Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners vp-180 or xp-3 amp

Yes i have a ep350

Well i purchased the vp-180 and then realized that my Yamaha 1800 would not drive it so i ordered the xpa-3 as well which should show up at my door tomorrow .

Hard keeping up with the jones'

Why do you think your Yammy won't drive it?

Yes, PT; how is it that you "realized" this? It would seem to be necessary to try first, and you've mentioned before that you had no difficulty driving 4 ohm rated speakers with your 1800. Keeping up with the Joneses shouldn't be the object where the topic is audio technology.

John. I checked. The Jonses still have an HTIB, so no worries there.

Main speakers will drive 4ohm but center from what i read and have been told will not .

The Joneses is a joke with a friend of mine

I find it hard to believe that Yamaha would use a different grade amp for the center channel than the mains.

If you're receiver can drive the M80s, it can also drive the VP180.

Hi Fred,

Not necessarily. If you delve into the specs of some AV receivers, you may find the power output rating for the center channel is measured at a single frequency (1 kHz) rather than over the full audio bandwidth (20 Hz - 20 kHz) and the distortion spec is higher, all of which suggest that some shortcuts have been taken for the center-channel amp. With a 4-ohm center, the VP-180, the center amp might be prone to current limiting/overheating/temporary shutdown when stressed.

Cheers,
Alan

Alan,
After reading your post, I checked the specs for my Denon AVR-3806:

Power amplifier
Rated output: Front:
120 W + 120 W (8 Ω/ohms, 20 Hz ~ 20 kHz with 0.05 % T.H.D.)
160 W + 160 W (6 Ω/ohms, 1 kHz with 0.7 % T.H.D.)
Center:
120 W (8 Ω/ohms, 20 Hz ~ 20 kHz with 0.05 % T.H.D.)
160W (6 Ω/ohms, 1 kHz with 0.7 % T.H.D.)
Surround (A, B):
120 W + 120 W (8 Ω/ohms, 20 Hz ~ 20 kHz with 0.05 % T.H.D.)
160 W + 160 W (6 Ω/ohms, 1 kHz with 0.7 % T.H.D.)
Surround Back:
120 W + 120 W (8 Ω/ohms, 20 Hz ~ 20 kHz with 0.05 % T.H.D.)
160 W + 160 W (6 Ω/ohms, 1 kHz with 0.7 % T.H.D.)
Dynamic power: 140 W x 2 ch (8 Ω/ohms)
210 W x 2 ch (4 Ω/ohms)
Output terminals: Front, Center, Surr. Back 6 ~ 16 Ω/ohms
Surround: A or B 6 ~ 16 Ω/ohms
A + B 8 ~ 16 Ω/ohms

Do you think I should be concerned since there is no 4 ohm rating, and even at 6 ohm, all channels are only rated at 1 kHz. I have never had a problem with it, but like you say, I'm forcing it to drive three 4 ohm loads and four 6 ohm loads now.