Trying to find 4 ohm amplifier on 200€ budget

[Mikish]

Hello! Recently I got a pair of Radiotehnika speakers but they are 4 ohm rated. The amplifier that I use right now can handle 8-16 ohms. Could someone recommend me any modern or vintage low prize amplifiers for 4 ohm speakers? Budget is 200€ max.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Pretty well any decent quality amplifier will drive 4 ohm speakers - it's only fairly poor ones that won't go lower than 8. But bear in mind, it's not 'cast in stone', how loud do you play the amplifier? - do the windows rattle and neighbours bang on your door?, if not it will probably be fine feeding 4 ohm.

Basically an amplifier will only supply so much power - say 50W per channel.

So an 8 ohm rated amp will supply 50 watts to your 8 ohm speakers, if you then put 4 ohm ones on it (or two pairs of 8 ohm) then it will try and provide 100W per channel, and this could easily damage the amplifier. As long as you don't turn the amplifier up above 50W. there's no issue at all.

 

[Mikish]

Pretty well any decent quality amplifier will drive 4 ohm speakers - it's only fairly poor ones that won't go lower than 8. But bear in mind, it's not 'cast in stone', how loud do you play the amplifier? - do the windows rattle and neighbours bang on your door?, if not it will probably be fine feeding 4 ohm.

Basically an amplifier will only supply so much power - say 50W per channel.

So an 8 ohm rated amp will supply 50 watts to your 8 ohm speakers, if you then put 4 ohm ones on it (or two pairs of 8 ohm) then it will try and provide 100W per channel, and this could easily damage the amplifier. As long as you don't turn the amplifier up above 50W. there's no issue at all.

My current amplifier is “high output” rated so I think it would eventually handle these speakers based on your reply but since Im gonna use these speakers in another building I’ll still need a new amplifier so I thougt that I could get the one with the right impendance

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

As I said, anything decent should be fine - as should anything German, as Germany seem to use 4 ohm speakers as standard, where the rest of the world tends to use 8 ohms. I did try having a quick look at Richer Sounds (a budget UK HiFi chain), but they seem a bit vague about speaker impedances.

My old Leak Stereo 70 handled 4 ohms fine, as does it's replacement (also old now, but more modern than the Leak) Kenwood KA660.

'Generally' if an amplifier has two pairs of switched speaker sockets, that can be used at the same time, then it's 4 ohm capable - as it's designed to have two pairs of 8 ohms at the same time, making 4 ohms.

 

[Mikish]

As I said, anything decent should be fine - as should anything German, as Germany seem to use 4 ohm speakers as standard, where the rest of the world tends to use 8 ohms. I did try having a quick look at Richer Sounds (a budget UK HiFi chain), but they seem a bit vague about speaker impedances.

My old Leak Stereo 70 handled 4 ohms fine, as does it's replacement (also old now, but more modern than the Leak) Kenwood KA660.

'Generally' if an amplifier has two pairs of switched speaker sockets, that can be used at the same time, then it's 4 ohm capable - as it's designed to have two pairs of 8 ohms at the same time, making 4 ohms.

Ok, thank you! I’ll see what I can do.

 

[rjenkinsgb]

Look at a Sony STR-DA2400ES on ebay - there are often one or two on at reasonable prices and they are superb.
You can select the number of speaker outputs enabled, anything from two to six - you can use just about any general speakers for the surround outputs, if you wish, and have input options for just about anything you can think of.

Just make sure it has the remote controls with it! They come with two, a full size and a compact one.

Examples:
**broken link removed**
**broken link removed**

Review:

Home review

Sony's STR-DA2400ES AV receiver was delayed while it was fixed to work with Sky+ HD, but the finished article was well worth the wait

www.whathifi.com

 

[Mikish]

Look at a Sony STR-DA2400ES on ebay - there are often one or two on at reasonable prices and they are superb.
You can select the number of speaker outputs enabled, anything from two to six - you can use just about any general speakers for the surround outputs, if you wish, and have input options for just about anything you can think of.

Just make sure it has the remote controls with it! They come with two, a full size and a compact one.

Examples:
**broken link removed**
**broken link removed**

Review:

Home review

Sony's STR-DA2400ES AV receiver was delayed while it was fixed to work with Sky+ HD, but the finished article was well worth the wait

www.whathifi.com

Oh wow thank you, this is perfect!