Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions Mixing 4 ohm centre with 8 ohm left and right?

Sorry if this has been asked before in the message board, I just couldn't make the search engine work for me.

I am considering a VP180ow for a centre with a pair of M5HPow for the left and right front, behind an acoustically transparent screen. The 180 is 4 ohm impedance and the M5's are 8 ohm each. Can I do this, mix the impedances? Does the receiver need any special features or setting applied to do this or should i just get an 8 ohm centre?

No problem mixing, you just need to set your channel levels correctly ...

Which receiver, how far away will you be sitting and will you be crossing all fronts to a sub?

Onkyo TX-NR757, 12' away, yes there is a 12" Velodyne sub. thanks for the reply.

No problem. Cross all fronts to the sub at 80Hz to give the Onk less of a workout. Set the Onk to 8 Ohms and not 6.

Consider the 160OW though. There is nothing wrong with the 180 but the 160 is very good and less expensive.

Check refurb and B stock. You may find them there.

Or even another M5hp. Save the dough if you can place it behind the screen. No advantage to a horizontal center if you arent forced to place it under/over a screen.

Use your left over cash on a nice universal remote or a 4K bluray player or gaming console. Or the new LOTR 4K release.

Hey Trevor. You should see what I did with an M5 as a centre at my buddy's. It's the most %$cked up thing ever but it sounds so damned good. I'm sure it's the only installation of its kind in the universe.

I have been considering the M5HPOW for a while. I already have the VP180OW with M60's. The VP180OW is a beast of a centre speaker! What I really want to do is move the M60's to the games room and get the M100's next fall (Black Friday $$).

Thank you all for the responses, The only reason I am considering the 180 is because there are a couple in the Refurb/B stock stores and the saving is significant. My original intent was three matched M5HPOW for behind the screen. Last night I checked my screens construction and the two centre supports/studs are only 36" apart , the 180 won't fit unless I rebuild the frame!

I guess the horizontal centres are really only for systems that use tall L/R fronts like the M60 or M80 then?

The horizontal centers are for those who can't fit a regular speaker into their space.

BTW, the M5s are 6 Ohm. Look at the impedance curve (on the M5 bookshelf page). This is of no practical significance to your Onk and the advice I gave you still stands. Axiom specs them as 8 Ohms to avoid a ton of calls from prospects who don't know what an Ohm is and what it means.

Cross them at 80Hz, turn it up, your Onk will be fine. I have the Onkyo 838 and it has a power supply and amplification similar to yours. In 2-channel, driving M5s, it's practically no different than an ADA-1000-2. I know, because I've measured. I freakin' love my Onk and Visions for the deep discount they gave me on it.