I have tried to connect my Bose subwoofer and speakers to Yamaha receiver but no sound from subwoofer.Any luck

Question

Im using a Bose accostimas5

Answer 1

I happen to have a Bose AM5 as well. They are getting pretty old now but still deliver robust sound so I am hanging on to mine.

The configuration you are trying to run will not work. The reason for this is that the AM5 is not what is generally referred to as a "sub" these days. In the new world of digital 5.1 and 7.1 surround sound audio, a sub refers to a powered sub woofer designed specifically to work in these environments with its own built in amplifier. The signal your receiver sends out (the .1 in 5.1) is also referred to as LFE which stands for Low Frequency Effects, and is a low power signal which gets amplified by the amp built into a modern sub.

The AM5 base module on the other hand is simply the base speaker (or woofer) in its own individual case, separate from the tweeters packaged in the cubes. It needs to be driven by fully amplified speaker outputs from the Yamaha receiver.

You have a couple of different ways to proceed, depending on your base sound needs, the specific model receiver and its capabilities and your time available to play with this.

The simplest way to go is connect your cubes to the AM base module, as it was designed, and then drive the base module with the front speaker outs of the Yamaha. In this configuration you are simply driving full range front speakers (meaning speakers that can play powerful low base) and no sub. This can be very satisfying in a smaller room and if you are not primarily using the system for action movies that need tons of base. If you are you could simply buy a sub and add to this configuration. Also, read the Yamaha speaker setup section of the manual carefully as there are many settings that can help a sub-less setup. My Denon receiver allows me to route LFE audio to the main speaker outputs as a setting.

A second, and more complicated way to go is to take advantage of a 7.1 receiver feature called bi-amp configuaration. This would drive your AM5's a little better but is complicated and you would have to have the correct features in the receiver and be running a 5.1 layout, not 7.1

I have chosen to add a sub to my setup, so movies are more satisfying. I went for a low cost sub, as the AM5 can already do a good job, and I have set my receiver to send the LFE sound both to the Sub and to the main speakers, the AM5's. I then also set the crossover frequency as low as possible for the fronts so all the base goes to the AM5 as well as the sub, and turned the sub amplifier volume down to below half. I did this as it is a less expensive sub and I don't want to overdrive it and distort the base, and I have the AM5 adding to the total base volume.

I hope this helps.

Answer 2

Bose Subwoofer

Answer 3

Long story short..Yamaha Reciever = Yes. Bose Speakers = No. Go to your local speaker shop or best buy circuit city etc and listen to some other speakers. You'll find better for half the price of the bose. Circuit city carries boston acoustics now.

Answer 4

I have run into the same issue. AM5 with Denon 7.1 receiver. Where should I connect the Red/White cable on the back of the receiver. These are banana plugs sso cant be connected to the actual speaker ports. I tried connecting them to the Zone 2Out but dont get any sound from the speakers. I did say NO to subFoofer in the setup. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

Answer 5

Jo gave a great answer, but let me extract the critical info:

- Go to your Yamana setup menu.

- Define your L/R speakers as LARGE

- Set your "Subwoofer" to none


This will force the receiver to send all the low-frequency sounds to the L/R speakers.