How to connect 4 ohm speakers to HK 990

[gus_patino]

Hello
I don't know how to connect the PSB t6 speakers (Impedance: nominal 6 ohms, minimum 4 ohms) to the HK 990 which has 4 ohms impedance.
There is sound coming out of the speakers, but it's very faint.

thanks a lot for your help.
Gustavo

 

[gus_patino]

I just connected the speakers to a 6 ohm system and they sound fine.
Can anyone give me suggestions on how to connect them to the HK 990?

The specs of the HK 990 says that it has 8 ohms and 4 ohms capacity.
The speakers have a nominal 6 ohm and a minimum 4 ohm.

Thanks
Gustavo

 

[Adam]

Hi. Are you adding new speakers to the HK, or is this the first time that you are using it? I'm asking because I'm wondering if it's just some other setting/issue with the HK.

 

[gus_patino]

Hi. This is the first time that I'm using it. I'm afraid that the speakers impedance might not match the amplifier.
I don't know if the minimum 4 ohms applies when 4 speakers are connected to the system.

 

[fuzz092888]

Well technically the load of the speakers will vary based on the source material. The amp rating is usually for the nominal load of the speakers so your 6 ohm nominal speakers should be just fine with a receiver rated for 4 and 8 ohms. 4 speakers shouldn't make any difference and your receiver should be able to handle it as long as their rating is accurate.

 

[gus_patino]

Mmmmm, ok. When I ran the EzSet/EQ mode, the three little beeps coming from the speakers sounded crystal clear.
But when I use the optical input, the sound is horrible, it sounds as if the music is in the house next door, there is no clarity.

When I used the speakers on an old 6 ohm system, the sounded fine.

I don't know, but I saw in a web page (unfortunately I can't find it anymore) that since my speakers are 6 ohm each, then they are getting 3 ohms from the amplifier.
And if the speakers are at their minimum, 4 ohms, then they would be getting 2 ohms from the amplifier.

I don't know if HK meant 4 ohm minimum when there are 4 speakers in the system, each speaker being a minimum of 8 hms.

Very confusing for me.
If speakers and amplifier specify 4 ohms as minimum, then it should work fine.

 

[fuzz092888]

The issue may not have anything to do with the speaker/receiver combo it could be something else. What source material were you using on the old system and how was the source material being delivered (what types of cables were you using and was it CD's, digital files etc)?

Could be an issue with the optical port, could be source material, could be the cable. I'm not sure what article you read, but either the article is wrong, or you maybe misinterpreted something in there. The impedance is only cut in half if the channels are bridged, which you are not doing.

If the speakers specify 4 ohms as a minimum, it's different that a receiver specifying 4 ohms minimum. Speakers specifying 4 ohms minimum more likely means that even under stressful conditions the speakers won't drop below 4 ohms (since speaker impedance isn't a static measure). A receiver specifying 4 ohms as a minimum means that it can handle a nominal 4 ohm load. This means on average (although average isn't exactly the right word) a speaker's impedance will be 4 ohms across the frequency range, but could be much higher than that or lower than that at certain frequencies. The better the speaker design, the closer it will stay to its nominal rating across the frequency range and the easier load it will be for a receiver or external amp to drive.

 

[TLS Guy]

Mmmmm, ok. When I ran the EzSet/EQ mode, the three little beeps coming from the speakers sounded crystal clear.
But when I use the optical input, the sound is horrible, it sounds as if the music is in the house next door, there is no clarity.

When I used the speakers on an old 6 ohm system, the sounded fine.

I don't know, but I saw in a web page (unfortunately I can't find it anymore) that since my speakers are 6 ohm each, then they are getting 3 ohms from the amplifier.
And if the speakers are at their minimum, 4 ohms, then they would be getting 2 ohms from the amplifier.

I don't know if HK meant 4 ohm minimum when there are 4 speakers in the system, each speaker being a minimum of 8 hms.

Very confusing for me.
If speakers and amplifier specify 4 ohms as minimum, then it should work fine.

