On 02/28/05 12:35 ET, ATOH said...
Yamaha receivers are much more bulletproof than
other manufacturers and are more than capable
of the 4 ohm load. As oex said no one is going
to guarantee it to you though. With the discrete
codes available, the YPAO, and the stability of
the Yamaha product I would also suggest their
receivers. With the Yamaha receivers you can purposely
short out the speaker wires and you will not hurt
anything. The receiver will shut off and once
you turn it back on it will tell you to "check
speaker wire" . Try this with most of the other
brands out there, especially Sony or Pioneer...
Once again, I like Yamaha, used one of their receivers for over a decade. But the above implications are total crap. Every decent receiver has a shutoff circuit, and they have had them for decades. I'd like to know the definition of "bulletproof", also. Maybe the Mythbusters could help us out here.
I drove my excellent midrange 8 ohm rated Yamaha receiver with 4 ohms a couple times. It was running at redline and tripped the protection circuit almost every time after several minutes at high volume. This is NOT the definition of "more than capable of the 4 ohm load". This is a definition of "I overloaded my receiver and nearly destroyed it because it can't truly handle 4 ohms". If you need a 4 ohm capable receiver for frequent use, buy a 4 ohm capable receiver. That means the top of the line from most companies (including Yamaha), which are typically rated for this. Not a low-end from anybody. You want an excellent rating to use an example, look at the Sunfire or Harman Kardon products. Nice honest ratings for the amp capabilities. Better yet, get separates.
