[Richard in Idaho]

I have one of these. Bought it because I got it cheep as an open box.

I find the following on the Specifications page:

Front Stereo            80 + 80 W

Guaranteed speaker impedance  6 ohm to 16 ohm.

I am not sure just what that means. What about speakers that are 6 ohm nominal but range from 4 to about 17 ohm.

Also do these Pioneer receivers tend to be over or under rated as to power output. That is would they be underpowered for speakers rated for 80 - 250 watts. Looking at one 6 ohm and another at 8 ohm.

Any info would be a great help.

[Phil A]

Is this the model you are talking about?  http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/ephox/StaticFiles/PUSA/Files/VSX-30.pdf

[Phil A]

The above model should be fine with 6 ohm nominal speakers

[srb]

I couldn't find a VSK-30, so I'll assume it is a VSX-30?  Normally budget to midline receivers don't have the most robust of power supplies, and this is in line with their "guaranteed" 6 Ohm minimum rating.
 
A lot depends on the speaker, not just that it dips down to 4 Ohms, but at what range of frequencies and what kind of phase shift the speaker crossover is going to present as a load.  Of course a more efficient speaker will take less power to drive, and that might be a consideration.
 
Another factor will be the size of room and how loud you like to listen.  Most modern receivers have thermal protection, and if you drive them too hard or with too low of an impedance they will heat up and shut down in protection mode.  So you could monitor it and see if it starts getting abnormally hot when playing at your maximum volume level.
 
Normally one chooses a speaker and then gets an amplifier to match, but I'm sure many of us have done it the other way around at one time or another.
 
Steve

[Richard in Idaho]

Yes, that is the one. Typo should read vsx.

[Phil A]

In the office system I am using a Pioneer VSX-1120 (I believe the same as the Elite VSX-32) and I have 6 ohm Mobile Fidelity OML-1s