I don't wanna blow up my amplifier with dual stereo

giocap

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Feb 7, 2023
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I am puzzled about impedance.

I have a yamaha A-S201 100W AMPLI.
It has 8 connectrs for 4 speakers. In A, A OR B and A+B configurations.
The manual says
In only A OR ONLY B configuration: 8 ohm minimum speakers
In A and B configuration 16 ohm minimum speakers.

I have a pair of jamo e670 6ohm impedance. In "only A" configuration. It should not work, but they work fine.


I wanted to attach another pair of speakers to try the dual stereo in same room, will my ampli blow up or break if i try that?

I listen at moderate volumes.
 

Gray

Well-known member
I have a pair of jamo e670 6ohm impedance.
That is a 'nominal' impedance figure - as it is with all speakers - you could effectively regard it as an 8 ohm speaker (because any 8 ohm speaker will drop to 6 ohms (and below) in use).
Unlike resistance, impedance is not a fixed value, it varies once the music starts playing.
(More useful is when they quote the minimum impedance that a speaker might drop to).

As for your amp. It's obviously comfortable playing into a nominal 8 ohm load.
When you connect 2 speakers in parallel the impedance that the amplifier 'sees' drops.
With A and B switched in, the speakers are effectively connected in parallel.
When the 2 parallel impedances are the same value, the overall actual impedance is halved - that's why they specify 16 ohms - so that the amp will still see the (nominal) 8 ohms that it needs.

For various reasons, you're better off sticking to a single pair of speakers - regardless of the amount of amp terminals you've got.
 

giocap

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Feb 7, 2023
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That is a 'nominal' impedance figure - as it is with all speakers - you could effectively regard it as an 8 ohm speaker (because any 8 ohm speaker will drop to 6 ohms (and below) in use).
Unlike resistance, impedance is not a fixed value, it varies once the music starts playing.
(More useful is when they quote the minimum impedance that a speaker might drop to).

As for your amp. It's obviously comfortable playing into a nominal 8 ohm load.
When you connect 2 speakers in parallel the impedance that the amplifier 'sees' drops.
With A and B switched in, the speakers are effectively connected in parallel.
When the 2 parallel impedances are the same value, the overall actual impedance is halved - that's why they specify 16 ohms - so that the amp will still see the (nominal) 8 ohms that it needs.

For various reasons, you're better off sticking to a single pair of speakers - regardless of the amount of amp terminals you've got.
Thank you for preventing me from stressing out my humble little ampli, perhaps burning something.
I will resist the 4 speaker allure, perhaps do it only when i upgrade my ampli to something that can do 4speakersx8ohm in A+B.
 
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SteveR750

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Here is my 2 cents from experience. The yamaha A-Sx01 series is well designed, good power supplies, good circuit design etc etc. They're pretty good at handling variable load speakers. Unless you're going to crank the volume up loud to the point you'll upset the neighbours, your dog etc then fit two sets of speakers, but aim to buy ones that are rated 8 ohm. In the real world, speakers change impedance significantly over the frequency spectrum, the yamaha engineers know this, and have done for some time now. A British or US manufacturer would just be more "chancy" with their specs, but be no more capable. You will be fine.
 

Gray

Well-known member
Here is my 2 cents from experience. The yamaha A-Sx01 series is well designed, good power supplies, good circuit design etc etc. They're pretty good at handling variable load speakers. Unless you're going to crank the volume up loud to the point you'll upset the neighbours, your dog etc then fit two sets of speakers, but aim to buy ones that are rated 8 ohm. In the real world, speakers change impedance significantly over the frequency spectrum, the yamaha engineers know this, and have done for some time now. A British or US manufacturer would just be more "chancy" with their specs, but be no more capable. You will be fine.
Plenty of amps will be electrically fine with parallel speakers of course Steve.
Whenever people here advise against multiple pairs though (and you'll see they often do), it's as much about maintaining pure 2 channel stereo as anything else.
Some people don't care about that of course, even having more than one pair of speakers in the same room :unsure:
As ever, each to their own :)
 

giocap

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Feb 7, 2023
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Here is my 2 cents from experience. The yamaha A-Sx01 series is well designed, good power supplies, good circuit design etc etc. They're pretty good at handling variable load speakers. Unless you're going to crank the volume up loud to the point you'll upset the neighbours, your dog etc then fit two sets of speakers, but aim to buy ones that are rated 8 ohm. In the real world, speakers change impedance significantly over the frequency spectrum, the yamaha engineers know this, and have done for some time now. A British or US manufacturer would just be more "chancy" with their specs, but be no more capable. You will be fine.
Not all A-SX01 are created equal. The a-s201 is really the baby of the family and is rated for 1 pair of 8 ohm speakers or 2 pairs of 16 ohm.
I know it wont die on me especially at my moderate volumes. But i do want each speaker to have good power to control the sound , watts isnt only "volume" but also control.
Even if its not gonna blow up i don't want 4 speakers to be controlled poorly.
I'll play it safe and experiment w 4 speakers when i have a better ampli.
 

SteveR750

Well-known member
Like I said, and in answer to the OP, you won't blow your amp up by driving two sets of speakers. The Yamaha amps are all similar in that they will deliver to their specs, so unlikely you will be compromising much by doing so unless you want to shake both rooms. There are plenty of more objective reviews of the range that confirm this, no need to take my word for it!
 

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