Hi all
I'm looking at purchasing the M60 or M80. I own a Denon AVR1508 which is rated 75W at 8ohms. What damage would I see if I bought the M80's. Damage to the speakers or the reciever? I hear of some recievers that people say can drive 4ohm speakers even thougth they are rated 8ohms.
Thanks
Dave

Generally speaking, denons handle the m80's pretty well... However I personally have not tried any of the "lower end" denon models with the m80's so I am not sure.

I think the worst thing that would happen is one of two things:

a.) during loud portions of music or movies you could hear some audible distortion.

b.) it is possible that at louder volume levels the receiver could shut down. I believe that only if you kept repeating this over and over again could you possibly see damage to the receiver.

I do not think you would damage the speakers.

I (and many others) have driven the m80's with my 130 wpc denon 3808 with ease. Maybe someone who has tried a model simlar to yours can chime in?

Hi DavidH,

In the past, lower-end Denons, Sherwood Newcastle, NAD and Harman/Kardon AV receivers have all driven the 4-ohm M80 towers without overheating or shut-down problems, so long as they are not operated beyond their output limits (i.e. trying to fill unusually large rooms with absurdly loud playback volume). By "unsually large", I mean rooms larger than 2,500 cu. ft--length x width x height.

Other brands that have experienced no problems with M80s include Rotel and Outlaw Audio.

Lower-end models from Pioneer, Onkyo, Sony and Yamaha have in the past not been stable driving 4-ohm M80s.

Regards,

Distortion (i.e. clipping) will damage speakers. A low power amp driven into distortion is more harmful to a speaker than a high power one driven until your ears bleed.

I ran my M80s with a Denon 1804, it worked just fine. The biggest problem I can see is that you will want to play music loud and this will create distortion at the higher volumes because the amp is not able to push out the power for the volume that you are trying to achieve, but this would be the case no matter which Axiom speaker you purchase

The living room is 13 x 13 x 9 which is connected to the dining room which is 15 x 13 x 9. So total cubic feet is 3276.
I mostly watch movies instead of music. My music collection is fairly small.

Even movies can create distortion if you have the volume turned up too loud. You should be able to see a pattern here, it is the volume levels you are trying to achieve that will cause damage with a low powered receiver. Personally I forsee no problems as the 50W is enough to reach pretty loud levels, the M80s will reach ~91db on 1 watt and the M60s reach ~89db on that same watt. It is the peaks in the source material that create the need for higher power ratings.

Ack! Another 13 foot square room owner!

Ya the layout of the house isn't the best.

Thanks everyone for your help. Looks like i need to save up a little more hehe. M80's here i come.

At least it sounds like your room isn't just a concrete cube, and it opens into another space. If you weren't aware, a set of parallel walls will set up standing waves at a particular frequency depending on the distance between them (notice how the two largest surfaces of Axiom speakers are non-parallel). This makes the reproduction of smooth even bass around those frequencies created by the height, width, and depth of the room more difficult. When a room has more than one pair of walls the same distance apart the effect is multiplied.

If you wish to get the most out of that room, an investment in some sort of bass trapping may be worth while.

After quite some consideratition, I ended up ordering the M60's. I figure they will be just fine and with a savings of $400 I ordered a VP150. I'm iching to try them out. 4 weeks is going to be a long time. I'll be using my current 20 year old energy speakers as my surrounds until I save up for the QS8's or maybe the EP350 or 500.

If you are mostly doing home theatre, I think you made a wise choice.

I would buy the sub next, for sure.