Help with Bose speakers and denon receiver

[finnster68]

Hi all

I currently have a Bose Lifestyle 28.

Ive read all the negative stuff about Bose but my question is, ive just bought a new home and am setting up a Home theatre room.

I want to get myself the Denon AVR 3806 receiver.
I cant at the moment afford to go and get a whole new speaker system as well, so will i be able to plug the Bose speakers into the back of the Denon??

I was told it cant be done, the Bose speakers have to go through their own Sub?? or something like that

Is that right.

Once i get some more cash down the road ill get a new set of speakers, but for the moment id like to be able to use the Denon with the Bose speakers if its possible

Cheers

Tony

 

[markw]

I currently have a Bose Lifestyle 28.

I want to get myself the Denon AVR 3806 receiver.

...will i be able to plug the Bose speakers into the back of the Denon?? I was told it cant be done, the Bose speakers have to go through their own Sub??

Is that right.

Yes, it is correct. With Bose, there's no way around that. You MUST connect all those little satellites to the "subwoofer" in the Bose system.

On the Denon, set all your speakers to "large" and subwoofer to "no"

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

To confirm what Mark said, take a pair of your cubes to a local audio store, and ask the rep to hook them up to a receiver. Bring some speaker wire, in case these bozo's refuse to swap with their existing speakers. You'll see that the sound is horrific from an AVR. The Bose mini sub module has been heavily eq'd to correct for the satellites pitfalls.

Bose did this on purpose to make sure people weren't "mixing and matching" with other components. Quite a marketing technique, eh?

 

[mulester7]

To confirm what Mark said, take a pair of your cubes to a local audio store, and ask the rep to hook them up to a receiver. Bring some speaker wire, in case these bozo's refuse to swap with their existing speakers. You'll see that the sound is horrific from an AVR. The Bose mini sub module has been heavily eq'd to correct for the satellites pitfalls.

Bose did this on purpose to make sure people weren't "mixing and matching" with other components. Quite a marketing technique, eh?

.....Buck, I think Bose was just trying to make the cubes sound decent....with decent sound, they're "going" to sell because of their size....but, to think anything Bose comes out with, will be the best sound you can get, is thinking somewhere around stewpid....Finnster68, you'll like what gets suggested to you at this site for a good system, but you're probably going to need to do a whole systems swap, so save those boxtops.....

 

[Sheep]

Nope, it won't work. Not only will it sound bad, you'll blow the speakers, guaranteed.

SheepStar

 

[MDS]

It will work if he sets it up the way markw described. It won't be true 5.1 because the Bose 'bass module' will be splitting up the 2 channels into 5.1, but it will produce 5.1 channels of sound and will be ok until he can upgrade to better speakers.

 

[Sheep]

It will work if he sets it up the way markw described. It won't be true 5.1 because the Bose 'bass module' will be splitting up the 2 channels into 5.1, but it will produce 5.1 channels of sound and will be ok until he can upgrade to better speakers.

Um,

This is the system.

How will he be able to use a Denon 3806 receiver with it? It's not wise to mix and match(or buy...) with Bose.

SheepStar

 

[MDS]

What is the connection from the 'Lifestyle' receiver to the bass module? If it is a single proprietary cable, then it won't work with a normal receiver. If the 'bass module' takes 2 speaker wires, then you just connect it to the front speaker posts of the receiver, set the front channels to Large, all the other channels to Off, and subwoofer=No as markw said originally.

You'll get no argument from me that Bose speaker systems should be avoided, but if that Lifestyle system is similar to the stand-alone speakers systems like the Acoustimass, it can be made to work ('produce sound' ). Yes, it will suck compared to real speakers configured properly but what can you do if that is the only alternative you have at the moment?

 

[jfabes]

I used to have the lifestyle 12....several years ago. its really the same as the newer system, double cubes, bass module, cd player with am/fm radio, it was a 5.1 system. after about a year (keep in mind, this was around '97), i decided that i needed more sound, louder, better. so, i went to best buy and bought a receiver. when i realized that the main connection from the sub to the unit was a proprietary plug, no chance of hooking up the sub. so, i figured, i'll buy a sub and keep the satellites. nope. the cubes sounded terrible. it was all midrange and just simply didn't get loud - at all. it sounded like a 80's transistor radio on max volume.

after talking to a few bose reps and reading everything i could find, i learned that the lifestyle systems are developed around the sub and cube - they need each other to function. the sub has the amplifier and x-over built into it to drive the cubes. the system also has some funky impedences which is why the sound was so quiet.

if i may comment on one of the above posts? the acoustimass systems are different than the lifestyle in that they CAN be hooked up to any receiver. that speaker set-up is passive and therefor needs a 5.1 or greater channel receiver.

if you need to hear this for yourself, do what buckeyfan said....or go buy a receiver that you can tinker around with that you know you can take back a few days later.

fyi....their oem car systems are the same way.....either leave it alone or tear it all out. there's no "in between"

 

[mike c]

for the price of the 3806 ... a cheaper receiver and a better bookshelf system will trample the bose-denon combo - even when it is still in the box.

