Question

Bose Acosutimass speakers with Sonos?.

  • 29 August 2017
  • 8 replies
  • 2887 views

Badge
Hi there,

This is the situation. I have a old Bose Lyfestyle 38 home theater which in my opinion sounds very well so I decided to recycle it with a sonos connect in my studio. The thing Is that I'm just using 2 of the 5 "pairs" of acoustimass speakers on that setup son I basically have 3 pairs of acoustimass speakers unused. Do you guys think Is worth getting a sonos connect amp to take advantage of those speakers?...I will need something else like a subwoofer or maybe any other configuration that you think might work?.

Thanks in advance for your help.

This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

8 replies

I am guessing that you are referring to the dual-cube speakers as a "pair". The acoustimas module (the sub woofer) is required to fill in the mid and low frequencies so if you tried to use the cubes alone they will not sound very good. So unless you have another acoustimas module to connect the speakers to you will probably be better off getting another pair of speakers to use.
Userlevel 4
Badge +2
I have an old Lifestyle too, so I understand your situation. Why do you no longer use it as a home theatre?

As jgarner said, without the accoustimass module, the unused speakers aren't going to be of much value. You should be able to upmix the audio into 5 speakers if you desire though - I think you hold down the 5 speaker button for a few seconds? The results are subjective.
Badge
Thanks @jgarner and RO53BEN. Yes I'm referring to the dual cube speakers. And yes I'm using it as a "home theater" but with just two dual cubes speaker since it is totally enough for my bedroom. My question now is if there is another way to connect the cubes with another subwoofer or any other way, less expensive than getting a new accoustimass subwoofer?. At the end of the sat I'm trying to recycle those unused speakers. Thanks.
I have been installing and working on Bose systems for a number of years and as far as I know you are SOL regarding using those speakers without a Acoustimass unit.
Userlevel 4
Badge +2
They have very limited use without the Bose base module, the sound range from the cube alone is very limited and most commercial subs don't have the range required.

I have a new Denon home cinema system now, which replaced a PLAYBAR set-up and I'm using a couple of old Bose cubes as Dolby Atmos height speakers. They work OK for that purpose, although the automatic tuning on the Denon showed up their limitations quite easily.
Badge
I see. And taliking about an acoustimas subwoofer, which one would be a price performance recommendation?.
Badge
Ok I think I get it. Is there any less expensive Bose subwoofer that allows me to handle those speaker or should I go for another one the same I have in my bedroom?....actually I don't know if Bose sell those subwoofer anymore. Thanks again for all your help.
Userlevel 4
Badge +2
You don't need a subwoofer, you need a bass module. Bose uses different terms as they aren't exactly the same.

Normally your speakers output treble and mid-range, the sub handles bass. In Bose world they handle treble and the bass module handles mid-range and bass.

If you use a normal sub you'll get bass through sub and treble through cubes but nothing with mid-range. A standard amp may try and send the mid-range to the cubes with undesirable effects.

In the case of the Lifestyle systems, the bass module also contains the amplifier, so they can't be used separately.

To use a pair of cubes in a separate set-up, you'd need the bass module from an AM-3 set-up.