# 3ohm speakers to 6ohm receiver



## shikishabazz (Apr 2, 2010)

Hello all, Im new to the forum and I have a question that Im sure has been answered, I just can't find it.
I have some 3ohm speakers from an allinone unit Samsung Ht-x250 that I want to TEMPORARILY use until I can get some 6 or 8 ohm speakers for my Yamaha RX-V365. The receiver can switch between 6 or 8. I won't be running them hard I just need something temporary. Do you think the receiver will be ok for a few days worth of use? Thank you so much.


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## Matteo (Jul 12, 2006)

Often times it is fine to run a lower-than-rated speaker on a receiver. The fear is that when you cut the ohms, your receiver will be outputting more power and current and producing more heat. If your receiver is not up to the task you might burn it up. You have a good receiver, but it is on the lower end of Yamaha's line. My guess is that "easy" listening would be fine for a few days at "moderate" durations, but I would check it frequently for overheating. Hopefully it has a good circuit protection device and will shut off correctly if it does get too hot. 
Additionally, I would leave the receiver set to 8 ohm, instead of 6 ohm, as I have read that all it does is to reduce the voltage being sent to the speakers, thus increasing the chance of the amp clipping. 
I am not an expert on this, so I'm sure others will tell you more advice. If it were me, I'd probably do it, but just watch it close and keep my listening time limited.

Matteo


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## gsmollin (Apr 25, 2006)

I would be very careful with this, as it depends on the details. If the RX-V365 has a 4-Ohm rating, you should be fine. If the Yammy does not have 4-Ohm rating, then put it on 6-Ohms because that will make it less likely you will overload the amp. If the Samsung speakers have a first order crossover you should be fine. You can look inside for that. Second or higher order crossovers can have resonances that effectively short out your amp at some critical frequency. And don't turn it up.


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## emrliquidlife (Apr 10, 2010)

I'm not an engineer, but I can relay my experience. I am using a harmon kardon avr 146 to power some speakers that are 4 ohm. I have been given doomsday predications and other stories of burnt receivers. 2 months in and no problems. I don't listen at loud levels so there is barely a heat build up at the receiver. So I'm not pushing the receiver too hard. I did feel a bit better when I crossed over the signal so that the HK amp is only pushing from 80hz and up. 

So my completely uneducated opinion? Yes, you can do it, just don't push too hard.

Ed


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