Mystery AV Box in TV Compartment

[Dick Simonis]

I found this box in the TV compartment and wonder what it's for.

Dick

[Jerry Emert]

Transmitter for wireless speakers maybe?  I have one in mine that is for the wireless subwoofer.

[Steven Hoffman]

RF Modulator? 

Coax going to TV switch for channel 3 or 4  connects DVD to TV

[Edward Buker]

That is the Bose M1 interface box. It takes input from the CD/FM unit and outputs it to the amp module in the bass unit under the couch. It  is also an audio input box switcher, handles dolby digital processing in coax form, and will run an external powered speaker set which in my case is in the basement that you can open some doors and listen to. There are a set of extra inputs, like Aux inputs, that you can add a Bluetooth module to and stream music from your phone or Ipad for example. It also rf interfaces to your P1 remote to handle all this.

Later Ed

[Dick Simonis]

Thanks Ed, I figured it had something to do with the Bose interface and that explains it nicely.  I had wondered how the basement speaker got an input so now I know.

Kind of a sophisticated piece of equipment.

Speaking of basement speakers, have you given any thought to replacing them with some that are much smaller??  One would think that there should be a good selection of self-powered speakers that would work.  Or is there something unique about them to the Bose system?

[Edward Buker]

Nothing all that special, just that they are weather resistant and decent quality. They are not that big really.

A little more info on the Bose M1 interface and P1 remote....

There are some issues with this Bose system to be aware of. In time you may find that the remote may display "no response" which means that the remote is no longer communicating with this M1 unit. There is a pot (variable resistor) that must change value with time, and will need replacement, that is at the root of this problem. Bose does not support repair of these units any more but there is a guy on Ebay that does this repair in MA. The P1 remote also has a tendency to have the backlight fail. I will be sending my units in for these repairs this spring as I have both of these fails happening on my units. This Bose unit works well in our RV environment and keep it going as long as it can be serviced can makes the most sense to me given the cabling issue.

For my install I feed the swing down TV with an HDMI input from a Sat receiver in the rear closet. That provides Dolby Digital signals to the TV. The TV also has an IR Dolby Digital output (Toslink) and I was able to take a small inexpensive IR to Coax converter that I installed behind the TV and that provided the M1 Bose unit with a Dolby Digital input via one of the available shielded cables. This may not be of interest to you but with the Bose unit and the provided Dolby Digital signal this system is probably as good as it gets in an RV from an audio perspective.

Later Ed