4 ohm speaker question

Hi All,

I have the chance to get a set of 3 new M&K S150C (http://mksound.com/s150thx.htm) LCR speakers for $1650 (these are normally $875 each).

Problem is they are rated at 4 ohms and my Kenwood KM-X1 amp doesn't seem to have specs for 4 ohms (it's a 100 watt at 8 ohms x 6 channel amp).

I can't afford to get an Outlaw 7700 along with the speakers right now.

The question is will I have problems running those speakers with my current amp in the short term?

Thanks

I would be surprised if a good separate power amp couldn't handle a 4 ohm load. You may see it generating more heat than you're used to, so if it is a bit cramped currently this might be a good time to find a bit more ventilation for it.

No, ventilation is not a problem. It currently sits at the bottom of one of my Premier Audio shelf units. There's enough space there for two good sized pieces (two 990s, two 7700s, etc. not that you'd stack a 7700 on something else, hehe).

Thanks

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You would be able to knock me over with a feather if that Kenwood could supply anything close to rated power into 4 ohm speakers. I suspect that's why there's no 4 ohm listing in their specs. I'd expect a decent amp to be able to up the power output by at LEAST 50% going from 8ohms down to 4ohms. If the Kenwood could do continuous 150W into even 2 channels @ 4ohms for any length of time I would be pretty surprised. I'd also be curious to see what the distortion numbers looked like....probably not pretty...and not something you'd want to subject a nice set of speakers to.

Cheers,

I guess I'm just suffering from upgraditis. Need more speakers for a 7.1 setup, although not even sure I want to go down that path yet.

Sounds like my best bet at this point is to just hold off and save up for a good HD TV of some sort.

Kind of waiting for the Toshiba/Canon SED displays to come out though as I'm not very keen on the current display technologies.

Hopefully, someone comes out with a decent 3 DLP 1080 RP TV soon as I think that would work out well. Could also go with one of the newer LCoS systems, but the JVCs don't seem all that hot and I'm pretty much anti-Sony (especially after the whole DRM rootkit thing).

I think I will just give my pocketbook a rest for now. Thanks

One beauty of buying decent quality components is that they ALSO work together. It makes me snicker that a "THX Ultra" receiver may or may not be able to "officially" drive 4 ohm speakers ...

Having said that, I can't believe that it couldn't REALLY drive them, unless they're really badly behaved. Most speakers impedence wavers all over the place moment by moment depending on the signal spectrum.

Those M&K 150s are a fine speaker and at $550 each new they are very well priced. You can see in my signature I'm running one step below the 150s (due to aesthetic reasons) and I'm real happy with them. I ran the 851s, 125c, and 55 surrounds (all 4 ohm) with a Pioneer Elite receiver until about 2 months ago when I got a 990 and an ATI 2005 (cousin of the Outlaw 7500). The receiver manual discussed speakers at 6 ohms or above and I was a little nervous at first about the 4 ohm load. The Pioneer got a little warm but nothing to be concerned about with good ventilation (as gonk mentioned). I'd find those 150s hard to pass up at that price.

Yeah, as much as I'd like to get more new stuff, I think I'm best off saving up for an HDTV and a new rack/shelving system.

Probably be sitting here in regular old TV land for a bit longer though as it really sounds like SEDs is the technology to beat for HDTV. All the advantages of CRT and Plasma with few of the disadvantages if any of either. Excellent blacks, good color fidelity, excellent geometry, no motion artifacting, no rainbowing, etc.

Question is how much a 50 inch model will cost when they hit the US shores.

I don't mean to discourage you. Honest. 8-)

Just trying to offer some alternative viewpoints.

Cheers,

use the Kenwood. I'd almost guarantee it will drive them with no problems. Let me know what you find out.

Of course, that will probably take you out of THX compliance, so a few Clever Clocks might be needed to spruce things up.