Speaker/Receiver Help

**pacman10** · **11-16-08, 02:42 PM**

I have a Denon AVR-1908 Receiver and a Bose Acoustimass 10 speaker system. I was told that these would work fine together and the place I bought them, ABT Electronics, which is a very reputable store. After about 3 months I started to have problems. It seems that after about an hour of use at high volume level(0.0) the front left speaker begins to crackle, and then the sound completely shuts off. Do you think that this is an issue with receiver and that it needs to be serviced, or is this a problem with compatablitiy at high volume levels. I browsed some other threads in this forum and saw that some receivers have trouble with handeling high end speakers, however I was under the impression that Denon was one of the best receivers. Thanks in advance for any feedback. Also, I did an auto speaker setup and it adjusted the channels automatically(using a microphone test). The front left channel is set higher than the rest at +4.0. The rest are either set at 0.0 or +2.0. Still, shouldn't this receiver be able to handle that? Is it possible for this to happen because the speakers cannot handle the volume level?

**nova** · **11-16-08, 06:45 PM**

First off, Welcome to the Shack.

Second,.... I'd bet the Denon is fine. Bose are not a high end speaker, more like an entry level speaker with a mid level price. My guess is that you blew that poor little Bose speaker when trying to get a descent volume level out of it. You really can't expect a couple 2 1/2" speakers to get very loud and sound good.

Ummm, did you have the speakers hooked up to the Denon or the Bose bass module? I don't think you are supposed to hook up those Acoustimass speakers to a receiver, only to the bass module.

**Nuance** · **11-17-08, 04:34 PM**

Quote:

nova wrote:

First off, Welcome to the Shack.

Second,.... I'd bet the Denon is fine. Bose are not a high end speaker, more like an entry level speaker with a mid level price. My guess is that you blew that poor little Bose speaker when trying to get a descent volume level out of it. You really can't expect a couple 2 1/2" speakers to get very loud and sound good.

Ummm, did you have the speakers hooked up to the Denon or the Bose bass module? I don't think you are supposed to hook up those Acoustimass speakers to a receiver, only to the bass module.

+1, on both accounts.

Can you try swapping the L & R speakers and see if it follows? If so, you know it's the speaker. If it is, then maybe this is God's way of telling you to get something better.

**ISLAND1000** · **11-17-08, 06:11 PM**

Welcome to HTS Joel,
There is a warning in the Bose manual that states the speaker modules are ONLY to be connected to the Bose control module. It warns that electrical shock may occur if connected directly to the receiver.
The Denon "auto speaker" setup probably won't adjust the individual speakers if they're properly hooked up to the Bose control module. "Auto speaker" works only for it's own speaker connections ie: right front, center, left front etc.
In either case, from your description of the "speaker noise" it sounds like that one speaker module has been partially fried.

**thxgoon** · **11-17-08, 07:15 PM**

If the Denon were being overdiven it should go into protection mode and flash the red power led. My money is on the speaker as well.

If it is passing through the subwoofer first you could be heating up the crossover components beyond what they are designed for and creating the problem. '0'db is loud on a good system and really loud for small satelite speakers.

**pacman10** · **11-20-08, 10:35 AM**

Thanks for all the feedback guys. If I remember correctly, I have the speakers connected to the base module, and then to the denon receiver. I brought the Denon to get serviced before I read these replies. Anyway, it seems from your responses that the problem are the Bose speakers. Are they really not strong enough to handle Denon's output? If this is the case I am going back to the store and demanding a different set of speakers since they told me they would work fine together. What are good speakers to get?

Also, say they found something wrong with the receiver, and it wasn't the speakers. Do you guys think it is inevitable that the Bose Speakers will break?

Thanks again for the feedback, mush appreciated.

**ISLAND1000** · **11-20-08, 03:29 PM**

Take the speakers back first, leave the receiver at home. Have them replace the speaker module and try playing the system again but at lower volume.
The Bose speaker system, control module included, may not be powerful enough to supply the audio volume you're looking for. You might be better off with another system that plays louder.

**nova** · **11-20-08, 04:19 PM**

Joel,
I do not think the salesperson misled you in any way. The Denon and Bose will work fine together. I believe the issue boils down to the space you want to fill and the sound volume you want to fill it with. I would see if the store will refund the money for the Bose set-up.

How big of a room do you have? The Bose would probably do fine in a small room, say 7' x 9' with 8' ceilings. But if you have a 20' x 25' great room with vaulted/cathedral ceilings and it is open to the kitchen, well,...

