Bose Acoustimass

[biswapaka]

Hi,

I have a Bose Acoustimass 5 which I purchases several years ago and have hooked it with a Yamaha stereo receiver. I have some questions and any help is greatly appreciated -

1) The sub has stopped working. Is there a way to repair it myself?

2) I just bought a LED TV. If I purchase an AV receiver, can this unit be connected to the TV as the TV sound is really bad.

3) This is a 2 speaker set. Can I purchase 2 standalone speakers and connect it with the new receiver to get a total of 4 speakers?

I am a novice and would appreciate some help.

Thanks very much.

-Biswajit

 

[(*steve*)]

It's very hard to answer any of these questions. I assume the Bose Acoustimass 5 is the subwoofer?

1) We would need to know what the fault is exactly, it may be a simple fuse replacement, or it could require replacement of a whole host of components, or almost anything else.

2) Does the TV have audio outputs? Are they compatible with an AV receiver? Will the audio coming out be any better (i.e. is the poor quality a speaker/amplifier issue or is it (say) a very low bandwidh tuner)

3) Can you connect additional speakers (i.e. does it have connections to do so)? What impedance is required or allowed?

At the very least we would need model numbers for all the equipment, preferably links to manuals and/or specifications on the web.

For the subwoofer problem we need to know how it failed, preferably links to the service manual, and your willingness to delve inside and take measurements and photographs. If you are not happy about probing inside live equipment with a multimeter (or do not have the skills and/or equipment), and the possibility of having to source components and replace them yourself, we may not get too far.

 

[biswapaka]

Hi Steve,

Thanks for your answer. Yes the Bose Acoustimass 5 is the subwoofer

2) The specs of the tv are at: http://us.toshiba.com/tv/LED/55UX600U. It has 4 HDMI connections at the back.

3) I do not know this answer.

The Bose set up is that the speakers are conneted to the subwoofer which is connected to the receiver. 6 months back sound stopped coming from one sepaker. When I interchanged the wires, sound wasn't coming from the other speaker (so I assumed the speaker was fine). Couple of weeks back sound stopped coming from both the speakers. In the meantime, I also changed the receiver but still no sound. I connected the speakers directly to the receiver and then sound was coming. The manual for the system is:

http://www.bose.com/controller?url=/shop_online/speakers/stereo_speakers/acoustimass_5/index.jsp

Thank you very much.

- Biswajit

 

[(*steve*)]

2) OK, you really need to take those specs to whoever sells the receivers (if you don't understand how to read the specs of the receivers) and ask them. It has digital audio output, and I would presume it will be high quality -- but who can tell?

3) from the specs, the speakers are "hidden" which may mean that you can't directly disconnect them or add additional speakers. SInce the TV has an audio output, it must be possible to disable the speakers (perhaps there is a setting in the menus somewhere). External speakers would almost certainly have to be connected to (or via) the receiver.

1) it sounds like one channel failed, then the other. My guess (and it's only a guess) is that the output stages have failed. I know there have been instances of this happening where the manufacturer has failed to correctly heatsink components (often a simple lack of heatsink compound will do it). If you can open up the amplifier and see if there is a discrete output stage (or take pictures so we can tell that for you) it may be possible to repair.

Are the speakers the original equipment, and are you fond of having your sound loud?

It's unusual to have more than one speaker in a subwoofer. (aaah, I see. It's a regular amplifier with an inbuilt subwoofer). Does it still produce the very low frequency sounds through the subwoofer, or has that failed too?

I think this review of them might give you some hint as to how much effort the manufacturer put into quality:

Too many junky features to cover but the construction is cheap and lightweight. The driver is tiny. The design is flawed because you can't have one 2" speaker do the job of both a sub 1" tweeter and a 3"+ midrange. The subwoofer I review in detail has problems with the build, design also. I can hear the dialogue through the subwoofer, meaning it's playing way too high frequency sound. Don't buy it! I didn't and I'm passing these on to someone else.

OK, that review sounds like the Bose Acoustimass is really nothing more than a box with speakers attached. Can you confirm that there is no amplifier in it? Does it have a power connection? I am now wondering if the actual speakers have failed. (it depends on what you mean by swapping the speakers over).