_garcia]

I'm not exactly sure why, but my guess is that it is an open circuit so the signal is shed as heat since it isn't driving anything. Nowhere nearly as bad as a short, but not something that one would normally do either.

So the Advents are 4 Ohm? I must have missed the fact that they were all 4 Ohm; I thought you were talking about a matching center. That could definitley be a problem for the HE100 then. As you know, my A/V-2s are all 4 Ohm as well, which is why I added the monoblocks.

 

[Hi Ho]

Did your receiver have shutdown problems with the 4 OHM speakers? That Marantz is a much better unit and if it had problems then I don't have a lot of faith in mine. Though my preliminary tests are promising, I'm still only driving two 4 OHM speakers until I have a third Advent.

 

[j_garcia]

No, mine didn't shut down, but I could hear it start to strain at higher levels and it got pretty warm. It is rated for 6 Ohm nominal minimum, but with it only driving the center and surrounds, it isn't a problem. Isn't the HE100 digital? Does it have preamp outs?

 

[Hi Ho]

No, it's not digital. THIS is my receiver. It does not have preouts. If it did I would just buy a Behringer A500 to power the mains.

I have been looking to upgrade the receiver for quite a while. What do you think of a Yamaha HTR-5860 with an A500 amp to power the mains. That would leave only one 4 OHM (center) to be powered by the Yamaha.

 

[j_garcia]

I think that would work, but I also think you will end up buying another A500 to power the center eventually I don't know if that guy is really capable of 110wpc realistically, but with it not having to power the mains, it should do OK.

 

[Hi Ho]

What would you say the trade-offs are in going with a 5860 as opposed to a 2500? I had been eying the 2500 for a while but, for the same price, I can get a 5860 with the external amp and have significantly more power.

The 2500 has more powerful amps built in but the external amps would certainly be better. Is there any major trade-off in sound quality? There really aren't many features missing from the 5860 that are in the 2500, the main differences I see are the amp power and the fancy onscreen display.

 

[Sheep]

That's probably because having nothing connected to the amp puts no load on it at all. Unless I am mistaken, having nothing connected is like having a 0 OHM speaker and can cause the amp to overheat. I may be completely wrong about this though.

My receiver shares a 15 AMP circuit with a microwave and halogen lights. If someone happens to use the vaccum on that circuit when the microwave and receiver is on it will blow the breaker. I need more power too.

No, the speakers were connected, but turned off. Put it in stereo and then turned my A channel off.

I have halogen lights in my room too, and the other room with the Beam bacuum and fridge. Its horrible guys!

SheepStar

 

[j_garcia]

What would you say the trade-offs are in going with a 5860 as opposed to a 2500? I had been eying the 2500 for a while but, for the same price, I can get a 5860 with the external amp and have significantly more power.

The 2500 has more powerful amps built in but the external amps would certainly be better. Is there any major trade-off in sound quality? There really aren't many features missing from the 5860 that are in the 2500, the main differences I see are the amp power and the fancy onscreen display.

OSD is pretty handy when doing the setup, but otherwise isn't something that is used often generally. I went with my 8300 because I could also pick it and amps up and still pay quite a bit less than a 9300 (almost 2x the price) and end up with additional available power, so I'm with you on that line of thinking. What you may give up is a little better pre- section with the 2500, but I can't say for sure, having not heard either one. You can also keep the amps and upgrade the receiver down the road, so it is kind of a win-win situation.

 

[Hi Ho]

The 5860 has an OSD, it just doesn't have the fancy graphics like the 2500. It's text only.

I have been testing my experimental setup more with the Advent in the center position. The receiver runs cooler. It doesn't make sense. I hear no distortion.

I played the depth charge scene in U-571 at an insanely high level. I must say I am impressed that the receiver has not gone into protect mode and there is no audible distortion.

Of course, this doesn't really mean anything without a third 4 OHM Advent.

 

[Hi Ho]

Well, I did it. I just bought THIS pair of speakers. I don't know what I'll do with the extra.

I will need to build some grills for them but for $106 including shipping it is a lot cheaper than what I was planning before.

 

[j_garcia]

Congrats, hopefully they work out

 

[Hi Ho]

I'm just hoping my receiver won't blow up. Either way, I will be buying new receiver and at least one external amp, hopefully in the next two months.