Newbie question on Ohms...

[mtbound10]

I have EMP compact speakers that are good for 8 ohms (rated at 8 ohms anyway). I believe I have my Yamaha RX-v863 set to "small" for speakers and at 6 ohms. Am I doing any damage or limiting the performance of the speaker by setting my reciever to 6 while the speaker is listed at 8 ohms???

I had someone tell me that 6 ohms was the optimum setting but after reviewing my speaker specs I am questioning my judgement...

 

[j_garcia]

Impedance varies with frequency, but the fact is that if I recall correctly you ARE limiting the capability of the amp because of how Yamaha implements the lower impedance scheme in the receiver. Since your speakers are 8 Ohms nominal, I don't see a reason to have the receiver set to 6 anyway. Will it actually cause a problem? Hard to say, but my guess would be no. On the other hand, is there a benefit? Not that I can think of.