Author Topic: Bose Upgrade Options for receiver  (Read 12558 times)

William Brosam

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Bose Upgrade Options for receiver
« on: June 15, 2013, 03:38:55 PM »
So im on the quest to make my stereo interact with my 40" LED smart tv.

problem enlies the audio out on TV is optical or SPDIF or other new forms.

audio input on bose is analog RCA, and also all speakers are RCA connections also,

New receivers that i can find all are quite tall and require speaker wire style connections.

has anyone tackled this with adaptors or anything lately?


i bought a digital to analog converter, which takes optical and makes it output to headset style 2.5mm jacks and then from there i covnerted to RCA to get sound to the bose but now i cant get any sound and has baseline noise in back ground before so i think the receiver or the amp is dead. (dvd part of BOSE doesn't work either its stuck in there.)


Dick Simonis

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Re: Bose Upgrade Options for receiver
« Reply #1 on: June 15, 2013, 04:09:38 PM »
When I put in the new 32" Scepter I simply plugged the Bose into the analog output and it works fine.  I would really like to know how you got a 40" TV in that cabinet!!!  I wasn't even sure the 32" would fit.

I also replaced the rear Sony with the 26" Visio that was originally in the front and can not figure out how to make the rear Bose work since it can watch different channels.  If you figure that one out, I'd love to hear how you do it.

FYI, Bose still supports these units as I found out when mine bit the bullet after a power surge.  Something like $300.00 to repair both the console and amp.  They may be able to help you with adapter recommendation also.  Following is a note from Bose:


"Per our conversation, we can repair your Bose Built-Invisible Home Theater amp for a flat rate of $250 plus tax. If you decide you want to send your LifeStyle music center in at the same time, the flat rate is $259 (for both units).

The best number for Bose Built-Invisible support is 877-633-4405. We hope to hear from you soon.

Take care,

Peter Behravesh

Bose Product And Technical Support Specialist III

Advanced Technical Group"


William Brosam

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Re: Bose Upgrade Options for receiver
« Reply #2 on: June 15, 2013, 04:17:11 PM »
At the moment, it is sitting on the drivers captins chair facing the kitchen.

but i plan to buy an arm to actually attach it in place of the small lCD thats up there now.


there is no analog output on the tv my choices are only digital

Dick Simonis

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Re: Bose Upgrade Options for receiver
« Reply #3 on: June 15, 2013, 04:22:46 PM »
Yep, that's what I did and it nestles up against the cabinet nicely than swing out, to the side, and forward.  Pat always had problems seeing the TV as the Bose speakers and wall sconce got in the way.  Now she is a happy wife (the best kind).

Joel Weiss

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Re: Bose Upgrade Options for receiver
« Reply #4 on: June 15, 2013, 05:29:19 PM »
You cannot assume that the optical output of a modern TV will necessarily pass audio under all viewing situations.  For example, our LG TV will pass audio through its optical output only when the TV is getting a signal via its antenna/cable jacks.  If, in comparison, a device is feeding a signal to the TV via the HDMI port the optical output is not active even if the HDMI signal contained audio.  I think the assumption is made that if you have components feeding signal to the TV via HMDI then one of those devices will have taken the audio signal and amplified it prior to it getting to the TV.  If, on the other hand, you are feeding in an antenna or cable signal to the TV the audio will need to be separated by the TV tuner and then fed back to the audio system.

This is yet another reason why I decided to ditch all the electronics in our coach when the Bose failed.  IMHO there was no point to paying to repair electronics that were more than a dozen years old.  No matter how much you paid you still, for example, wouldn't have a device that could handle the HDMI output of our Roku (it doesn't have any other output) nor would you have a dash radio that even has a jack for an iPod or similar device.  The Bose system is at least two generations behind current technology and even though it sounds great, it is functionally obsolete IMO.

William Brosam

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Re: Bose Upgrade Options for receiver
« Reply #5 on: June 15, 2013, 05:39:46 PM »
im fine with junking it(receiver) but i cant even find another receiver that can output to RCA, and im searching for speakers i can connect with an adaptor to RCA.

problem is the location of the receiver to begin with down on the bottom is a terrible location


i was trying not to junk all the speakers and rewire the coach, and i dont even know how to get to the wires to rerun them.

Dick Simonis

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Re: Bose Upgrade Options for receiver
« Reply #6 on: June 15, 2013, 07:37:15 PM »
While I tend to agree with Joel that the Bose is several generation old, it does sound awfully good when working which is why I kept it.  Before having my repaired the shop did speak with Bose about upgrading to a newer system and it would be complex and pricey.  While I didn't understand much of what was said there seemed to have been a issue with the speakers not be compatible with newer equipment, no idea why but the estimate was something like 5-7K to replace with much of the cost be labor to rewire.  Even though this was an insurance job, I couldn't justify that much work.

