Help w/ Bose Intensive System

[Alex2507]

Turns out my foreman, Gary, has a set up but his only non Bose speaker is a Sony SS-CN100 center. Mains are 20 year old Bose 201 Series III and surrounds are Bose Acoustimass 5 III.

His rec'r is a Yamaha RX-V459. The manual comes up upon clicking and entering their security code.

I started the thread to help him with the set up and to provide a place for him to be able to read various educational links regarding bass management, set up and the benefits of calibration. My initial thought was for him to reset the rec'r as per page 81 on the manual. Set the speakers to small with a crossover of 100Hz (I don't trust any of that to do well any lower) even though I have no idea what any of those speakers are rated at. I doubt that he has variable multiple crossover points.

Currently he doesn't have a sub (not in any hurry to get one either). I wonder how that Acoustimas thing works. Is there some sort of crossover in the bass module? Is there a place he could find a RS SPL Meter? Any info on sensitivity and FR would be much appreciated. I suppose buying a matching center would be a complete waste.

I'm trying to talk him into buying my subs and now that I think about it I have a pair of Infinity Primus P140's and a matching center but he'd rather spend the money on gas for his boat.

Anyway he's got some gear but hasn't got it all figured out yet.
I figure Seth could help me out here.
He's like our resident Bose expert, right?

 

[ParadigmDawg]

It is usually best that you play like you don't know anything about AV systems if you find out your boss has a Bose system.

 

[Alex2507]

It is usually best that you play like you don't know anything about AV systems if you find out your boss has a Bose system.

Agreed ... but people do come to our level by different paths and this guy has proven to be incredibly decent so I'm going to help. I understand if you don't want to talk about your level of expertise with Bose ...

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Agreed ... but people do come to our level by different paths and this guy has proven to be incredibly decent so I'm going to help. I understand if you don't want to talk about your level of expertise with Bose ...

I have owned 2 different Bose systems for home use and I have Bose in both cars. I think I am a pro!

 

[markw]

That acoustimass system has a crossover built into the bass box that limits the lows going to the satellites. Given the current limitations, I would use that for the front left/right pair, set the Yamaha to "large"* front speakers, and subwoofer to "no"*.

That way all the lows will be channelled to the front main and, ergo, to the Bose bass box. As it now stands, he is losing whatever bass the Acoustimass system can produce by limiting it to the only-occasionally used rear channels.

Move the 201's to surround duty.

Good luck here. Your skills as a politician will be put to the test, much like the assistant to the emperor who got new clothes.

* or whatever it takes

 

[Alex2507]

Your skills as a politician will be put to the test ...

I already failed that test.

On an unrelated note one of the other guys has a brother in law that has like 80 grand in his system. Next weekend I'm hoping to take another drive to NH to check this out. I'll take pic's if I'm permitted.

That's a good suggestion, Mark. I had not thought of that. What are the chances of the 201's needing to be re-foamed after 20 years? Gary has never had the grills off to look. The 201's were a gift from somebody who was upgrading. At some point I'll direct him to this thread ... probably Tuesday.

 

[Alex2507]

Could the Bose bass module have Primus 140's hooked up to it instead of the cubes and not blow up the rec'r?

 

[markw]

Could the Bose bass module have Primus 140's hooked up to it instead of the cubes and not blow up the rec'r?

Probably, but their bass response would be severely limited by going through the Bose woofer module. My spidey-sense tells me somewhere about 250 hz or so.

Methinks the sound would be better with the Infinity's alone.

If anything, run them in parallel, with the Infinity's on the "A" speaker position and with the Bose bass box on the "B" position, without the satellites.

This is just a guess, though.

 

[sawzalot]

I thought the title was- (Help w/ Bose Intervention System ) which I quickly clicked on to see for myself but lo and behold you are showing your good nature again, I should call my old foreman and see what he needs help with . Nah I'll hang tight

 

[sawzalot]

On a serious note how many of those bass module things are there in total , just wondering..

 

[Alex2507]

On a serious note how many of those bass module things are there in total , just wondering..

Just one. Click on 'Bose Acoustimass 5 III' in post #1 for a pic.
It's just a passive sub w/ a built in passive crossover (for Gary's benefit).

 

[Alex2507]

This link is also for Gary's benefit.

The whole 'Tips & Tricks' section is full of good info that is designed to help us actually understand how all this works. Reading the 459 manual and writing down questions is also a good idea but going through the 'Set Up' procedures after switching speakers around is a must.