Bose speakers with a separate different brand AMP?

[Qwalme]

Hi all,

Rather pecular problem which I need some advice on. My parents had a Bose lifestyle system installed years ago and the main unit (a cd player/amp/radio) has been damaged.

The speakers have all been fixed and wires hidden in walls so the question is - can a std AMP be used with the Bose sub and speakers?

It has been a while since I saw the connections but from my knowledge there is one cable form the main unit to the Sub and the speakers are fed from the sub.

I ask because if we replace with another Bose then its the Lifestyle V series which are expensive and a decent alt would likely be cheaper. Plus the speakers on a new bose system would be wasted. ( I mean stolen by me and intergrated into my home)

Any comments appreciated. First hand knowledge especially so.

Rick

 

[Anonymous]

Bose lifestyle can only be used with a lifestyle DVD player, I know because my friend had a similar thing happen to him, although his was stolen and he couldnt use a standard amplifier as a replacment

Unlucky!

 

[Qwalme]

She has a Panasonic Blu-ray player and I was thinking of one of these if we had to buy Bose:

http://www.bose.co.uk/GB/en/home-entertainment/home-cinema/premium-component-based-systems/ls-v20/index.jsp

They dont have a DVD player in them - so you're saying she would need a bose DVD player for it to be compatible? The broken unit worked fine with the blu-ray.

Like I said, idealy I'd buy a different brand amp but I need to be sure the speakers could be connected.

 

[ear]

you could use the speakers.if they are at least 4 ohms.for the sub im not so sure

 

[Anonymous]

It cant be done, the speakers you have are the same as my friend, and they use a weird connection between the main unit and the subwoofer, they just dont make it compatable

Mark

 

[Anonymous]

Qwalme:

They dont have a DVD player in them - so you're saying she would need a bose DVD player for it to be compatible? The broken unit worked fine with the blu-ray.

Like I said, idealy I'd buy a different brand amp but I need to be sure the speakers could be connected.

i don't think its the dvd player that would be the problem, but the cable running from the unit to the sub (which currently carries all the speaker signals. As Ear said the speakers should be fine, but you may have to chop off any bose connectors and use bare wire/bannana plugs to connect to a different brand amp.

As for the sub you could probably use it so long as it also has phono inputs on the back. if not then you may be able to replace the unit, and sub for less than the price of a bose one.

 

[Qwalme]

Hmm, that is what I feared.

I'm going to go down tomorrow to have a closer look at the connections.

Thanks for the replies guys.

Rick