Volume issue with Connect:Amp and Bose freespace 51 speakers

Hi there Guy,

Just to clarify, you're able to play music at max volume or what sounds like 60% of the volume, but then there is no audio below 60% (it goes straight to zero)?

I'd like to know if this occurs with only one pair of Bose speakers attached to the CONNECT:AMP rather than two. Test with one pair and let me know if the volume issue is still present.

Thanks.

I created a pdf to show you the layout but I just realized I cant attach it here. . I think from your resposne you think I am running 2 sets of speakers off of 1 Connect:Amp. If I am mistaken, please let me know. I actually have TWO Connect:Amps that each run a set of their own speakers In terms of the volume, no, it steadily decreases until the slidebar is at roughly 60%. Even at 60%, the volume is very low. After ROUGHLY the 60% mark, the volume pretty much is at mute. In summary, if you looked at the slide-bar as a guage that illustrates 1 - 10, as you slide it down, it would cut by 10% at each inerval. In this case, it is as if when you slide the slide bar down, it takes 20% off at each interval so that all 100% is exhausted at about the half way point

Thanks for the update, Guy. Would it be possible for you to send a diagnostic report from this system? I'd like to take a closer look at both of the units' logs after you experience this on both of them. Please follow the steps in this FAQ and let me know what your diagnostic confirmation number is and I'll have a look. Also, do you have any volume controls wired in between the CONNECT:AMPs and the speakers themselves? I'd just like to make sure that there isn't any other hardware affecting the volume. Thanks.

There are no volume controls wired in. These are two stand-alone Connect:Amps with the speakers attached directly to them. Also, to be clear, these speakers are the green ones that you see in every outdoor mall in america (if they have Bose). I know Bose has a few lines of the Freespace. If you copy the url below and paste it in, you can see the tech specs on them http://www.bose.com/controller?url=/shop_online/speakers/outdoor_marine_speakers/freespace_51/index.jsp&perfsourceid=K9789&src=K9789 Finally, when you say "experience this", what I would basically have to do is play music out to them and then adjust the volume. Once I do that, I would send you the diagnostic file. Is that correct?

ok. I just did a sample. The diagnostic file is 3211884. The area in question is called 'Front Porch'. I selected a station and then lowered the volume. One clarification on my previous post is that it doesnt fall off to zero at 60%; it is more like 40%. You can use the "diagram" below as a visual representation of the volume slidebar. It is broken up into 10 intervals each representing 10% of the total 100. The asterisk shows you where the sound is pretty much at 0db. As you can see it is about the 40% mark. Keep in mind, even though I didnt represent it below, that the volume is still pretty low even at 60% in the diagram. . . . * . . . . . .

I am having the exact same issue. Did you resolve it Guy? Would like to know to figure out what's wrong with my setup.

I currently have 2 Connect:Amp's both running two different sets of Bose Freespace 51 outdoor speakers. I have an "issue" with the volume.
For clarity, does your issue arise in exactly the same way with both Amp+Speaker combinations? If yes, it almost certainly is not a product defect - except if your speaker wires are with a core that is not thick enough for the length of the cable. In which case, the solution is to replace with an appropriate core thickness cable for the length, if what follows further down doesn't work.

Are you seeing the issue with a few albums or with all? If the former, then it is down to the way those albums are recorded, and there is no solution for this.

If none of the above is an answer, put it down to speaker performance in the places they have been installed, and get used to running the amp volume sliders in the 50%-100% range. If you are obtaining desired sound levels at up to 80%, there is nothing to worry. Even up to 100% isn't a problem, but it is good to have a 20% cushion. Just make sure that the amps have adequate free space above them for ventilation.

That part of the thread is three years old Kumar, not sure you're going to get an answer now.

I meant it for the chap that has posted today, though the quoted words are 3 years old - assuming that "exact same" means just that.

Great input Kumar. Thanks. It makes sense to me that the wire is subpar for the distance. Part of a home recently bought. All the wiring came with it

You may want to submit a diagnostic from settings advanced and post number given here as well to get a checkup on your system.

While this is also available on Google, the manual for my Bose 251 external speakers has a table that sets out the recommended core thickness of the speaker wire, for different speaker wire lengths.

Before making the wire change, a diagnostic is a good idea; I just think it is unlikely that two sets of amps+speakers with suffer the exact same problem because of a defect in both amps.

Hi

I have a pair of Bose 251 connected to My Connect:amp and no sound is coming from the speakers. I swopped with an other amp that is connected to a pair of bose 791 (which works perfect) and still no sound. I figure there is no problem with the connect:amp but is it compatible with the 251? Same cords (1.5mm) in both pairs and roughly the same distance.

@Erik - Apologies for the limited amount of help I can give as I did not install the setup but I can confirm that the connect amp is definitely compatible with a pair of Bose 251s if installed correctly and using the correct cabling per the Bose manual (am listening to it working right now). There doesn't seem to be any additional components involved and there is around 7 meters of cable to the furthest speaker - just the amp, cables and speakers and all working fine.
Re volume issues mentioned in the historic posts, with this connect amp/251 setup sound is fairly thin but perfectly audible up to around 45-50% on the sonos app volume control and from then on the base starts coming in and balances out the sound nicely. It is worth adjusting EQ to weight in favour of a base heavy sound (I guess not much of a surprise for wall mounted outdoor speakers). By 100% on the volume control, volume is definitely up at PA system/neighbourhood bothering levels with a significant wide and long range as promised by Bose. Hopefully others can give more technical help.

Compared to most other amps, 50% level on Connect Amp is the same as 25% on them. And when they will stop delivering clean power at about 60%, Connect Amp will keep doing so all the way to 100%.

It is just a different way of constructing the volume control. Many amps like to go loud early to give an impression of power. Connect Amp does not do that, but leaves all the range of slider useful.

The Connect Amp will work just fine with the 251 pair. Check all connections if there is no sound.

Many thanks for your replies. There is virtually no sound coming from the speakers and they are all connected with he exact same type of cable and similar distances. I just find it so unlikely that both the speakers are malfunctioning.

Are you seeing music playing by the time count in the Sonos controller for the Connect Amp? Have you turned up the volume slider to at least 30%?

If yes, because both cables and both speakers being faulty is unlikely, the first step would be to put another amp and see if sound comes from the 251 pair if that amp is fed by a source. If that makes the speakers sing, there is a fault in the Connect Amp.

I didn't see if anyone had addressed this as a possibility, but for the user with the pre-installed system (in the home that was purchased), there is a chance that the original install was for a 70V or 100V system, and thus had a transformer installed at each speaker (if they are consumer 4/8 ohm units). That might create the volume issues. Bose does have a commercial verison that is 70V (Freespace 360P) that looks almost exactly like the consumer version (Freespace 51).