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New member Username: WjpatterViera, Florida Post Number: 1 Registered: Nov-05 | At the risk of starting another Bose thread, but I've been through most of the threads and my only take-away is that I shouldn't have bought them. That said I'll take the abuse that must follow but please read the question and help me work the problem. I have a Lifestyle 28 system without the 5 cubes. That means I have the controller and sub-woofer/amplifier. The ceiling speakers I left at the house I moved from all had two-wire post connections. Does anyone know what the speaker electrical characteristics are? Can I connect other speakers to the Bose system? Thanks. Bill |
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Silver Member Username: GavincummPost Number: 313 Registered: Feb-05 | Give orb audio a call...they will be able to give you more advice than we can here. www.orbaudio.com One of the selling points of their speakers is the vastly improved sound that people get replacing their HTIB (bose lifestyle) speakers with these. |
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New member Username: WjpatterViera, Florida Post Number: 2 Registered: Nov-05 | I have had e-mai excahges with Orb but wanted to get smarter before following up. Their comment was "probably not" because of unique connector difference. My unit didn't have unque connectors, only the two wire posts. From previous postings on this site (03-04 time frame), it sounds like "no way". I just don't know whether Bose has changed their design approach. If I connect the Life Style 28 to some cheap speaker, will I smoke the "28" or the speakers? |
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Silver Member Username: GavincummPost Number: 315 Registered: Feb-05 | honestly, you would be better off buying a whole system from orb (speakers, sub, reciever) for the same price as replacement speakers from another company. I doubt you wouldn't be pleased with the sound |
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New member Username: WjpatterViera, Florida Post Number: 3 Registered: Nov-05 | I may ultimately have to do that. That is why I'm not worried about connecting things and letting smoke out of the box. I wasn't please with the Bose speakers and hesitate putting any more money into the system. The Bose control system has some features that are attractive, like the IQ-whatever for auto sensing sound and adjusting each channel. Moving a new system onto my universal remote will be work but not insurmountable. Where I have difficulty is when I look at the Bose Acoustimass 15 Series II 6.1 Upgrade Speaker Kit offered by Best Buy for $200 a pop, I think I'm looking at the speaker I left in my other house. The specifications read 4-8 ohms, good for 200 watts. Best Buy also shows something ling "Insignia 6.1-Channel Home Theater Flat-Panel" as somewhat comparable. The Insignia rates out at 8 ohms and at least has frequency performance ratings, which is more than Bose provides. I'm thinking impedance is impedance and power is power. I don't understand why I'm not able to connect some 4-8 ohm bookshelf speakers to each output and see what happens. This was why I was surprised when I contacted Orb for compatiblity and they didn't immediately tell me that it should be ok. I feel I have to get smarter about what I have and why things won't work. |
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Silver Member Username: GavincummPost Number: 318 Registered: Feb-05 | Orb speakers sound great, and you would be much better off replacing the whole system. |
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New member Username: WjpatterViera, Florida Post Number: 5 Registered: Nov-05 | I hate to give up on the control unit, which is receiver, DVD player and input control for a number of components. I did find an excellent review at www.intellexual.net, which gives me much more about the cubes than I've known in the past. Unlike any other speaker or amplifier manufacturer, Bose refuses to publish any frequency response charts or distortion data on their products (and with good reason). And thus a few independent audiophiles, industry professionals, and newsgroups have taken it upon themselves to benchmark test the much debated Acoustimass system. The resulting numbers are always consistent. Here is a pretty credible one sourced from the August 1999 issue of Sound and Vision magazine... SATELLITES BASS MODULE Frequency Response 280 Hz to 13.3k Hz at ±10.5 dB 46Hz to 202Hz at ±2.3 dB Sensitivity (SPL at 1 meter)* 85.1 dB N/A Impedance (minimum/nominal) 5.3/8 ohms N/A Bass Limits (-3/-6 dB) 280/220 Hz 46/40 Hz * measured with 2.8 volts of pink-noise input I think this is telling me 6 ohms impendence without crossover. I should be able to connect relative good speakers and drive them. I'm making a leap of faith that the electronics has much better performance than what Bose connected to. I may by some cheap Sony speaker ($50 - $75), connect them and see what smokes. I would expect if I keep the power less than 1/3, things should be well behaved. The review gave me number on the subwoofer which maybe next. Right now, I don't have much to lose. |