Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions ohms and volume

I have a question about the relationship between ohms and volume levels.

I have M3, M22, and VP150. The VP150 is a 6ohm speaker, and the others are 8 ohm. I often notice the center speaker not being as loud as the other speakers, even though it has the highest sensitivity rating. On my receiver, I have it set at either +2 or +3 db so its volume is on par with the other speakers.

Do speakers with less reesistance require more watts to play at the same volume as speakers with more resistance? I always thought it was the other way around, but now I am not so sure. My receiver can drive 6ohm speakers, it says so in the manual and online. It;s a denon 1602.

Ravi,
I was waiting to see if anyone (smarter than me) would tackle your question. But so far, no one has bitten.

Although it has been a long time since my EE classes, I cannot think of any simple direct ratio/relationship between speaker SPL (volume) and rated impedance. The rated Ohm level on speakers is nominal, since impedance varies with the frequency. The only real relationship I can think of for volume (SPL) is speaker sensitivity. And I know of no relationship between rated speaker impedance and sensitivity (efficiency).

Maybe BBIBH knows something I don't!

If your center channel speaker is not as "loud" as the L and R channels, then I would say that the source material is the main cause of that (could be the amp - but your Denon is pretty good and I doubt that is the problem). I find that I need to vary the volume on my center channel speaker - depending on the source, type of surround processing, etc.

Bottom line - I wouldn't worry about it as long as you can adjust the volume to make it sound right.

Randyman

so we meet again, Randyman!!

yes, I know it's likely the source. Only the Nine Inch Nails DVD has actually sounded 'right' to me in terms of center channel volume, and the Diana Krall DVD live in Paris DTS is almost right (i put it up 1 db).

I also wouldn;t think ohms would make a difference. Also, the VP150 is rated as more sensitive than the M22's or M3's (likely due to it's greater number of drive units).

Thanks Randyman!