6 ohms speaker on Rotel amp?

[Brian482]

First post on forums, been looking at them for a while though ^^

I'm currently looking into finally buying my gear and am looking at Rotel components and my speakers I'm thinking about are rated at 6 ohms. I heard from someone at work who has the same type of speakers with a Pioneer Elite receiver that he was able to change the ohms per channel. Is this possible with the current Rotel models? And if not would any harm come from using a 8 ohms amp or receiver on a 6 ohms speaker. He told me that when he changed it it made a good difference in sound, no idea if he is telling the truth or not though.

For info I'm looking at a RSX-1058, or RSP-1069 & RMB-1085 (I know it isn't out yet).

Also if I happened to miss a post that answered this question I'm sorry and please post a link :T

[gianni]

This is no problem at all for Rotel amps. In fact, even the receivers will handle 6 ohms quite nicely. I've been using 4 ohm speakers with mine for several years and I've spoken to Rotel tech support about this - don't worry.

Most receivers that have the switch do this because they may have marginal power supplies. All this does is limit current - it won't improve the sound under normal conditions. Also, UL specs may require the switch or a placard restricting speaker impedance.

[Kevin D]

Not a problem, welcome to the club. Pretty much all Rotel amplifiers are stable even with a 4ohm load. The exception being the RMB-1066 and RMB-1048 when bridged (not something you wouldn't need to worry about anyway).

The digital amps are even fairly stable at 2ohms, but I wouldn't recommend running them with a speaker that averages that.

A speaker's ohm load is a rating of it's AVERAGE ohm load. You'll have a variance around that. B&W 802's average 8ohm, but actually drop to 2.6ohm in the bass region. As the ohm load drops the speaker becomes easier to power and more power is produced. Unfortunately most amps are designed to work correctly against a load and become unstable when the speaker presents too little resistance. You will have higher distortion the lower you go, but not enough to notice with the Rotel's.


Usually when you see a ohm switch on a receiver, it can't actually handle lower loads. It will overheat and shut-down. The switch changes the way the power goes to the amp to allow it to run lower. It could sound better because it's not distorting as much running in the alternate mode.

Kevin D.

[thunderstorm77]

I use the RMB 1095 with 6 ohms speakers. Works great!

[Club1820]

Pretty much all Rotel amplifiers are stable even with a 4ohm load. Kevin D.

I hope so! I've been running my 1095 amp with 4ohm speakers for about a year now. No problems, knock on wood, yet.

[Brian482]

Thank you for the feedback, makes me feel much better