Can a Yamaha ns-c444 speaker be used as a stand alone for my tv in a small room? What low-cost amp will work?

Question

Can a Yamaha ns-c444 speaker be used as a stand alone for my tv in a small room? What low-cost amp will work?

Answer 1

It's intended as a centre channel speaker, but could be used alone.

Two things to be aware of -- weak low end (65 Hz cut-off) --- so it's not ideal as a full range speaker --  and 6 ohm impedence.

Sensitivity isn't high (89 dB), so you will need a minimum 20-30 watt amp for reasonable loudness. Other than that any amp capable of powering a 4 ohm speaker (Impedence is not constand, so a 6 ohm speaker is best used on a 4 ohm capable amp) will work fine. You should be able to find something suitable in a used electronics store. If you only have one speaker a mono amp would do.

The other issue is what audio out your TV has. If there is no low level RCA outlet (Male RCA to male RCA cable) you may be able to power the amp from a headphone jack (1/8' mono or stereo to single or dual RCA male), but make sure to turn the volume way down since the output may be too much for the amp input (but not enough to drive the speaker alone).