am i in danger

[mocwilson]

hello

i was wondering if i am in danger of hurting my system, it includes:

marantz sr5300 6.1 : 90 watts per channel rated down to 6 ohms
psb stratus bronze mains rated at 4 ohms
psb c5i center 6ohms
yamaha bookshelf rears 8 ohms
12 awg homedepot wire
G5 mac as my dvd cd [i think its a pioneer drive] useing monster optical to connect G5 to the reciever

i noticed when i switched to the 12 gage[ from 16 gage monster] that the highs became a little to harsh for me, at first i thaught that it was improved highs but now im not so shure, also it seems to me that i have to turn the receiver up a little high to get a good volume, about -20db, thats how marantz dose there volume [-75db min +8db max], is -20db vary high i dont have anyway of campairing so anyone whos knows wether this is to high please help. Now i know that the ohms of my speakers dont match my receiver so its putting a bit more of a load on the reciever so i guess my question is, is it to much?

ps im looking into gettting a 2 ch amp for the mains, would bryston be a good choice ? I of cousre would be looking for a good value amp

thanks

 

[Rob Babcock]

There's no reason I can think of that simply going to larger wire should hurt anything, nor should there be much of an audible change. You should double check your connections to be sure everything's hooked up correctly, but overall you're probably better off with 12 gauge wire. Are you sure you're hearing something different? The mind can be easily fooled into hearing changes where none are present.

 

[ruadmaa]

hello

i was wondering if i am in danger of hurting my system, it includes:

marantz sr5300 6.1 : 90 watts per channel rated down to 6 ohms
psb stratus bronze mains rated at 4 ohms
psb c5i center 6ohms
yamaha bookshelf rears 8 ohms
12 awg homedepot wire
G5 mac as my dvd cd [i think its a pioneer drive] useing monster optical to connect G5 to the reciever

i noticed when i switched to the 12 gage[ from 16 gage monster] that the highs became a little to harsh for me, at first i thaught that it was improved highs but now im not so shure, also it seems to me that i have to turn the receiver up a little high to get a good volume, about -20db, thats how marantz dose there volume [-75db min +8db max], is -20db vary high i dont have anyway of campairing so anyone whos knows wether this is to high please help. Now i know that the ohms of my speakers dont match my receiver so its putting a bit more of a load on the reciever so i guess my question is, is it to much?

ps im looking into gettting a 2 ch amp for the mains, would bryston be a good choice ? I of cousre would be looking for a good value amp

thanks

Quite frankly, all of this is in your mind. There is absolutely no difference in the performance in either one of the cables you mentioned. Highs becoming harsh because of a change in cables is absolute nonsense.

 

[mocwilson]

i was thinkg more along the lines that maybe the mis match in ohms and the higher gage of wire might have componded the problem of my amp working to hard and so in the end might it have hurt my speakers at higher volumes, i to believe that if i was hearing a diffrence just in the wire it was in my head, thats why im useing homedepot wire and not some fancy $5 a foot stuff.
i may not have stated my question vary well before and i hope this clears things up.

thanks

 

[ruadmaa]

The electrical mismatches you mentioned above are or no real consequence. The only rule of thumb that you have to worry about is this: If it sounds bad, TURN IT DOWN. You can damage both your receiver and speakers by driving them too hard. If you follow the above rule of thumb you will have no problems.

 

[mocwilson]

ok thanks, i was just looking for clarification. which you provided

thanks again

 

[jaxvon]

Indeed, harsh highs are indication of an amplifier in pain. It's getting near clipping, so it's starting to feed your speakers dirty power. About an amp...Bryston makes great amps and carry a 20 year warranty. But, could you really afford one? If you can, then I'd say give em' a try. But, that asside, you may want to check out a pair of Outlaw monoblocks. They're rated for 200W into 8 Ohms, 300W into 4 Ohms at nice low distortion levels.

 

[mocwilson]

thaks i deffinitly give them a look