Originally posted by gonk:
soundhound - Are you thinking primarily of home theater receivers here as compared to older amps, integrated amps, and receivers? I'd certainly agree when it comes to the typical receiver power amp section, as the "4 ohm" or "6 ohm" switches you mention attest to. On the other hand, I've been under the impression that separate power amps from companies like Outlaw, ATI, Rotel, Anthem, etc. are built robustly enough to handle lower impedance loads without issue.
I was referring to seperate power amps and receivers. Any amplifier that has the "4 ohm" switch is not robust enough to drive that impedance without the reduction in rail voltages that the switch provides, whether seperate or receiver. This is done for cost reasons mostly, as it would be impractical and costly to make a multi-channel power amplifier with the transistor complement, heavy heatsinking, and large power supply of the more robust stereo amps of 20 years ago. Many of those could drive
2 ohms without complaint.
Home theater amps that have the switch can sometimes drive a 4 ohm load, but the switch limits the power output to levels that won't overload the amp.
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