Do I need a high curretn amp for this center channel?

[Inertia]

Can this center channel be run off of an Onkyo TX-SR606?:

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_107LSIC...owAll=N&tp=189

It says it is a 4 ohm speaker and needs high current amplification so I am not sure.

 

[j_garcia]

How about the speaker model since the link doesn't work? Just because it is 4 Ohm doesn't mean you need a "high current" receiver. The 60x Onkyos that I have dealt with are not the worst recievers out there, they have decent amp sections for the price and if just the center is 4 Ohms, it will probably be OK. Without knowing the exact speaker it is hard to say, but best guess is it will be OK.

The real problem is that the 60x line doesn't have preamp outs so you couldn't easily add an external amp if you wanted to.

 

[skers_54]

The link doesn't work (at least for me).

As far as I can tell, high current amplification is more of a marketing gimmick than anything else. Just look at the power ratings of the amp and you should be able to determine if it can work with 4 ohm speakers. That said, it really depends on how sensitive the center is, how difficult the mains are to drive, how big your room is and what level you listen at. If you have a large room and low sensitivity speakers, you might run out of juice and put your amp into protect mode.

 

[Inertia]

The speaker model is Polk LSiC, sorry about the link. I thought it might put it in protect mode so I probably will go with a DIY center and fronts.

 

[j_garcia]

Now see, that makes a difference. The LSis are pretty current hungry. They can run on lower power, but they like as much as you can throw at them. I think the 606 might be pushing it with that center. I have driven LSis with mid level receivers and it works if you don't have a large room and don't need to crank it up, but as mentioned, if you want to push it or have a larger room, it might not work out. The risk being damage to the tweeters from clipping (distortion) as those tweeters are known to be sensitive to it. I don;t think it will put you into protect mode, because damage will more likely occur to the speaker before the receiver has an issue.

I agree that the term "high current" is more of a gimmick, because it ususally doesn't translate into anything meaningful in the real world, but the idea that a big transformer that can produce a lot of current is a good thing.