Bose lifestyle question

[mikedelic]

Hello all, Don't flame me yet....hear me out!
Is this a crazy idea? Has anyone tried hooking different speakers to a bose lfestyle system? One of the big beefs I read is that the bose speakers with these systems are so poor. Why couldn't I pick up a lifestyle system cheap off Craigslist and use some other speakers? Bose said no when I called them about it. They don't give any info out on the amplifier output or any other details. The reason I am interested in this idea is beacause I like the small size of the control unit as space is tight. Any opinions would be appreciated.
Thanks.

[poppachubby]

Is this a crazy idea? .

Yes. It is.

[Mr Peabody]

Bose probably has built in crossovers an such to optimize their speakers. That or maybe some impedance thing is the reason Bose says no.

Have you looked at other All-in-one units or mini systems? I started a thread in General Audio called "Suggestions Needed" where there are links and discussions to quite a few choices. Like NAD L54 or C715 CD/receivers. Onkyo CX325 or Yamaha m-cr330. I really think your money would yield better performance in this direction.

[3LB]

Bose does not list specs on most of their products, and they get pissed at anyone else that does. When I did read where someone had cracked open one of those units, they found about a 200hz gap twix the rolloff of the bass module and the satellites...some say they hear this, some don't notice. I'm not one of those who say Bose is crap, but I am in the camp that says Bose is way over-priced.

[eisforelectronic]

The best I ever heard a Bose Lifestyle system sound was when we replaced all the speakers while fooling around one day at work. This was a while ago. I believe we used all Infinity Reference series. The biggest drawback is that everything gets routed through the crossover and amp in the bass module, so you can't run a real subwoofer. Also those speaker wires are tiny.

[bfalls]

I'm not sure about their home gear, but years ago I read their car speakers were proprietary and were a .5 ohm load. Pretty low for even the better car amps. The only freq. resp. specs I've seen for the home gear are given as +/- 10db, where most other speaker specs are +/- 3db.

I had a similar situation with a set of Klipsch GMX D5.1 multimedia speakers. You know the bullet-shaped satellites. The control module and amp were so noisy I could hear hiss noticeably from across the room. I dumped the control module and sub and connected the speakers in another system driven by a NAD 906 six channel (bridgeable stereo pairs) amp. It sounds much more dynamic and no hiss.

[Nasir]

Dear me, this is probably going to fuel some hot replies..... but I am a big boy now and can handle it, so here goes: There was a time when I was considering a small speaker system and did hear Bose ( OK, I used a 4 lettered word, sorry ) and Sony ( my, my ANOTHER 4 lettered word not to be used in the same breath ) and a lot of other HT and so called virtual surround systems and was amazed by what was being put out by these small boxes and I do have a Philips 5.1 small box setup in the room used as a last refuge when I the ocassion demands it. I have also tried connecting bookshelf sized speakers to this receiver and it does a fairly decent job as long as the volume is kept reasonably low, because after that special sound effects like clipping, compression and other unnatural sounds take over. The subwoofers that come with such a package can´t really be called that although they put out a lot of bass,as anybody who has an active subwoofer will testify how effortlessly , deep ( lower frequency content ) and room filling this beast can sound. Then, with little boxes there is no sound stage just loud music probably suitable for casual listening and good for movie effects. Lastly, don´t expect the woofer to blend in well with the minis. A decent setup will be satisfying but please do not expect too much from something that does not have a beefy amplifier ( ignore numbers with PMOP 100Watts and the like) as anything capable of 100 real Watts will weigh more than the whole system! For a small room and ocassional use such a package is advisable. otherwise bookshelf speakers in conjuction with a decent receiver and an active subwoofer is a minimum requirement unless you want ear fatigue or a bad bass headache.

[Mr Peabody]

A friend of mine had a Sony HTIB. The amps and crossovers were built into the receiver section so the sub module was passive. I gave him an older Infinity sub with the high level speaker inputs. When I connected it I turned the crossover all the way up to allow the receiver to function as designed. Once the sub and sats levels were balanced the system didn't sound too bad.

The bad thing about trying to build onto a Bose you don't know what they may have done to keep the system proprietary.