[melomaniac]

alright, don't shoot - I moved into a house this week that has an old bose acoustimass system in the living room. I cannot seem to get it to work. is it worth trying? cables distribute from the woofer through the walls to these little speakers mounted around the ceiling... I have no idea how that would sound when it works. anyone with experience or ideas, please let me know what your advice might be: use the cabling and replace all the speakers? fix the bose system? call bose and find someone who can get it to work? rip it all out?

 

[billybob_jcv]

If you haven't got the Bose acoustimass subwoofer/amp/control box, then you don't want the sats. Even if you do have it, you still probably don't want it - but at least it would work as designed (meaning a boomy mid-bass, a hole in the midrange and the sats giving a reasonable illusion of spaciousness). Bose wants you to believe they can create midrange from a 2" driver bouncing off the wall and a 6 inch driver behind the couch. My ears tell me they can't.

 

[450]

Okay, what kind of equipment are you using with it?
 
Can you take a few pictures of the sub? Specific model numbers would be great help!
 
Also, if all else fails - call Bose. Their customer service is incredible.

 

[melomaniac]

@450 - yeah, I was tempted to call their customer service, but I'd only do that if I am convinced to keep the stuff. right now I'm a skeptic. so I wanted to see if someone has pointers on getting the set-up going so I can test it with my own ears, and then decide… guess that's circular logic, sorry. the previous owners had their main TV set up for Bose surround.
 
@billybob_jcv, I do have the box, but when they moved out a lot of the cabling was bunched into a mess in the corner, and I'm not sure I have all the stuff that was originally there. I threw out their ancient VCR and DVD player, but I haven't decided yet what to do with the Bose gear...