Will I fry my amp?

[fredericgelinas]

I am building 3 Triune as L/C/R channel for my small HT. This is my first project. I followed Curt's instructions and I am using his new crossover. From what I understand, the minimum impedance for the Triune will be as low as 3 ohms. My cheap Kenwood receiver (old vr-405) isn't rated at 4 ohms. I'm I correct when I assume that as long as I do not drive it at high volume and I keep the temperature down, I shouldn't have a problem... or I'm I going to fry it?

Thanks for your input!

[bpodruzny]

If that amp has built in protection circuits and it is not rated to run at 4 ohms, it will probably shut itself down if you try to run a 4 ohm speaker.

You might be able to get it to play at low volumes. I tried something similar with an old HT receiver. It would play, but the volume level it would play at before it tripped the protection circuits was so low it wasn't worth using.

In the end I had to get an amp that would handle a 4 ohm load.

Hope this helped.
-Brian

[JustinG]

Like the other response you probably won't fry it if it is made with at least a decent protection circuit. The nicer amps/receivers (personally I have a Yamaha RX-V2500) are able to drive a 4 ohm speaker even if they say they are only 6 ohm stable, they will just run a bit warmer. If your amp is only rated for 8 ohms and is cheaper most likely it wont be able to drive them very long without overheating.

[chrisn]

> Like the other response you probably won't
> fry it if it is made with at least a decent
> protection circuit. The nicer amps/receivers
> (personally I have a Yamaha RX-V2500) are
> able to drive a 4 ohm speaker even if they
> say they are only 6 ohm stable, they will
> just run a bit warmer. If your amp is only
> rated for 8 ohms and is cheaper most likely
> it wont be able to drive them very long
> without overheating.

What receiver do you have? Some members here may have experience with it and know its abilities. I have both a Pioneer 516 and 517 (cheap) and they have handled 4ohm loads well, though I may have good fortune with low impedance not shared by others. YMMV