Connecting Bose speakers to a receiver

[KenM10759]

FWIW, my son used to work for Bose and got a lot of their stuff as reward for "attaboys" at work. When he was first putting together a surround sound system, he had an Acoustimass 5 system he'd won at work and tried it. He had a Sony AV receiver and did get it connected somehow, but hell...that's the job he had at work.

Then he bought a pair of KEF Q300's. He couldn't get rid of the Bose system fast enough. Sale of it funded a Q200c center speaker. Weeks later, I showed up with a pair of Q500's, which replaced the Q300. He tried using the Q300's as surrounds, but ended up getting a pair of Q800ds dipole surrounds.

Months later he picked up a pair of Q100's cheap, and got a Rocketfish Wireless transmitter and receiver-amp setup at Best Buy to run them as rears. Too far to run wires to the back of his 25' long room, that Rocketfish setup is still working great, all dialed in with Audyssey.

My point is that even a gung-ho Bose employee was easily converted, and wireless surrounds are possible on the cheap.

 

[Eppie]

FWIW, my son used to work for Bose and got a lot of their stuff as reward for "attaboys" at work. When he was first putting together a surround sound system, he had an Acoustimass 5 system he'd won at work and tried it. He had a Sony AV receiver and did get it connected somehow, but hell...that's the job he had at work.

Then he bought a pair of KEF Q300's. He couldn't get rid of the Bose system fast enough. Sale of it funded a Q200c center speaker. Weeks later, I showed up with a pair of Q500's, which replaced the Q300. He tried using the Q300's as surrounds, but ended up getting a pair of Q800ds dipole surrounds.

Months later he picked up a pair of Q100's cheap, and got a Rocketfish Wireless transmitter and receiver-amp setup at Best Buy to run them as rears. Too far to run wires to the back of his 25' long room, that Rocketfish setup is still working great, all dialed in with Audyssey.

My point is that even a gung-ho Bose employee was easily converted, and wireless surrounds are possible on the cheap.

Can't find the Rocketfish gear on the Canadian BestBuy site, but a receiver-amp is a good alternative to powered speakers if on a budget. Didn't find anything on Parts-Express but probably some gear like that available on Alibaba.

 

[Serge2019]

Thanks to you all for all your information. I think I will go to Best Buy and other stores and try Bose speakers and other speakers and see the difference in sound quality and get a little bit more information.

 

[Follower]

What you need are amplified speakers and a wireless transmitter receiver (T/R). There are some inexpensive T/R on amazon but I can't vouch for their quality. For something known to work well, SVS carries a good T/R that works with both their subs and regular speakers. Full specs on that web site. You'll need one for each channel.

I can also recommend Outlaw Audio‘s OAW4 transmitter. It handles two channels and works well.

 

[afterlife2]

Go to a couple of Goodwills in your area in the morning. I have been lucky finding great Speakers/Subwoofers/Recievers, etc that way. You might not be lucky right away, but if you have patience you will find a goldmine. I found a pair of Bose that were not exactly my taste, but they had great Bass(8inch drivers each) I felt they were treble shy for my taste. Good luck.

 

[Pogre]

Bose are not held in high regard around here.

Around here? Is there anywhere reputable they are held in high regard?

OK, enough Bose bashing and time for some help.

Agreed. Let's skip right over Bose and find something worthwhile.

 

[Trebdp83]

Maybe not, but they seemed to like them in a house of ill repute I entered once. I thought it was a soup place but the E and L on the sign were burned out.

 

[Serge2019]

I can also recommend Outlaw Audio‘s OAW4 transmitter. It handles two channels and works well.

Thanks for your information. I just had a few questions. I have some Polk speakers (front right and left and center speakers, no other speakers for now). It seems a lot of people in this forum don't like Bose stuff but if I get the for example the Bose surround speakers and the Bose Soundtouch 300 along with some transmitters will I be able to make everything work together, the wireless and wired speakers? Will I have to attach one of the transmitter to the receiver or/and another one to the Bose Soundtouch 300? It's quite confusing and I'm not familiar at all with all that stuff.

