Impedance Speaker mismatch?

Question

I have bought a new digital reciever which suggests connecting speakers with an Impedance of 8-16ohm. I still have my old LG speakers, which are 6ohm.

I have connected them up, but I only seem to get audio from the FM radio and (very quietly) from AM radio. There is no audio from a CD or DVD. I have yet to try an external Dolby input (from my PS3). I've also noticed that the L and R disappears on my display when I switch from FM to CD/DVD.

Would the impedance mismatch be causing this? I have read that most systems will mute in the event of such a mis-match, but I think it's strange that the FM audio works and nothing else. Could it be an issue with my receiver?

Basically, I don't really want to have to fork out for some 8+ohm speakers if they won't fix the problem.

Thanks in advance

Answer 1

Spend the money and get the 8-16 ohm for Ur receiver...Otherwise eventually U will B buying a new receiver.

Answer 2

The 6 ohm speakers should work, but don't crank the power up real high.  To be safe, you can put a 2 ohm power resistor (5 watts) from radio shack in series with each speaker.  That way, you will be presenting 8 ohms to the amplifiers.

Your problem of not hearing material from your CD is not likely related to your speaker impedance, but it could be due to the speakers not being wired correctly to the correct terminals.  Recheck the wire connections, then go through the setup procedure carefully to tell the unit what speakers are present.

Answer 3

Your speakers are 6 ohms meaning it makes a 8ohm receiver work MUCH harder to push them.  Thats why you aren't getting sound. You are asking your receiver to do 50% more work than its made for.  You are going to destroy your receiver.  You should go get some 8 ohm speakers your receiver will thank you for it.