advertisement


4 Ohm small speakers but only 6 Ohm amplifier

Hififriend

Hififriend

pfm Member
Hello
Cambridge Audio: 8 Ohm: 2x65 W 6 Ohm: 2x85 W 6-8 Ohm accepted
Dali Menuet SE : 4 Ohm: 20-100 Watts 86 dB sensitivity

Should I stop this combination as the amplifier has to give too much power he has not? Until now 20 hours connected and listened at medium volume level. Would it help to get the CA P500 power amplifier also only for 6-8 Ohms?

Thanks
 
He probably played music through nominal 4 ohm speakers (with dips in the impedance curve below 4 ohms) for an extended period of time at a high volume.

The amp spec is there for a reason.
 
It has protection, as would be expected in a mass market product such as this, and it should be fine at reasonable volumes into 4R. If the OP is a headbanger in a big room then not so much! Theoretically the worst that should happen is distortion from the protection kicking in and possible overheating causing a thermal cutout to operate (and blown tweeters of course!).

The caveat is that is uses rather special output transistors which turned out to have a severe design fault involving built in resistors which could fail. They were withdrawn from sale after a few years due to this fault and the majority of these transistors now seen offered for sale are fakes and should be avoided.

If the OP has another amp available or can borrow one that is around 20WPC and no more than 30WPC (into 8R) and this is loud enough then he should be OK with the A500. Don't thrash it till there is obvious distortion or you will blow your tweeters (it may seem crazy but not enough power is the most common cause of blown tweeters!)
 
Arkless Electronics said:
It has protection, as would be expected in a mass market product such as this, and it should be fine at reasonable volumes into 4R. If the OP is a headbanger in a big room then not so much! Theoretically the worst that should happen is distortion from the protection kicking in and possible overheating causing a thermal cutout to operate (and blown tweeters of course!).

The caveat is that is uses rather special output transistors which turned out to have a severe design fault involving built in resistors which could fail. They were withdrawn from sale after a few years due to this fault and the majority of these transistors now seen offered for sale are fakes and should be avoided.

If the OP has another amp available or can borrow one that is around 20WPC and no more than 30WPC (into 8R) and this is loud enough then he should be OK with the A500. Don't thrash it till there is obvious distortion or you will blow your tweeters (it may seem crazy but not enough power is the most common cause of blown tweeters!)
Click to expand...
Hello. Thanks so much. Yes I suppose he played them too hard. I once crushed a JBL tweeter when playing too loud, but playing a speaker with a too weak amp, it has to make so many efforts that at one moment there is so much clipping, distortion or whatever, that a tweeter gets destroyed, and yes, most people think that a weak amp won't harm stronger speakers :) Kind regards.
 
As the risk is too high for me to damage the A500, I decided to get an Exposure 3010 s2d preamplifier, with which I can finally use my Rotel RB-980 Bx power amplifier, and then perhaps I'll sell my Rotel RC-990 Bx preamplifier, for which I looked for 2 years to finally find a great unit and I still love the optic and features and red lights ... but I suppose I can't stand the sound.
 
FWIW, I drive my DALI Opticon 1 Mk2 speakers (85 db, 4 ohms) with my Rega io integrated amplifier and it sounds sublime. Not headbanger volumes or a huge room, just moderate volume in a 10 x 12 foot space.
 
Subito said:
FWIW, I drive my DALI Opticon 1 Mk2 speakers (85 db, 4 ohms) with my Rega io integrated amplifier and it sounds sublime. Not headbanger volumes or a huge room, just moderate volume in a 10 x 12 foot space.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your example. I use the last 3rd of my living-room as office, so 2,8 x 5 m Dali Menuet SE (4 Ohm 86 dB sensitivity) on the desk 1,3 m apart, me sitting 1m -1,5 m from the speakers and 1 m from the back wall. A dealer told me to connect my Sudgen A21 SE Signature to hear what Dalis on Isoacoustics stands are able to offer as optimal sound and then with a Naim NDac instead of the Rega Dac 1. I'll try it then in the bedroom on Linn stands with Naim Supernait 2. As they are small and light, I can bring the stands in the living-room and try my main Naim system with the small Dalis. Hope temperatures drop soon as I avoid all heating sources. Then I should play around with connecting the Cambridge A500 to the Rotel RB-980 BX, and then the Exposure 3010 s2d preamplifier, and as I need amplifiers which stay on 10 hours/day, I try to find some non heating gear. And then comes the Dac, the ethernet connection, cables ... have no clue how to make my wav files from PC sound as best as possible, That will be an interesting learning process :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


advertisement


Back
Top