**tonyvdb** · **11-21-08, 11:01 AM**

Not to sound harsh but Bose are overpriced and you can do much better for the money spent. If you are able to return the Bose what budget do you have for speakers?

**DougMac** · **11-21-08, 11:01 AM**

Joel,

If the store will take the Bose system back, get a refund and come back here. For the same money, we can point you to some systems that for the same money will sound much better and will not be as susceptible to damage. If you go with an internet direct company, you normally get more bang for the buck. They also have a liberal return policy so if you give them a trial and don't like them, the most you'll pay is shipping.

That's how I bought my setup and I couldn't be happier.

Doug

**pacman10** · **11-21-08, 12:11 PM**

Thanks for all the great feedback guys. You all have been very helpful.

Well, you guys were right about the Denon. I just picked it up yesterday as they said nothing was wrong. I want to return the speakers, but it has been actually 8 months since i purchased them. They have great customer service though, so I'm pretty sure they'll let me do an exchange, but this means I won't be able to get new ones off the net as one of you has suggested. However I only want to go thru the trouble if you guys are sure that the speakers, if not already broken, will blow in the future. I do have a pretty large room. I would say 30'X20' with about a 20' ceiling.

The reason why I'm giving it a little more time is because my dad thinks that he may have inserted the wires the wrong way. Not that the wires were in the wrong place, but he thinks he put the wires in the grabbers upside down(or something like that) and that they weren't secure enough. He hasn't had any problems yet since he reconnected. I don't necessarily agree with his point, but he still thinks it is a connection issue.

The place I bought this stuff at is called abt electronics and they have a great website. Do you think you guys could suggest some speakers you think would work in my situation .

Thanks for all the feedback once again in advance. I hope I wasn't too confusing.

**tonyvdb** · **11-21-08, 12:25 PM**

We are glad to help in any way,
Do you know what other brands of speakers the store sells, do they have a website that we could look at to help us in choosing some speakers for you?

**pacman10** · **11-21-08, 12:34 PM**

Sure, here it is

'Abt Electronics And Appliance Store' - actually i can't post an address but if you put this in google it will be at the top of the list.

I believe the Bose I bought (Acoustimass 10) was about $1,000, So anything in that range(prefebally not over) will do.

Thanks.

**tonyvdb** · **11-21-08, 01:08 PM**

How much can you stretch your budget? this MK setup would be far better. Or you can go a totally different route and buy some front speakers now with a sub and get the surrounds later?

**pacman10** · **11-21-08, 03:19 PM**

I would like to keep the Denon, and add a similar 5 channel surround sound set w/ a sub.. I would like to keep it under $1000.

**nova** · **11-21-08, 04:13 PM**

Yup, that is a big room to fill with such tiny speakers.

From what this place stocks, my first choice would be from MK but I think in order to fill that room there is no way you'd do it with that budget. Not so sure the system Tony suggested would be adequate for that room and the volume you are looking for.

Do you have any size requirements? If not, I'd probably look at Klipsch; RF-52, RC-10 and RS-42 or RB-10. That would likely fill your room if you like the Klipsch sound and come in about budget other than a sub (which I would recommend you pick up later when you can afford a good one).

Is this a multi-use system or primarily for music?

**tonyvdb** · **11-21-08, 04:27 PM**

If you absolutely stuck on getting all 5.1 speakers now then this will do a better job than the Bose system you had and you even save a few $$ but I again recommend spending your money on a good front stage speaker system first given the room size and buy the rears later on you can even phantom the center channel to your main left and right speakers without much lose at all.
Get a pair of these and this sub to start with and add the centre channel and rears later.

**ISLAND1000** · **11-21-08, 04:57 PM**

You have a "HUGE" room! 12,000 cubic feet! There would have been NO WAY you could have filled that room with the BOSE system. In fact you'll have problems filling the room with anything except the most expensive subs and floor standing units that abt has to offer.
My suggestion is to setup the system to play into a small section of the room not try to fill the entire room.
Also I would start with a sub and two bookshelf speakers and add surrounds as you can afford to buy more.
With these speakers you run it as a 2.1 system, stereo plus woofer.

1 SUB, Definitive Technology SCIIIBK $699.00
2 POLK AUDIO bookshelf speakers TS1200BK

If abt has a listening room spend some time listening to their various offerings. If you've spent $1000.00 you should be offered a good chance to buy/replace what sounds good to you.

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