Bose 700 + Bose 161 w/ AV receiver

[gerjman]

Hello!

I'm considering buying the Bose 700 soundbar for 5.1 setup in a game room.  I will use an AV switching receiver to output from my various sources over HDMI to the Bose 700.  Sub will be non-Bose (so I will send sub channel directly to the sub from AV receiver, no issue there).   

The question here is about the rear surrounds.   Due to the topology of the room, it is not practical for me to use the Bose surround speakers, since they require power.     I can route speaker wire in the wall to the rears, but I do not want to route 110v AC to these locations.  Therefore, for the rears I would like to use a pair of wired Bose 161's mounted on the wall.

So the question is, can the Bose 700 be configured to NOT image the rear surround channels , even though it is receiving the  5.1 from the AV receiver?    Then i can output the rear channels direct to the 161's from the AV receiver.     I guess I could also ask if the "Bose surround sound" speakers can be used in wired mode the same way , maybe this is another option but I hate to pay for wireless speakers and use them as wired, as I have a feeling the 161's might sound better as surrounds and for lower price tag.

Would love to hear some opinions on this, if this config is possible or not , and how the 161's might  perform as rears in this setup.

Thanks!!
Greg

[Mpn]

Don’t waste your money. I bought both and set it up initially but controlling them through the app is a nightmare as the app can’t find the bar or rear speakers and Bose instruction is flawed and incomplete and their customer service is useless as is handled by morons who repeat the same **bleep** thing over without owning the problem. I wasted all that money only to buy a Bluetooth device which I could have bought for $5.00 on e bay.

I have reset modem and checked all connections and everything is up to par but the app is not doing what it’s supposed to do.

So my advice: do not waste your money on Bose. Totally disappointed and Bose does not care.

[gerjman]

Mpn,   Did you ever get sound out of it though (the 700) , how was that?   My 100% care about is sound on this purchase,  I don't care about bluetooth, alexa, etc, etc.. my source devices will handle that.   So i need to get it setup exactly once, and then just listen/use.     Of course if I literally can't get it setup even,  this would be a big problem!!      

[jimgfitz]

Why not simply purchase a Bose Acoustimass 10 to use with your receiver and 3rd party subwoofer?  The Bose 700 is not designed for this purpose.

[Mpn]

Yes it has good sound quality if you play music but tv sound even with rear speakers not do great. I followed the instruction that came with it but had to do it three times before it finally finish setting it up but the Bose music app that is supposed to control it is a joke and does not find the bar saying the bar is unavailable when is turned in and connected to tv.

[gerjman]

Let me add some context.   It's a game room, and there is separate zone with different setup for music (different speakers, different position).  The TV is on an angled wall facing 45 degree into the room, so this is mainly for just "when" folks might be watching a movie or playing  video games .    There is no room on the wall or floor to the sides of the TV.. so my thought here is to get best sound i can out of a "wall mounted sound bar"      Isn't 700 designed to be the best quality L / C / R sound field in a sound bar?    i thought that was it's goal  (aside from the 'connected' features..).   

Now maybe i could mount the acoustimass cubes spread below, that would be an option..   I was thinking a soundbar will look/function alot better in my constrained layout, i cannot extend L / R spread beyond the width of the 65" TV, 

[Morlock · Accepted solution]

To answer the main point of your initial question (and I think everything else revolves around that) is that if the Bose surround speakers are not attached there is no way to turn off the surround coming from the bar.  The option to turn off in the app only appears if the rears are connected, and the result would be the same as not having the rears connected (and the same for the bass).  As well as that the auto calibration it does would be useless when matching it up with 3rd party bass/amp combination.

There may be a solution, but it would still involve the bose surround speakers.  You said you don't want to run power to the rears, but can run the speaker cables.  My suggestion would be to lengthen (snip and join) the surround speaker wires and have the power units near the bar where you probably already have power.  So they are still wireless from the bar to the power packs (if only a short distance) and then longer speaker wires to the surrounds.

As for quality - I beleive it is one of, if not, the best soundbars out there.  However people have expectations and most people getting a soundbar are moving down from a full system they had previously so are often dissapointed.  I would compare this favourably to most 5.1 systems at the similar price range, but Bose has thier LIfestyle range which is about performance.  Most soundbars (even with rears) don't improve on the sound going into it.  So if you play HD videos they sound great.  If you play a movie on Free to air it will likely come out in stereo rather than surround.  And it's small things like that that the Lifestyles improve on.

[rickatk]

The question here is about the rear surrounds.   Due to the topology of the room, it is not practical for me to use the Bose surround speakers, since they require power.     I can route speaker wire in the wall to the rears, but I do not want to route 110v AC to these locations.  Therefore, for the rears I would like to use a pair of wired Bose 161's mounted on the wall.

I think you are forcing the 700 system to do something it wasn’t designed to do. You will likely not be happy with the results. If you are looking for good Bose sound using passive rear speakers to run off your receiver I suggest getting the Bose Acoustimass 10 system. Following the hookup instructions you can still introduce your sub into the system, the Acoustimass would then act more as a mid range speaker. 

Should the included speaker wire not be long enough for the rears you can splice in some extra wire length.

[gerjman]

Thanks Morlock, a clear answer to the question and a proposed solution, that’s what I was looking for (thanks all for the inputs). Now I can decide based on the other factors. Do you see any issue with the power pack/receiver driving relatively long distance to the speaker (eg 30ft). I can imagine that was not intended, but it’s the full power amp for the speaker then , so .

jimgfitz and rickatk, thanks for the suggestion , I agree that maybe acoustimass 10 may work out better in this particular scenario. I will look into that and think about how I would arrange/mount the cubes.

Thanks all for your help.

[rickatk]

 As well as that the auto calibration it does would be useless when matching it up with 3rd party bass/amp combination.

While I am not an advocate of inserting non Bose speakers into a Bose system, I am not sure ADAPTiQ discriminates against non Bose speakers. The software measures the sound pulses and unjusts system settings (volume and distance)accordingly.