I've just bought an AV Receiver and a 5.1 speaker set. Works just great
and I'm very happy with it. The AV Receiver supports 7.1 surround, but as
I'm only use 5.1 it allows the other 2 speaker outputs to be used for a
2nd set of stereo speakers. This is useful for me, I'd like to have the
option of listening in the kitchen as well.

Thing is, the 5.1 speakers are all 6 ohm, whereas the stereo pair I've got
kicking about are 8ohm. Not sure if this mis-match would cause a problem.
There's no guidance in the manual, and my internet searches just return
lots of stuff of driving multiple speakers from the same speaker outputs.
Does anyone know if this is likely to be a problem or not?

Cheers

On Wed, 24 Feb 2010 20:50:30 GMT, smb wrote:

I've just bought an AV Receiver and a 5.1 speaker set. Works just great
and I'm very happy with it. The AV Receiver supports 7.1 surround, but as
I'm only use 5.1 it allows the other 2 speaker outputs to be used for a
2nd set of stereo speakers. This is useful for me, I'd like to have the
option of listening in the kitchen as well.

Thing is, the 5.1 speakers are all 6 ohm, whereas the stereo pair I've got
kicking about are 8ohm. Not sure if this mis-match would cause a problem.
There's no guidance in the manual, and my internet searches just return
lots of stuff of driving multiple speakers from the same speaker outputs.
Does anyone know if this is likely to be a problem or not?

I can't see why it should be a problem in the situation that you
describe.

If you were using the 8 ohm and the 6 ohm speakers at the same time
(ie, as different channels in the same surround setup), you should (I
think) expect a mismatch in the sound level (and probably the tonality
as well). However, if you use the 8 ohm speakers as a separate stereo
pair, you won't be listening to them at the same time as the others,
so the volume mismatch shouldn't be an issue. To all intents and
purposes, each channel is a separate amplifier. As long as that
amplifier will drive speakers of the impedance of those which you
attach, you shouldn't have a problem. (And if there is any problem,
I'd expect it with the lower impedance set, not the higher impedance
ones.)

If this was my kit, I'd be happy to try the setup that you've
outlined. FWIW, I did run a system like that for a while. I didn't
even think about the difference in impedance between my two sets of
speakers when I set it up, and had no problems. (That was a Denon AVR
3805 with a set of KEF 5.1 speakers and LS3/5as on "zone 2". These
days I use a Marantz AV amp and have a separate stereo amp for music.)

Having said that, I'm not an electronics expert, so please don't blame
me if it all goes bang!

Peter.

On Wed, 24 Feb 2010 22:35:23 +0000, Peter
wrote:

FWIW, I did run a system like that for a while. I didn't
even think about the difference in impedance between my two sets of
speakers when I set it up, and had no problems. (That was a Denon AVR
3805 with a set of KEF 5.1 speakers and LS3/5as on "zone 2". These
days I use a Marantz AV amp and have a separate stereo amp for music.)

PS - yes, I know that the LS3/5as outclassed the rest of my system at
the time. There's a story to my possession of those speakers which I
don't propose to tell here. Suffice to say that I owned them, and
wasn't going to not use them. They remain my pride and joy.

Peter.

In article ,
smb wrote:
Thing is, the 5.1 speakers are all 6 ohm, whereas the stereo pair I've
got kicking about are 8ohm. Not sure if this mis-match would cause a
problem. There's no guidance in the manual, and my internet searches
just return lots of stuff of driving multiple speakers from the same
speaker outputs. Does anyone know if this is likely to be a problem or
not?

Speaker impedances are only nominal. And a higher one than quoted will be
fine. If you had an amp designed for 15 ohm speakers it might not like 4
ohm ones.

--
*Frankly, scallop, I don't give a clam

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"smb" wrote in message
...
I've just bought an AV Receiver and a 5.1 speaker set. Works just great
and I'm very happy with it. The AV Receiver supports 7.1 surround, but as
I'm only use 5.1 it allows the other 2 speaker outputs to be used for a
2nd set of stereo speakers. This is useful for me, I'd like to have the
option of listening in the kitchen as well.

Thing is, the 5.1 speakers are all 6 ohm, whereas the stereo pair I've got
kicking about are 8ohm. Not sure if this mis-match would cause a problem.
There's no guidance in the manual, and my internet searches just return
lots of stuff of driving multiple speakers from the same speaker outputs.
Does anyone know if this is likely to be a problem or not?

Cheers

Should be fine.

Obviously you wouldn't use different impedances on different sides, although
modern AV amps with auto set up might actually cope.

On Wed, 24 Feb 2010 22:35:23 +0000, Peter wrote:
On Wed, 24 Feb 2010 20:50:30 GMT, smb wrote:

I've just bought an AV Receiver and a 5.1 speaker set. Works just great
and I'm very happy with it. The AV Receiver supports 7.1 surround, but as
I'm only use 5.1 it allows the other 2 speaker outputs to be used for a
2nd set of stereo speakers. This is useful for me, I'd like to have the
option of listening in the kitchen as well.

Thing is, the 5.1 speakers are all 6 ohm, whereas the stereo pair I've got
kicking about are 8ohm. Not sure if this mis-match would cause a problem.
There's no guidance in the manual, and my internet searches just return
lots of stuff of driving multiple speakers from the same speaker outputs.
Does anyone know if this is likely to be a problem or not?

I can't see why it should be a problem in the situation that you
describe.

If you were using the 8 ohm and the 6 ohm speakers at the same time
(ie, as different channels in the same surround setup), you should (I
think) expect a mismatch in the sound level (and probably the tonality
as well). However, if you use the 8 ohm speakers as a separate stereo
pair, you won't be listening to them at the same time as the others,
so the volume mismatch shouldn't be an issue. To all intents and
purposes, each channel is a separate amplifier. As long as that
amplifier will drive speakers of the impedance of those which you
attach, you shouldn't have a problem. (And if there is any problem,
I'd expect it with the lower impedance set, not the higher impedance
ones.)

If this was my kit, I'd be happy to try the setup that you've
outlined. FWIW, I did run a system like that for a while. I didn't
even think about the difference in impedance between my two sets of
speakers when I set it up, and had no problems. (That was a Denon AVR
3805 with a set of KEF 5.1 speakers and LS3/5as on "zone 2". These
days I use a Marantz AV amp and have a separate stereo amp for music.)

Having said that, I'm not an electronics expert, so please don't blame
me if it all goes bang!

Peter.

Thanks to all who replied. Suffice to say that the speakers I have
kicking about *aren't* LS3/5as! But they do work without problem.

Cheers