Is it possible to get good speakers with 4-ohm impedance?

[havoc]

Current 5.1 amp (Sony DAV-S550) is OK, but the speakers (5x 80w/4-ohm Sony SS-TS503S plus a sub) are small and I'd like to replace (at least) the front-L and front-R with something better (when playing CDs it only uses those two channels).

However...the current speakers are all 4-ohm, so I'm very cautious about mating up a pair of 8-ohm speakers (which most of the rated ones seem to be nowadays - some 6's around). Have I got my maths the right or the wrong way around here - are a pair of 6/8 ohm speakers going to blow the amp, or vice versa?


Now the issue is I don't want to spend a fortune - was looking at ~£100-150 on speakers (MX1's would be nice, maybe Q-Acoustics), up to around £200+ if I splash out (Monitor BX's?). So I'd rather not replace the amp and the rest of the speakers as this'll blow the budget right out to well north of £500.


Ideas? Can I get something decent at 4-ohm? Would 6-ohm speakers be OK (seen a few)? And any suggestions there?


Edited to add detail in case it helps...

Edited by havoc on Sunday 2nd January 23:32

[CRACKIE]

Very very unlikely for an amp designed for 4 ohm speakers to have any issues when driving 8 ohms loads instead. Generalising here but the 4 ohm Sony speakers will draw twice the current that 8 ohm speakers will so your amp will find it 'easier' and run cooler when driving 8 ohm speakers.

So no problem to go 6/8 ohms from an amp safety/reliability point but these higher impedance speakers are likely to need the volume on the amp turning up more than with the current 4 ohm speakers. If you don't listen very loud on your current setup this shouldn't be a problem but if you do listen loud now then try and find alternative 6/8 ohm speakers with a high sensitivity rating, ( 89db/W ) should be fine but higher than 90db/W would be better.

Edited by CRACKIE on Monday 3rd January 01:17

[havoc]

Great - thanks Crackie! Will hunt for a high sensitivity pair then...

Edited by havoc on Monday 3rd January 11:08

[R TOY]

Wharfedale 10.1 6 ohm £160 . ?

[havoc]

Good shout. Though they have sensitivity of 86dB, which may be a little low.

Current not-so-shortlist (courtesy of WhatHiFi) is as follows - all except the Wharfdale and Mission are 88-91dB sensitivity

Budget:-
Roth Audio OLi-1
Cambridge Audio S30
Wharfdale 10.0
I.Us I700
Q Acoustic 2020
Mordant-Short Avant 902i
Mission MX1


Pricier:-
Wharfdale 10.1
Monitor Bronze BR2
Monitor Bronze BX2