I say, don't buy the 3806 YET ... save some money up to a point you think you can afford your desired speakers, before getting the whole set at the same time. by then, the 3806 will have been replaced by a newer better model.

 

[finnster68]

Great thanks guys.

That was certainly the impression i had from what a few mates told me.

Time to try and sell the Bose and buy something better

 

[mike c]

ebay is your friend. it might sound evil but there are still a lot of people who like bose because they are just uninformed.

believe me, if I could afford bose just 1-2 years ago ... I would have bought a set already.

 

[markw]

Oops... I thought it was a "speaker" system.

Um,

This is the system.

How will he be able to use a Denon 3806 receiver with it? It's not wise to mix and match(or buy...) with Bose.

SheepStar

You know, a bass box and five satellites. That's the question I answered.

I guess this sentence threw me off "I was told it cant be done, the Bose speakers have to go through their own Sub?? or something like that"

If, in fact, it is an all-in-one system, The wooly one is right. You're screwed.

 

[mulester7]

You know, a bass box and five satellites. That's the question I answered.

I guess this sentence threw me off "I was told it cant be done, the Bose speakers have to go through their own Sub?? or something like that"

If, in fact, it is an all-in-one system, The wooly one is right. You're screwed.

.....where you would be screwed, even if you could hook the Bose sub and satellites to a receiver, would be the receiver doesn't have the special Bose eq built in....we just had a report that the satellites put out only mids with a receiver....

 

[markw]

Not quite as badly, though.

.....where you would be screwed even if you could hook the Bose sub and satellites to a receiver, would be the receiver doesn't have the special Bose eq built in....we just had a report that the satellites put out only mids with a receiver....

At least he could run a (non-powered) Bose "Speaker only" system with a non-Bose receiver.

The speakers in THIS system, however, come with a proprietary plug that will ONLY fit the matching Bose Receiver. I believe in an integrated system such as this, the bass box contains the power supply and amplifiers for all channels. The part that serves as the DVD player/tuner and control center is merely a head unit. Bose is not the only one who pulls this trick and, for most people who don't have higher aspirations for a sound system, it's perfectly workable, aesthetically pleasing and economically feasible.

IMNSHO, in a small environment such as inside a boat or a camper, this system might be just the trick, if one can justify the financial outlay. Bose does do a nifty human interface.

 

[Nick250]

Don't buy the receiver until you have saved up enough to get at least a good set of mains to go with a new receiver IMO. There is no advantage to getting a new receiver now. Just headaches.

Nick

 

[markw]

Excellent point. Just keep saving...

Don't buy the receiver until you have saved up enough to get at least a good set of mains to go with a new receiver IMO. There is no advantage to getting a new receiver now. Just headaches.

Nick

In this hobby, the longer you wait, the more features and performance trickled down into the lower priced models. Stuff that sells for $300 today has performance that cost twice that only a few years ago,

 

[Nick250]

Agreed. And the point of diminishing returns on DVD players and receivers is down there too. One could argue that diminishing returns kicks in as low as $600 to $700 on receivers at the moment.

Nick

 

[Bellydawg]

First thing, I am still learning and bring very little intelligence to this subject other than I have an older Acoustimass setup for which either the bass module or receiver quit working (again). I elected to begin my upgrade and use the Bose speakers if possible until they blew or had sufficient funds for the upgrade. I have connected the 5 speaker modules to a Denon 2105 with an SVS PB10-ISD subwoofer. I had a $1000 to work with and elected to get the receiver, sub and cables first. I look to upgrade the speakers in the near future. The system operates as expected and still allows for the enjoyment of a 5.1 system.

Good luck,

Jim

 

[koocuz]

AV38 Link B Cable to Receiver

Time to bring back an old thread!

I just know there has to be a way to do this and I cant believe I cannot find any info for this online.

I wish things were like the old days and the original acoustimass 5.1 system sub could plug right into the speaker outputs on any receiver you like and still rock.

I have an AV38 system and I would like to ditch the head unit and use my own receiver. Only problem is that is uses the Link B Bose cable (9pin din i believe)

Can anyone help me out in trying to figure out the pin-out and possibly modify the cable for receiver use?

I would imagine this unit has an on/off signal and likely are high level audio signals as well?

With all the failing Bose head units I cant believe someone has not figured this out. It would be a great way to revitalize a great speaker system (sub and cubes if a head unit dies)..

Any help is much appreciated.
Thanks