The impedance of your speakers has absolutely nothing to do with your problem.

Have you gone through your receiver set up properly.

I'm willing to bet your speakers levels in the speakers set up menu are all over the place, and you may not even has your speakers and inputs assigned correctly.

If you have set up your receiver correctly then it is faulty.

I'm willing to bet however that your set up is all over the map.b

 

[gus_patino]

The issue may not have anything to do with the speaker/receiver combo it could be something else. What source material were you using on the old system and how was the source material being delivered (what types of cables were you using and was it CD's, digital files etc)?

Could be an issue with the optical port, could be source material, could be the cable. I'm not sure what article you read, but either the article is wrong, or you maybe misinterpreted something in there. The impedance is only cut in half if the channels are bridged, which you are not doing.

If the speakers specify 4 ohms as a minimum, it's different that a receiver specifying 4 ohms minimum. Speakers specifying 4 ohms minimum more likely means that even under stressful conditions the speakers won't drop below 4 ohms (since speaker impedance isn't a static measure). A receiver specifying 4 ohms as a minimum means that it can handle a nominal 4 ohm load. This means on average (although average isn't exactly the right word) a speaker's impedance will be 4 ohms across the frequency range, but could be much higher than that or lower than that at certain frequencies. The better the speaker design, the closer it will stay to its nominal rating across the frequency range and the easier load it will be for a receiver or external amp to drive.

Thanks for the help.
The old system is a CD player/amplifier and the speakers where connected to the system. The system is 6 ohm.

I'm also using a speaker cable Blue Jeans 10 AWG, I don't know if the cable might be too thick.

The speaker cable used in the old system is just a regular cable, very thin.

Thanks again for the help

 

[markw]

The speakers should work fine, period.

Does it showhe same problem with the tuner?

If so, there may be a problem with the unit.

 

[gus_patino]

The speakers should work fine, period.

Does it showhe same problem with the tuner?

If so, there may be a problem with the unit.

The unit doesn't come with a tuner and I don't have one. I changed the speaker cables and the same result. I'm going to try with headphones to see what I hear.
Thanks

 

[gus_patino]

Ok, so now I connected the old speakers (which are small surround speakers, not great sound) to the HK 990 and the seem to sound fine, I can hear the the whole spectrum.

Paying more attention to the PSB T6 connected to the old system (Panasonic DVD/Surround/Tuner system) the PSB T6 speakers seem to play only high notes, very little in the middle.

So I'll have to get me another pair of good speakers to test them in the HK 990, maybe the problem was with the speakers after all.

What a wonderful experience

 

[jonnythan]

The HK 990 is just an amplifier.

What, precisely, are you using for a source? Is it a CD player?

 

[gus_patino]

The HK 990 is just an amplifier.

What, precisely, are you using for a source? Is it a CD player?

I've tried:
PS3 optical connection. With the old, small speakers the sounds seems to be ok. with the PSB T6, terrible.
Computer > Using USB adapter Behringer UCA202> using optical output, in the small speakers the sound is choppy, but sound is fine. With the PSB T6 speakers the sound is choppy and not good.

I'm going to connect another pair of reasonable good speakers 8hm to the HK 990, and also the PSB T6 to an 8 hm amplifier. We'll see how that goes.

 

[jonnythan]

The amplifier doesn't have an "ohm" rating exactly. What "4 ohm" on an amp means is that it's able to power speakers with an impedance as low as 4 ohm. Anything over 4 ohm is fine. 6 and 8 are fine.

An "8 ohm" amp means it can't power speakers below 8 ohms because it's not good enough.

There's a problem in your setup somewhere. I'm not quite sure where.

 

[gus_patino]

I found the problem. The PSB T6 speakers have 4 posts and a connector for each positive and negative connection.
I removed them when I opened the speakers, thinking that they could be removed since they were necessary only if you wanted to connect other speakers to the PSB T6.
That explains the terrible sound that I was getting, I was getting only the highs when I used the upper posts and I was getting only the lows when I was using the lower posts.

Thanks everybody for your help.