 

[Pogre]

Thanks for your information. I just had a few questions. I have some Polk speakers (front right and left and center speakers, no other speakers for now). It seems a lot of people in this forum don't like Bose stuff but if I get the for example the Bose surround speakers and the Bose Soundtouch 300 along with some transmitters will I be able to make everything work together, the wireless and wired speakers? Will I have to attach one of the transmitter to the receiver or/and another one to the Bose Soundtouch 300? It's quite confusing and I'm not familiar at all with all that stuff.

Integrating Bose stuff with more typical gear is quite confusing for the experienced ht enthusiast let alone a newcomer. It's part of the reason we don't much care for it. The rest is because they use cheap materials, cheap drivers, cheap components, cheap cabinetry and charge far more for it than its worth. Be wary of store demos too. They can be very misleading. Unless perfectly positioned upon set up and sitting directly in the right spot (which some will do) they sound really bad.

I'm not picking on you. There are many reasons Bose gets a bad rap and they're legitimate reasons. If you like the form factor there are other options you can buy that will work with most typical gear, and you won't have to go through all of this trouble to make it work. All this effort really isn't worth it.

 

[Eppie]

Thanks for your information. I just had a few questions. I have some Polk speakers (front right and left and center speakers, no other speakers for now). It seems a lot of people in this forum don't like Bose stuff but if I get the for example the Bose surround speakers and the Bose Soundtouch 300 along with some transmitters will I be able to make everything work together, the wireless and wired speakers? Will I have to attach one of the transmitter to the receiver or/and another one to the Bose Soundtouch 300? It's quite confusing and I'm not familiar at all with all that stuff.

You are trying to use something in a way that is not intended. The Soundtouch 300 would be a replacement for your AVR and front 3 speakers, not an addition. It is designed to connect to your TV and supply the front 3 sound channels and has built in amplification. You can add a wireless subwoofer and 2 wireless surround speakers, but the subwoofer is much poorer quality than what you would get from a reputable company like SVS or REL. What you are paying for with Bose is styling, wireless options, compatibility with Apple Air-play and Alexa, and brand name recognition. If you want to get rid of your receiver and Polks and go with just a sound bar and rear speakers, go to a store and give it a listen. If you just want to add two surround speakers to your current setup, please avoid any soundbars out there and consider some of the wireless options mentioned above.

 

[Serge2019]

You are trying to use something in a way that is not intended. The Soundtouch 300 would be a replacement for your AVR and front 3 speakers, not an addition. It is designed to connect to your TV and supply the front 3 sound channels and has built in amplification. You can add a wireless subwoofer and 2 wireless surround speakers, but the subwoofer is much poorer quality than what you would get from a reputable company like SVS or REL. What you are paying for with Bose is styling, wireless options, compatibility with Apple Air-play and Alexa, and brand name recognition. If you want to get rid of your receiver and Polks and go with just a sound bar and rear speakers, go to a store and give it a listen. If you just want to add two surround speakers to your current setup, please avoid any soundbars out there and consider some of the wireless options mentioned above.

Ok! Thanks for the information

 

[Serge2019]

Integrating Bose stuff with more typical gear is quite confusing for the experienced ht enthusiast let alone a newcomer. It's part of the reason we don't much care for it. The rest is because they use cheap materials, cheap drivers, cheap components, cheap cabinetry and charge far more for it than its worth. Be wary of store demos too. They can be very misleading. Unless perfectly positioned upon set up and sitting directly in the right spot (which some will do) they sound really bad.

I'm not picking on you. There are many reasons Bose gets a bad rap and they're legitimate reasons. If you like the form factor there are other options you can buy that will work with most typical gear, and you won't have to go through all of this trouble to make it work. All this effort really isn't worth it.

