8 ohms or 4?

[Glen Samuel]

I'm looking at getting some alesis monitor ones which according to my reseach are rated for 100 watts @ 4 ohms, being a regular prolitariate with a job and ends to meet I cant afford the matching ra-100 amp. My own kentwood amp is rated @ 100 watts to 8 ohms, would this settup work, would it destroy the speakers if not what would be the effect on sound of this variation. Thank you in advance,Glen.

 

[drstawl]

Depends on your listening habits. My friend Jim installs car stereos professionally. He's tops in his biz. And he's famous for blowing up speakers and frying amps just for the fun of it. If that's not your idea of fun, just be sensible about your gain adjustment. And always turn down (or off) your amp while making wiring connections. I use a 60W amplifier rated @8 ohms with my Event 20/20 passive monitors rated 150W @4ohms, despite the dire warnings in both owners' manuals. No problems to report with this setup. But your numbers are a bit scarier...

 

[sonusman]

Ummmmm....When you run a lower Ohm load than what the amplifier is rated for, the amp will run a lot hotter and eventually is going to stop working. Now, you need to find out if your Kentwood CAN handle a 4 ohm load. It just might. When you read the specs, it is just saying what the output is at a certain ohm load. That doesn't mean that it can't go any lower.

Anyway, I think that for about the same money, you can get into the Event 20/20 monitors. Compared to the Alesis monitor ones, the Events sound better, go lower, and really represent what is actually there much better than any of the Alesis monitors do. Even is the Events are a few bucks more, you will not be dissapointed in them 2 years from now. I have never seen a pair for sale used, but have seen many of the Alesis monitors for sale used. Does that tell you anything? Good luck.

Ed Rei
Echo Star Studio www.echotarstudio.com