Advice needed on potential home theatre set up, thanks in advance (1 Viewer)

[RVS]

Hello!

Currently I have a LG TV from 2016, unsure what model, it was mid range at the time and still works well. 43" screen and is smart.

I've been gifted an old bose system - acoustimass 15 series 2 (which is obviously a massive upgrade on what I currently have - the plain TV speakers lol).

In order to get this system up and running I will need an AV receiver. My budget isn't great, can stretch to £400. I am hoping to pair this with a Onkyo TXNR 686.

My question is - is this a good choice of AV receiver and will it be functional with this bose system?

My plan is to keep the AV receiver for around 8-10 years (ideally longer depending on technology updates) and would like it to be able to connect with my PC and power speakers in other rooms (for music as well as the TV) through the home Wifi network. I hope to get 5 years out of the bose speakers as they are quite old now, not sure how well they will last before they need replacing. As it stands I don't have any speakers in other rooms, but will buy some as I can afford them over the coming years.

I am not keen on Alexa/Google home etc and would prefer to be able to set up and control the system through my phone/PC. The Onkyo seems to be the most flexible system in terms of compatibility with other companies products' through chromecast, DTS play-fi (don't know how good this is though) and sonos.

Does the product I am considering allow for what I want to do and is it currently the best for the money? It currently retails at £329 in the UK.

I'm completely new to this and am finding it quite challenging to find information on how these systems work. So please bear with me!

The alternatives I have looked into are:
Denon AVXR2600H - I dislike the Heos feature as it is not flexible with other speaker systems, is this enough of a reason to avoid it?
Marantz NR 1510 - main advantage is the smaller size but everything else seems like a compromise in the longer term
Sony STRDN1080 - this seems to be quite popular, but doesn't offer as much and so I'm not sure about it.

Are my thoughts reasonable, is there anything I haven't considered which I should?

Any advice is welcome! Hope you all had a good Xmas and happy new year!

Regards,
RVS

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

I’ll leave commenting on the receivers to others who are better qualified. I’ll just say that I hope the Bose gifting included the adapter cable shown on p. 11 of the manual. You won’t be able to use the speakers without it.

https://assets.bose.com/content/dam...ies2/pdf/owg_en_am15_series2_am16_series1.pdf

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[RVS]

I’ll leave commenting on the receivers to others who are better qualified. I’ll just say that I hope the Bose gifting included the adapter cable shown on p. 11 of the manual. You won’t be able to use the speakers without it.

https://assets.bose.com/content/dam...ies2/pdf/owg_en_am15_series2_am16_series1.pdf

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

Thanks for your response, luckily I have the cable!

 

[John Dirk]

Welcome!

I have to admit, I've never heard of this particular Bose system. It's overall design seems odd to me as it calls for speaker level inputs to be fed to the powered module, presumably for additional processing? In any case, since it was a gift, why not run with it. The few reviews I perused were generally positive as well.

My question is - is this a good choice of AV receiver and will it be functional with this bose system?

I owned an Onkyo TX-SR 805 years ago and it was rock solid. Onkyos do tend to run a little hot under load but your setup won't place much of a load on it so I think you'll be pleased. Personally, I might even opt for a cheaper unit such as this one if available in your area. The TX-NR 686 is a 7.2 capable receiver but, as far as I can tell, the Bose maxes out at 5.1.

https://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-TX-SR4...o&qid=1577651450&sprefix=Onkyo,aps,389&sr=8-6

would like it to be able to connect with my PC and power speakers in other rooms (for music as well as the TV) through the home Wifi network.

As alluded above, it doesn't look to me like the Acoustimass is designed for multi-zone use.

 

[RVS]

Welcome!

I have to admit, I've never heard of this particular Bose system. It's overall design seems odd to me as it calls for speaker level inputs to be fed to the powered module, presumably for additional processing? In any case, since it was a gift, why not run with it. The few reviews I perused were generally positive as well.



I owned an Onkyo TX-SR 805 years ago and it was rock solid. Onkyos do tend to run a little hot under load but your setup won't place much of a load on it so I think you'll be pleased. Personally, I might even opt for a cheaper unit such as this one if available in your area. The TX-NR 686 is a 7.2 capable receiver but, as far as I can tell, the Bose maxes out at 5.1.

https://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-TX-SR494-Receiver-Ultra-Dolby/dp/B07SX61VNT/ref=sr_1_6?crid=3B5K0H6COGW74&keywords=onkyo&qid=1577651450&sprefix=Onkyo,aps,389&sr=8-6




As alluded above, it doesn't look to me like the Acoustimass is designed for multi-zone use.

Hi John,

Thanks for your response!

Unfortunately I don't think that system is an option as it is not available here.

I don't think I understand the multi-zone use - I thought that the speakers in each zone were irrelevant and as long as the AV receiver was able to connect to the other speakers/zones. What I think you're saying is regardless of the AV receiver speakers in other rooms (eg kitchen/bedroom) won't work as the bose isn't multizoned?

Does this mean that I wouldn't be able to have the bose system play music from my PC which I will wirelessly connect to the AV receiver?

Please clarify this for me!

Thanks,
RVS

 

[JohnRice]

Hi John,

Thanks for your response!

Unfortunately I don't think that system is an option as it is not available here.

I don't think I understand the multi-zone use - I thought that the speakers in each zone were irrelevant and as long as the AV receiver was able to connect to the other speakers/zones. What I think you're saying is regardless of the AV receiver speakers in other rooms (eg kitchen/bedroom) won't work as the bose isn't multizoned?

