Uprgade A Bose Acoustimass 6.1???

[apolodor2008]

Hi everybody ,

First , we know that Bose sucks, but when you receive a present you don't contest it.
I have this Bose Acoustimass 6.1,for 5 mo and i paired with a Denon AVR 3808CI. Sound is not bad , but not very good.I'm trying to build a 7.1 from this system .
I was wonder what pair of speakers should i add for the surround back to compensate the "lack of sound " of Bose and to get a nice sound.
Any ideas , advices are welcome
Budget :500$ or a little more


My configuration is :
Bose Acoustimass 6.1 (sound)
Denon AVR 3808 CI (amp)
PS3
Panasonic PT AE 2000U(video projector)
Screen Elite in wall 92 inch (screen)
Room 20FT(D)x13 FT(W) x 8.5FT(H) with hardwood floor

I'm living in a rental apartment last floor

THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME

 

[Seth=L]

To be honest, you should take the Denon back and dedicate 2/3rds of your budget to speakers. Having that Denon powering Bose or a $500 speaker system is way overkill. If you can't return the Denon, or simply refuse to do so, I recommend changing out your front left and right first. You can use your $500 budget for that entirely. Then, when budget allows, replace the center channel, subwoofer, and finally surrounds. The surrounds are going to least affect your for home theater for the time being. When you replace the fronts you should discontinue use of the Bose Acoustimass module and run the front speakers as large with the LFE mixed into them.

If you take back the Denon you could possibly dedicate as much as $1,500 to speakers and the remainder $400-500 on a receiver such as the Yamaha RX-V663 or Marantz SR-4002. At that price point you could get a pretty good 5.1 system and you could add rear surrounds at a later date if you feel it's necessary. A 5.1 system from a reputable manufacturer is going to sound better in every way over the 6.1 Bose, so don't view 5.1 as a backwards or lateral step, it's an improvement.

 

[Exit]

This is a bit of a puzzle. As I understand it the power from the amplifier goes to the Acoustimass bass module and then passes through an internal crossover to feed the speakers. It has also been said that Bose uses some non-standard proprietary connectors for the speaker connections. If you were to use a non-Bose speaker, you may have to order the connectors from Bose. The speaker frequency response would be limited to whatever the bass module passes through. Also you may need to determine and match the Bose speaker impedance (they may not be 8 ohms). There may also be issues with different speaker efficiencies and sound output. If all these issues were dismissed, I would use the new full range speakers on the fronts and put the Bose speakers in the back because the surrounds are not as demanding. I think Bose has designed the system so that as a practical matter, you have to go back to them and pretty much buy the speakers that were made for your system. That’s one of the factors that make audioholics not like Bose in addition to their performance and marketing. If anyone has a clearer take on this feel free to chime in. In the long run, it may be cheaper to sell the Bose system now and get what you can for it and buy a set of conventional speakers.

 

[dobyblue]

In the long run, it may be cheaper to sell the Bose system now and get what you can for it and buy a set of conventional speakers.

Agreed - you can probably get $500 for it on eBay.
If that gives you a $1,000 budget, I'm sure you can pick up a 5.1 system with a combination of Axiom speakers and the @ $400 sub from SVS.

It would knock the pants completely off what you're currently experiencing.

 

[Jack Hammer]

I'd agree with what Seth=L said about getting the fronts first. However, I would keep the Denon 3808ci. That Denon model is much nicer and more robust than the Yamaha 663. Since you already have the Bose system, I would start building a main HT utilizing it for now with the goal of it (Acustimass) eventually becoming a bedroom or second room system. That way you have something to use for now and end up with a nice HT at some point and a system for another room.

Jack

 

[MDS]

I'd keep the Denon too but agree that you should spend the money on good front speakers and center if possible.

I believe that is one of the Bose models where all the speakers connect to the 'subwoofer' and you typically connect the front speaker outputs of the receiver to that bass module. If that is the case you could get new front speakers and connect them in the normal way to the front speaker terminals of the Denon and use the Bose (for now) as the surround speakers by connecting the bass module to the receiver's surround speaker terminals and setting the surrounds to Large (so the bass module gets a full range signal and can split it for the little cube speakers).

 

[apolodor2008]

Any Brands input power, please? I was thinking of B&W 685 ( a little expensive ) or a pair of towers from Klipsch
THANKS

 

[Jack Hammer]

Any Brands input power, please? I was thinking of B&W 685 ( a little expensive ) or a pair of towers from Klipsch
THANKS

This is where it gets more involved on your part. Speakers are a personal choice. Only you can decide what you like the sound of. That means you need to start auditioning different speakers before you buy. One of my best friends thinks my speakers "sound like crap" and the ones he has that came out of a van somewhere sound "the way speakers should." Hey, to each their own...

Jack

 

[dobyblue]

Any Brands input power, please? I was thinking of B&W 685 ( a little expensive ) or a pair of towers from Klipsch
THANKS

I would definitely recommend starting with some Axiom, AV123 or Aperion speakers.
You get to listen to them where they're going to be used and have 30 days to return them if you don't like them. That way you don't need to feel like you missed a disc you might want to check out during an audition.
Although, a good AV store will let you come back and audition numerous times, but there's definitely something to be said for having that long to audition speakers.
I have Paradigm speakers all round and I do enjoy them immensely, but I have to say my friend's M3v2 Axiom bookshelf speakers for US$330/pair really impressed me for the sound I was listening to at that price.
http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/axiom_millennia3ti.htm

http://www.axiomaudio.com/
http://www.aperionaudio.com/home.aspx
http://www.av123.com/