Can I use speakers from a bose system with a new reciever

[alanwest09872]

Ok I had the bose lifestyle 2800 system. It was a good system for its time. I liked the sound quality on it. Now I switched to the onkyo 616 system and have been enjoying that for a while. My problem is I am watching movies that are 7.1 or more but I only have speakers for a 5.1 system. Now can I take some of my old speakers and use them on the new reciever.

I thought I read somewhere a long time ago that I couldnt because of the ohm that the speakers are designed for. If I broke the speakers that wouldnt be a huge deal for me but if it damaged the reciever I would be so mad.

So I figured I would ask here first. If anyone knows forsure that this will work please let me know I would really appreciate it.

http://worldwide.bose.com/productsupport/en_us/web/ls28_series2/page.html
for bose speaker system

 

[alanwest09872]

the reason I am asking is because the speakers get hooked up through the subwoofer


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[JimKiler]

the reason I am asking is because the speakers get hooked up through the subwoofer


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If I read that manual correctly you have to have RCA outs on your receiver that go to the bose head unit and then the head unit sends the signal to the speakers. Sounds like a no. The speakers do not have a speaker wire input?

 

[alanwest09872]

the speakers do have a wire input. I just am afraid its going to break the speakers or even worse the receiver


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[JimKiler]

the speakers do have a wire input. I just am afraid its going to break the speakers or even worse the receiver


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I doubt it would hurt your receiver. Your receiver should have circuit protection which would help. I would think you have to turn of the volume to strain your receiver enough to cause issues so try it at a normal volume and see what happens.

Of course Bose would not put the impendence in their manual, that would benefit the customer.

 

[alanwest09872]

See I am afraid to do that. I would love to hear from someone who has actually accomplished this so I know for sure nothing bad will happen. I really dont want to spend 500 bucks on a new reciever or wait for this one to get repaired

 

[SithSolo1]

You could just buy a budget (under $100) pair of speakers you know will work and use them. Do you have a strict size requirement?

 

[alanwest09872]

not at all. I am trying to save the cash and I figured the sound needs to b decent it was an expensive set


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[vshah]

get a pair of dayton bookshelves from partsexpress. they'll be way better than the bose cubes.

 

[SithSolo1]

get a pair of dayton bookshelves from partsexpress. they'll be way better than the bose cubes.

Like vshah said, these will work fine on a budget and sound better than the bose: http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=300-652

 

[purbeast0]

i thought the problem with ohm's in speakers in general is if you run the receiver at a lower level than the speakers can handle.

so if you have 8ohm speakers but run them at 4ohm, then i thought you could damage them.

but if you have 4ohm speakers and run them at 8ohm, then you won't damage.

i could be 100% wrong on this assessment so don't quote me on it, but that was my understanding.

so as long as you set your receiver to 8ohm you would be fine.

 

[alanwest09872]

See if I am going to spend any money on speakers I am going to get some really good ones. 150-200 a speaker type. I hate the thought of spending 70 bucks for a pair of speakers for the interm. Thats why I was hoping to use the bose for a bit longer till I get the newegg card paid down a bit then buy some really nice ones. I dont see the sense in spending 70 bucks for speakers I will only use for 3-6 months. I would much rather wait and then in 3-6 months get the really good ones.

 

[purbeast0]

in the price range you are looking to spend, if it were me, i would get a 5.1 setup over a 7.1 setup if i could only spend $X amount total for either system. that way you could spend more on your main stage LCR speakers and only worry about buying 2 surrounds, instead of buying 4 surrounds, especially considering how few true 7.1 movies there are.

 

[vshah]

honestly i'd just wait then. 7.1 isn't really that much better than 5.1 imo. there aren't even that many proper 7.1 sources out there yet.

 

[s44]

Sell the Bose.

 

[JimKiler]

i thought the problem with ohm's in speakers in general is if you run the receiver at a lower level than the speakers can handle.

so if you have 8 ohm speakers but run them at 4 ohm, then i thought you could damage them.

but if you have 4 ohm speakers and run them at 8 ohm, then you won't damage.

i could be 100% wrong on this assessment so don't quote me on it, but that was my understanding.

so as long as you set your receiver to 8 ohm you would be fine.

Unless you run them in serial or parallel you cannot change the impedance of the speaker so if will tax the receiver to run at a lower ohm. 8 ohm is standard so if Bose is at 6 or 4 ohm it could cause issues specially when the other speakers are still at 8 ohms.

 

[sdifox]

the reason I am asking is because the speakers get hooked up through the subwoofer


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you could, but why would you? Get real speakers.

 

[alanwest09872]

OK let me explain in detail. I am going to slowly be upgrading my speakers. Starting in 3 months. I have 5.1 now. I am going to buy 2 floor standing speakers next and move my ones that r up front to the sides. Then 2 months later I will be buying a center. This will go on till I have spent around 1800 bucks for speakers and my set will b complete.

I want the 7.1 now so I was hoping to use my older Bose speakers. I can't sell them because the receiver is broken it will not turn on. These older Bose speakers hooked up to the subwoofer (Rca on one side 2 wires on the other. the 2 wires plugged into the speaker)

See I don't know if I can use the Bose because originally they hooked up to the subwoofer. I know Bose likes to do things there way.

So that is why for the next 2-3 months I want to use these speakers. so is that possible without hurting the receiver or the sound quality of the movies I'm watching.

I know someone was talking ohms earlier. I can tell you right now I don't understand that very well. if someone could go into further detail I would appreciate it.

Forgive my typing I am using a tablet in bed


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