Thanks for your information. I understand and it's quite confusing as wireless speakers are quite new to me. What I liked is the style, size and weight of the Bose surround speakers. I don't want to buy any speakers too heavy and big but speakers with a good sound quality and I'm not sure what to buy, I guess I will have to do more research. I won't buy anything before Black Friday so I have enough time to make a decision and try some of them in some stores

 

[Trebdp83]

You are trying to use something in a way that is not intended. The Soundtouch 300 would be a replacement for your AVR and front 3 speakers, not an addition. It is designed to connect to your TV and supply the front 3 sound channels and has built in amplification. You can add a wireless subwoofer and 2 wireless surround speakers, but the subwoofer is much poorer quality than what you would get from a reputable company like SVS or REL. What you are paying for with Bose is styling, wireless options, compatibility with Apple Air-play and Alexa, and brand name recognition. If you want to get rid of your receiver and Polks and go with just a sound bar and rear speakers, go to a store and give it a listen. If you just want to add two surround speakers to your current setup, please avoid any soundbars out there and consider some of the wireless options mentioned above.

I guess I didn't make that clear enough on page one.

 

[Serge2019]

I guess I didn't make that clear enough on page one.

Sorry I've been dealing with some serious family problems these last few days, not really fun and I have lost a little bit track with conversations/replies

 

[Trebdp83]

Sorry to hear about it. Best wishes to you and yours. When considering surround speakers, keep in mind any surround speakers you buy will require wires, be they power cords or speaker wires for passive speakers. The only wireless part of it will be the transmission of the signal from the wireless transmitter to the speakers. The speakers will need to be plugged into a power outlet and the wireless transmitter will need to be connected to the receiver with speaker wire and to a power outlet. Connecting surround speakers directly to the surround speaker terminals on the Pioneer will deliver the best and most reliable sound. You can deal with the speaker wires alone or add another device and several power cords to the mix. I know it can be difficult if running speaker wire across the room is off the table.

 

[Eppie]

I guess I didn't make that clear enough on page one.

You said it, not me. There's still a lot I have to learn in regards to wireless setups but the pickings do seem slim out there outside of soundbars.

Sorry I've been dealing with some serious family problems these last few days, not really fun and I have lost a little bit track with conversations/replies

Hey, family comes first. No one is going to criticize you for missing a post or taking a break from the thread for a few days or however long. There may be other options we can find in the mean time.

 

[Serge2019]

You said it, not me. There's still a lot I have to learn in regards to wireless setups but the pickings do seem slim out there outside of soundbars.


Hey, family comes first. No one is going to criticize you for missing a post or taking a break from the thread for a few days or however long. There may be other options we can find in the mean time.

Thanks

 

[Serge2019]

Sorry to hear about it. Best wishes to you and yours. When considering surround speakers, keep in mind any surround speakers you buy will require wires, be they power cords or speaker wires for passive speakers. The only wireless part of it will be the transmission of the signal from the wireless transmitter to the speakers. The speakers will need to be plugged into a power outlet and the wireless transmitter will need to be connected to the receiver with speaker wire and to a power outlet. Connecting surround speakers directly to the surround speaker terminals on the Pioneer will deliver the best and most reliable sound. You can deal with the speaker wires alone or add another device and several power cords to the mix. I know it can be difficult if running speaker wire across the room is off the table.

Thank you for all your information

 

[Pogre]

Thanks for your information. I understand and it's quite confusing as wireless speakers are quite new to me. What I liked is the style, size and weight of the Bose surround speakers. I don't want to buy any speakers too heavy and big but speakers with a good sound quality and I'm not sure what to buy, I guess I will have to do more research. I won't buy anything before Black Friday so I have enough time to make a decision and try some of them in some stores

Sure. That said I could work on my tact a little bit. Sometimes I come across as dismissive and I don't mean to be.

I'm getting from you that you would prefer some very small, light, yet reasonably capable wireless speakers? So form over function, but you still want decent quality? I think this is achievable without having to go to Bose, and it's nice that you're not in a hurry so there's time to shop around a bit. Could you link us to what you were looking at for reference and price point?

 

[lovinthehd]

While I hold Bose in generally low regard myself (and owned an early Acoustimass system I sold very quickly to a friend who still uses it, so different strokes for different folks). They generally are not used by most of us here in this forum, tho, there are simply better choices.

As to hooking up anything in the way of wireless surround speakers to your avr, you have a problem in that your avr does not have a set of pre-outs to use with such a system, you're somewhat stuck with wired surrounds....