Bose Acoustimass 10 Sub connection question

obviouslytom

obviouslytom

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I was able to pick up a Bose Acoustimass 10 sub from my local Goodwill for $12. Unfortunately I haven't been able to get the speakers to connect to it. My question is this; do I need to have the Bose speakers in order to hook up the sub? I know that it works because a friend tested it for me.

I would love to have it working on the system I currently have if there is a way to do it. The back of it looks like this:

6815-3.jpg
 
Any speakers should work, you will likely just end up making your own cables as most speakers don't use RCA plugs (at least none that I've seen since the 70's).

Although it would be much easier/neater to have an actual self powered sub which uses a sub channel input as opposed to running 5 analog pairs to the sub, and then 5 analog pairs from the sub to all of the speakers. And as it doesn't appear to have it's own power, it's likely driven by the speaker power (ie: signal sent to the speakers). So you will need a 5 channel analog amp to drive it (and the speakers), not the standard line level output of the PC (or most other electronics).
 
If your receiver has A+B outputs you might be able to connect just the left and right "from receiver" connections.

The Acoustimass module is probably cross a little high, so it might be distracting if you place off to side or something.

You could also get a dedicated subwoofer amp for this from parts express to give better control of frequency cutoff and volume. Even a plate amp would work.

Oh btw, that connection is a cluster fuck.
 
Its ok from the side as long as you set the crossover in your amp to 60Hz or close. (around 60Hz is when the directional cues of the sub melt away. You might get away with higher, even up to 120Hz)
However its a crap sub, very boomy and doesnt go very low.
My Dad uses one with an Onkyo AV amp.
We have tried to convert him to a decent sub but this one has to die first. Plotting...
 
Nenu said:
Its ok from the side as long as you set the crossover in your amp to 60Hz or close. (around 60Hz is when the directional cues of the sub melt away. You might get away with higher, even up to 120Hz)
However its a crap sub, very boomy and doesnt go very low.
My Dad uses one with an Onkyo AV amp.
We have tried to convert him to a decent sub but this one has to die first. Plotting...
Click to expand...

It's not what it looks like. Those RCA's are high level speaker inputs, so the receiver's low pass crossover will have no effect (since that is for the pre-amp "subwoofer/LFE" RCA out only). Looks like this was a transition period for Bose. Previous versions of the Acoustimass had normal spring speaker connections, and versions after this had a built in amplifier to deal with this confusion.

Using RCA plugs for high level connections was just a bad decision.

6813.jpg
 
westrock2000 said:
It's not what it looks like. Those RCA's are high level speaker inputs, so the receiver's low pass crossover will have no effect (since that is for the pre-amp "subwoofer/LFE" RCA out only). Looks like this was a transition period for Bose. Previous versions of the Acoustimass had normal spring speaker connections, and versions after this had a built in amplifier to deal with this confusion.

Using RCA plugs for high level connections was just a bad decision.

6813.jpg
Click to expand...

They are powered connections.
The crossover is set in the amp.
Check page 11 of the manual.
http://worldwide.bose.com/productsu...imass/am10_series1/en/owg_en_am10_series1.pdf
 
Krispy Kritter said:
The only part of the set/kit that he has is the sub. He doesn't have the amp/controller, speakers, or cables, so the User Manual isn't much help.
Click to expand...

The manual states that you can use a different receiver/speakers with the sub.
It shows the settings you would use for the default amp/speakers, substitute values relevant to the what you use it with.
Its not difficult.

ie
For the mini cube speakers it recommends a high pass to the sub of 200Hz.
For larger speakers, set it lower to suit.
 
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