Matching speakers and AV receiver

by Jason Lee
(Malaysia)

I have a question I hope someone can help with. Can AV receivers having 6 ohms impedance operate 8 ohms impedance speakers? Thanks in advance for your help.

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Hi

Yes, the 6 ohm AV receiver will be fine running speakers which are 8 ohm.

The thing to try and avoid when matching amps and speakers is to run speakers with a lower impedance than the amp is designed for. A higher impedance will be fine.

The reason for this is that a lower impedance will require the amplifier to provide more power to the speaker than it is designed to supply, and so you are in danger of burning out the power supply if you run it at high volumes for a long period.

This may also damage your speakers if the amplifier sends distorted waveforms to the speakers before it is able to shut itself down - which is what should happen if the amp overheats.

Follow the links below for a more detailed explanation of these issues.

All the best.

Paul (Site Editor)

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