In my previous post there was the name and phone # of the Bose chap who I found very helpful plus they have the Beaver installation and wiring drawings.  Might be worth a call to clarify matters.  Seems they designed our system for Beaver.

William Brosam

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Re: Bose Upgrade Options for receiver
« Reply #7 on: June 15, 2013, 10:09:41 PM »
reading online tells me i can just cut off the rca connectors and use the bose with any receiver BUT, most of these are run through the sub, as its a processor.

didn't know i had a sub

Dick Simonis

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Re: Bose Upgrade Options for receiver
« Reply #8 on: June 15, 2013, 11:26:03 PM »
Yep, it's under/behind the sofa.  It may or may not be an acoustamass (sp) sub since it's used with the amplifier.  It will give you a butt massage with the right music/program.  I believe all the speaker leads terminate at the amp and they are kinda marked.

This was a really high end system in it's day.

Joel Weiss

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Re: Bose Upgrade Options for receiver
« Reply #9 on: June 16, 2013, 12:34:00 AM »
Quote from: Dick Simonis
While I tend to agree with Joel that the Bose is several generation old, it does sound awfully good when working which is why I kept it.  Before having my repaired the shop did speak with Bose about upgrading to a newer system and it would be complex and pricey.  While I didn't understand much of what was said there seemed to have been a issue with the speakers not be compatible with newer equipment, no idea why but the estimate was something like 5-7K to replace with much of the cost be labor to rewire.  Even though this was an insurance job, I couldn't justify that much work.

.

I didn't even consider replacing the Bose with another Bose.  IMHO Bose hardware is "snob appeal" audio that commands a very high price because of its reputation and "cachet".  Because the Bose receiver was mounted in such a horrible location we didn't even attempt to reuse the space.  That area now houses my WiFiRanger and Wilson amplifier with everything powered from the set of 12V outlets I installed on the side of the dash.

Our audio system is a Sony soundbar unit which consists of the bar itself mounted below the front overhead cabinets with its subwoofer/control console inside the old TV cabinet.  A Logitech Harmony 890 remote with RF extended runs everything including those components hidden in cabinets. We didn't bother with rear speakers and find that the simulated Dolby 5.1 sound is just fine.  Today there are soundbars available that can control wireless rear speakers so you don't have to worry about running wires if you insist on having actual rear speakers.

One of the secondary pluses of getting rid of the Bose is that the subwoofer under the sofa virtually precludes replacing the sofa by a standard unit since the sofa clearly was designed around the speaker.  By removing it we could install an Ekornes loveseat which is far more comfortable than the sofa ever was.

I'm not saying that what we did is for everyone, but from a cost perspective the Sony audio system was ~$400 which is not much more than the repair cost of the Bose.  We ended up with an audio system with HDMI compatibility which makes connecting other modern devices much easier.

As for the car radio, ours still had a cassette deck and we haven't owned a cassette tape in 10 years.  We spent <$200 to replace it with an inexpensive Alpine which has iPad controls and an auxiliary input jack.  We used to use the jack for XM radio, but now it is used mostly for the cell phone playing Pandora music while we drive.  A radio without an input jack these days is another dinosaur that we couldn't have lived with for long.

Edward Buker

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Re: Bose Upgrade Options for receiver
« Reply #10 on: June 16, 2013, 03:20:48 AM »
For what it is worth in our 2002 Marquis Beaver had installed a Bose system with a preamp interface box in a cabinet over the passenger side couch. It had a coaxial dolby digital input. Our TV had optical out but with an inexpensive adapter we did a conversion at the TV and used a spare RG59 cable already built in to feed the Bose. We have 5.1 surround sound now from our sat system and locals on the TV. Just one option that might work for others.

Later Ed
« Last Edit: June 16, 2013, 05:03:19 AM by 910 »

William Brosam

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Re: Bose Upgrade Options for receiver
« Reply #11 on: June 16, 2013, 12:02:19 PM »
thanks guys for the ideas im going to explore them all,

Greg Kamper

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Re: Bose Upgrade Options for receiver
« Reply #12 on: January 30, 2014, 10:45:26 PM »
I know this is an old post.. but my Bose unit quit working and a local electronics repairman fixed it for $60.00. I also added an aftermarket car amp and two speakers for the in dash unit so I don't have to use the 120v Bose amp to listen to the in-dash radio. When the Bose unit does go out I will just replace it with a mid line home theater receiver and just run new speaker wires from the cabinet where the amp is located over the pass seat to the cabinet where the tv was. I have a 32" on a swing mount instead on the old tube tv so that cabinet will be perfect when I change it out.