Denon 4806

[Dave2121]

OK - I did all my reviews - sick of reading - need some advice from those who know.

I selected the Denon 4806 over a bunch of others - that is fairly settled - HERE IS THE PROBLEM. One store want to sell me 4 OHM Polk Speakers and another 8 Ohm B&W speakers. Both soound similar to my old ears but I am concerned that the 4 ohm speakers will put too much of a load on the 4806 and shorten the life.

Question - all else being equal, would you advise the 8 Ohm speakers over the 4 Ohm speakers.

And last - would you recommend Polk or B&W - ignoring the above question

Much thanks
Dave

 

[Nick250]

I would ask you to forget about your receiver choice for a moment and tell what speaker sounds best to you, forgetting about if it is 4 ohm or 8 ohm. That should be your number one concern. It does not matter at all what someone on this board thinks about speakers, you have to listen to them so what your ears tell you is paramount. So, first choose speakers, then you can select the appropriate receiver and/or amp that best drives them. When you have made the speaker choice you can post again here again and you will get good ideas on the best way to power them. Thats my thinking.

 

[mike c]

nick is completely correct. but here's something that might tip the scales for you ...

-I like the brand name recognition of b&w over polk (I assume you are looking at the 6 series vs. RTi?)
-I like 8 ohms exactly for the reason you mentioned in your post.

you say they sound similar, then go b&w

 

[Dave2121]

Thanks

I thank you both - VERY helpful. I did not believe it, but I actually heard a difference between the Pold R series and the LSI25 I selected. The LSI just sounded better (to these 62 year old ears) in an A/B comparison. Regretfully, I can not compare the Polk and LSI since they are at different stores. That is why the question came down to the technical 4 ohm vs 8 ohm

Dave

 

[mazersteven]

OK - I did all my reviews - sick of reading - need some advice from those who know.

I selected the Denon 4806 over a bunch of others - that is fairly settled - HERE IS THE PROBLEM. One store want to sell me 4 OHM Polk Speakers and another 8 Ohm B&W speakers. Both soound similar to my old ears but I am concerned that the 4 ohm speakers will put too much of a load on the 4806 and shorten the life.

Question - all else being equal, would you advise the 8 Ohm speakers over the 4 Ohm speakers.

And last - would you recommend Polk or B&W - ignoring the above question

Much thanks
Dave

I have the Denon 4806. I just purchased Polk LSi9's, LSi7's, and LSiC. My speakers are being shipped right now so I haven't connected then yet. I can see no reason why the 4806 shouldn't be able to power them.

But like the others said. Choose the speakers that sound good to you.

 

[Dave2121]

Thanks

Thanks for your input - I would love to know how they work out. What got me on this kick is that I downloaded the 4806 manual from the Denon site and they have a warning on one of the pages about not using speakers of less than 8 Ohms as it may tend to make the unit run hot.

---Then, on their sites FAQ, they post a question about using 4 ohm speaker and they answer - sure our system will work with them - they go on to tell you what to do if the units overloads and shuts down.

Souonds to me like they are covering all bases - the technical guys says watch out and the marketing guys do not want to scare away those who have 4 ohm speakers.

 

[jcPanny]

Speaker impedence

It will also make a difference if all of the speakers are 4 ohms, or just the fronts. The efficiency of the speakers, size of your room, distance from the speakers and listening preferences also factor into the equation.

For example, if all speaker are 4 ohms, your room is over 3000 ft^3, and you like to listen at "reference" levels for hours at a time, then it might be a bad combination for any receiver.

 

[Taterman]

What is interesting to note is that depending on the volume level (voltage driving the speakers), the length and gauge of speaker wire that the resistance that is actually presented to the amplifier will vary a fair amount. As long as the amplifier is seeing a reasonable load it will be able to contain itself and not be driven into a runaway situation. I am sure that the difference between 4 and 8 ohm will not present a major challange to the Denon as it is a stable amplifier design and not prone to internal oscillations or runaway.

So pick what speakers sound the best and have fun !

 

[Dave2121]

Thanks

A sincere thank you to everyone who responded. It definitely DID help. I am also trying to read many of the articles on the site. Fascination - very informative.

This forum is definitely a great asset.

Dave