Does this mean that I wouldn't be able to have the bose system play music from my PC which I will wirelessly connect to the AV receiver?

Please clarify this for me!

Thanks,
RVS

Multi-room is a lot more complicated than you think it is. First off, there is no way to power remote speakers through Wi-Fi. You can distribute it through Wi-Fi, but you'll need to power it in the remote rooms. Distributing audio from your TV to remote rooms will be complicated as well. You're asking for the system to do a lot.

I'd like to help more, but there's just too much to explain in that area.

 

[RVS]

Multi-room is a lot more complicated than you think it is. First off, there is no way to power remote speakers through Wi-Fi. You can distribute it through Wi-Fi, but you'll need to power it in the remote rooms. Distributing audio from your TV to remote rooms will be complicated as well. You're asking for the system to do a lot.

I'd like to help more, but there's just too much to explain in that area.

Thanks for your response, are there any sources you can recommend for me to try and understand how to set up a multiroom system.
I'd prefer to learn about what I'm trying to do and plan accordingly if possible!

I plan to have the speakers connected to various power sources as needed but want to distribute the sound through WiFi - I am planning to put in stereo speakers in the bedroom and kitchen over the next 18 months which should be compatible with the AV receiver. Sorry if I'm mixing up the terminology. However, if this is going to be very difficult to do then I will have to think of an alternate solution.

Thanks,
RVS

 

[John Dirk]

What I think you're saying is regardless of the AV receiver speakers in other rooms (eg kitchen/bedroom) won't work as the bose isn't multizoned?

Yes. From what I was able to discern, that is the case. Still, you've been given a pretty nice gift which you can do a lot with, just not everything.

 

[RVS]

Yes. From what I was able to discern, that is the case. Still, you've been given a pretty nice gift which you can do a lot with, just not everything.

Thanks for clarifying, I had no idea! I think it's going to be a lot of fun experimenting with the system and learning about what works well with it. Thanks!

 

[JohnRice]

Thanks for your response, are there any sources you can recommend for me to try and understand how to set up a multiroom system.
I'd prefer to learn about what I'm trying to do and plan accordingly if possible!

It's complicated, and it's constantly evolving. In general, the best way still seems to NOT have the receiver as the control center of the whole-house distribution, even though manufacturers try to make it sound like they have the perfect solution for doing that. The receiver is the control center for each system in each room, but not for distribution through the house. For that, there are systems like Apple AirPlay. Sure, the Onkyo (I think) is "compatible" with Sonos, which sounds like the complete solution in itself. Then you look into what it takes to implement that, and it's not so great. AirPlay has been developed over years, and works pretty well, and you can control it with a smart phone or tablet. It you already are Mac based, all the better. I have no idea how easy it is to work with if you aren't.

 

[RVS]

It's complicated, and it's constantly evolving. In general, the best way still seems to NOT have the receiver as the control center of the whole-house distribution, even though manufacturers try to make it sound like they have the perfect solution for doing that. The receiver is the control center for each system in each room, but not for distribution through the house. For that, there are systems like Apple AirPlay. Sure, the Onkyo (I think) is "compatible" with Sonos, which sounds like the complete solution in itself. Then you look into what it takes to implement that, and it's not so great. AirPlay has been developed over years, and works pretty well, and you can control it with a smart phone or tablet. It you already are Mac based, all the better. I have no idea how easy it is to work with if you aren't.

Thanks I've been reading about it since your last message and agree its better not to try and set it up with the receiver as the centre point of the system.

I've bought the Onkyo TXNR686 today and will begin the process of setting it up over the next couple of days! I will update this thread with how I get on! Thanks for all the feedback, it is much appreciated!

 

[RVS]

I have just started setting up the system and have encountered a small but annoying problem - I am using the original stands that came with the speakers, the UFS-20. On this stand most of the plastic washers needed to hold the speaker stand in the base have broken.

This means that they are unable to bear the load of the speakers.

For replacements there are extortionately priced replacements on ebay (north of £25 for two!!)

Has anyone come across this type of issue? If so, did you purchase replacements or is there a creative solution which can be used instead which does not cost as much?

Thanks,
RVS

 

[John Dirk]

I have just started setting up the system and have encountered a small but annoying problem - I am using the original stands that came with the speakers, the UFS-20. On this stand most of the plastic washers needed to hold the speaker stand in the base have broken.

This means that they are unable to bear the load of the speakers.

For replacements there are extortionately priced replacements on ebay (north of £25 for two!!)

Has anyone come across this type of issue? If so, did you purchase replacements or is there a creative solution which can be used instead which does not cost as much?

Thanks,
RVS

In this case a pic or two might be invaluable

 

[RVS]

Just managed to take some photos of the part that is broken.

The shaft of the speaker stand fits into one of these plastic shoes which then secures it into the base of the speaker stand.

It is a massive design flaw as it creates a massive weak point in the structure of the stand.

The images show two intact parts and two broken ones!

I've used the system a couple of times now and can't seem to get the bass module working. I suspect this is due to the settings rather than it breaking down as it is still able to power the other speakers. However one of the five speakers is not working - it was always going to be a risk with trying to get an old system like this up and running.

So far the sound it produces is better than the TV speakers, but I'm sure there is potential for improvement.

Thanks for all the feedback and advice so far!

RVS