BOSE Question (Not For Me, Thank God!!!) (1 Viewer)

[Raffi A]

My brother in law has had a BOSE Lifestyle system (Poor Soul) for about 2 years now. His biggest gripe with the system is the lack of Base. He has always wanted to add a separate sub to the system but has been hesitent to do so because of the lack of an LFE out on the Lifestyle receiver (or whatever they call it).

My question is what would be the best and easiest method to add a seperate sub? Should he discard the Lifestyle receiver and pick up another receiver, or is there a connection scenerio where he can add a sub to the current setup?

Your opinions would be much appreciated.

My System:

Receiver: B&K AVR 305

Fronts: Paradigm Ref Studio 60 v2

Center: Paradigm Ref Studio CC

Surrounds: Paradigm Ref Studio ADP

Sub: Paradigm PW2200

DVD: Sony 9000

Speaker Cable: Audioquest

 

[Pat K]

Use speaker level inputs with that POS. Probably wont let you, that POS probably runs at 16.86 ohms, reversed phased, no negatives, only positive speaker wires.. damn POS.. yeah, anyway, speaker level inputs will probably work with the bitch.

 

[Raffi A]

I heard the Bose Satelites need to be connected via the Base Module through Speaker Level input. If you do it through another sub you could fry the satelites. Is that true?

 

[Dustin B]

Why not try and talk him into selling the Bose and getting something better that includes a sub and proper receiver. Bose's resale value is as ridiculously high as their new value.

 

[Raffi A]

Unfortunatly, his wife will have his balls if he gets a whole new system.

 

[Dave Schofield]

bass

 

[Jeffrey Forner]

From what I know about Bose Lifestyle Systems, it would be very difficult if not impossible to add a sub without replacing everything else he has. Here's why:
A conventional home theater surround sound system, as we all know, consists of a receiver, speakers, and a subwoofer. For the speakers, the receiver decodes the signal and sends the information to its internal amps, which in turn send the power the speakers. For the subwoofer, the receiver merely sends the signal out to an external amp (usually built into the cabinet of the sub itself), which then powers the sub.
The Bose Lifestyle systems take a different approach. The silver command unit acts like the processor in a receiver. It decodes the signal and sends it out to the bass module, which also connects to each of the five satellite speakers. The crossover circuitry is all located inside of the bass module, and more importantly, so are the amps that power the speakers. The bass module then plugs into an outlet in the wall. Further complicating matters is, you have proprietary connections hooking it all together, from the command deck, to the bass module, to the speakers themselves. These connections do not jive at all with the typical receiver.
So here's what we're dealing with:

• Your friend cannot connect a subwoofer to the Lifestyle system since the command unit has no sub pre-out.
• If he bought a new receiver with a sub pre-out, he wouldn't be able to connect it the bass module or the speakers because the connections are incompatible.

(Also, you're right about blowing out the satellites if you hook them up the receiver without hooking them through the bass module first.)
The only way to get what he really wants is to ditch the Lifestyle system all together. If his wife will not tolerate anything other than Bose, he could still buy the speakers, but he could get them apart from the Lifestyle system. If he does, Bose will provide him with normal speaker connections that will allow him to hook them into a typical receiver. He'd still have to use a bass module, but he could add a separate sub to the mix and get better bass.

 

[FilipM]

Divorce?

 

[ken thompson]

All you...err...uhh...your brother needs to do is just incorporate the sub at the line level between the receiver and the base module. You'll get more bass.

 

[JoanPablo_T]

actually the system can incorporate a subb, the unit has a speakers 'a' output, which is sdjusted with the normal volume. (Using RCA jacks) or use the REC out jacks and set the sub at a flat volume via it's own volume control. that was painless, wasn't it?

JP

 

[Paul Seyfarth]

Sell the bose online, you will get alot of money, then with the money buy a reciever, and some small sat speakers( not bose ). that way it won't take up more room. Then buy something like SVS, or HSU for the sub.

 

[Philip Hamm]

Use speaker level inputs with that POS. Probably wont let you, that POS probably runs at 16.86 ohms, reversed phased, no negatives, only positive speaker wires.. damn POS.. yeah, anyway, speaker level inputs will probably work with the bitch.

You can't polish a turd. The good thing is that those pieces of total crap retain their value really well (there are a lot of uninformed consumers out there) so he should be able to get a lot for it on ePay.

 

[Jeffrey Forner]

actually the system can incorporate a subb, the unit has a speakers 'a' output, which is sdjusted with the normal volume. (Using RCA jacks) or use the REC out jacks and set the sub at a flat volume via it's own volume control. that was painless, wasn't it?

Joan, I'm not exactly clear on what you're suggesting. Are you saying that he should use the REC connections on the back of the Lifestyle unit to hook that up with a sub? If so, I doubt that will work, because those connections are hardly like a real sub pre-out on a receiver. After all, the Lifestyle unit will send a full-range signal to the sub, which is something you probably don't want to do.

Raffi, trust me on this. If you're buddy wants to add a sub to the system, he will have to ditch the Lifestyle system all together and buy the Bose speakers by themselves, and then get a real receiver. There is no other way to do it.

 

[Raffi A]

Thanks for the update Jeffrey. I'm going to break the bad news to my brother in law. Wish me luck.

 

[JoanPablo_T]

Jeff, yes, the unit will send a full frequency, but you can simply use the internal crossover of the unit.
as a follow up-I actually prefer 'JP'. The reason is-my name is spelled 'JOAN' but pronounced 'JOHN'. So must people think I'm a girl. The 'JOAN' is actually a form of spanish from Spain-which means 'JOHN'
But yes-the REC out will work just fine. And no-I do not own a BOSE system..
JP

 

[Dave Koch]

For what it is worth, I have the lifestyle speakers, but not the receiver from Bose. I WAS able to hook up a sub with that... my receiver has a sub out.

I tried that, and was not too happy. I also took the speaker mains out, through the sub (using the HIGHEST crossover I could, 150 Hz or so) and sent the remainder to the Bose "sub." (I know you can't do this with the Bose reciever.)

Neither method really improved the sound. So my point is that even if your brother (was it?) added a sub, the Bose speakers will NOT be able to keep up. He (and, hopefully, his wife!), will REALLY hear how bad they are... and they are! In addition to rolling off pretty high (which the sub can help), there is a BIG sound hole 280-150 Hz or so.... NO sub can fill that!

I was able to get almost what I paid for Bose on eBay. At least you would be able to keep the sub!

Good Luck!

Dave

 

[joe logston]

how do fryed bose taste,i bet they are good

 

[joe logston]

sell the bose and get energy take 5 or polk haves a small system look into it