Oh well......I take no prisoners

I've had a pair of M200's hooked up to my Mirage OM-5 mains for several months and have had no problems. They sound fantastic. The speakers are 6 ohms nominal 4 ohms minimun. They're also rated to take 300 watts. I can drive them nice and loud without any trouble, except for people running in screaming, "That's too loud!"

Two comments:

MeanGene:
If you're worried about impedance when using two bookshelf speakers as a center, try wiring them in series, which will double the resistance seen by the amp (compared to using one speaker). I do this with a pair of Celestion A1s used as a center. I had no choice since these are 4 ohms each, and wiring in parallel would have resulted in a seriously problematic 2 ohm load. The center level had to be tweaked upward a bit to attain balance, however. I personally favor using a pair of bookshelf speakers as a center since the possibility of obsolesence is much less.

audvid:
Another possible tech reason for the impedance selector switch is to select between output transformer taps optimized for high or low impedance loads. Basically, the sound is taken off the point in the transformer that matches the transformer impedance to that of the speaker. This sort of thing is pretty standard on most tube amps and some costly solid state amps, like the McIntosh models that use output transformers. Strikes me that it's unlikely that anything Japanese uses an output transformer at all, much less providing multiple output taps.

As far as I know, Macintosh is the only company that uses an output transformer in a solid state design. Kinda doesn't make sense to put an output transformer in a SS amp though!

The impedance switch can switch the voltage taps on the main power transformer so that the maximum output is limited if the impedance goes too low - heat can be a problem otherwise.

If you wandered over to my Home Theater site you will see that I am using four Full range speakers in a 5.1 configuration, but the fifth speaker is not full range and has been a problem because, in today’s world, new speakers are typically small and limited in overall range and SLP. When cranking the system the center channel becomes faint. I figure if I double the number of (8 ohm) speakers for the center channel and run them in parallel for a resultant 4 ohm load to the M200, they will have a better chance to keep up. Yes, I know I should go out and buy a $2500.00 Martin Logan center but the WAF is a problem in that area. I have to work within a reasonable budget. This has recently become a little harder as I dislodged a ceramic serving platter from the kitchen onto the floor while playing my BlueMan Group DVD @ 0db. So, I think I have my answer, being that the M200 should have no problem driving these speakers.

Thanks

P.S. You have to realize that even my two 15" subwoofers powered by a Samson S-1000 have trouble keeping up with the ESS AMT3's driven by 200 watts apiece. Each of the four speakers have, in addition to the Heil Air Motion Tweeter and the 6.5" midrange, twin 10" woofers. That puts a total of eight 10" woofers in the room. Just to clarify the situation.
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[This message has been edited by MeanGene (edited May 09, 2003).]

I've got the upgrade bug and am considering 5 M200's to drive my Definitive Technology setup. I've got BP2006TL's for mains, CLR2300 Center, and BPX's for rears. Wondering if I can use 4 ohms on all five of my Def Tech's to get the 300 Watts?