I searched for a while and couldn't find an answer, so I'm putting on my flame suit :)

I am buying a house that has some Bose AM5 speakers already hung on the wall with two on the front wall and two on the rear wall. Because they are mounted to the wall, he is leaving them in the house, but he is not including the sub :confused:

My question is, what can I do to round out the system? I have an old Onkyo stereo receiver. Can I even use the little cube speakers without the bass module?

I don't want to spend much, a few hundred dollars... am not opposed to buying something used, and use the system to watching movies and listening to music ranging from hard rock to jazz and classical. It does not get turned up very loud because there little kids running the roost :)

Any advice would be greatly appreciated as to my ability to buy a sub and anything else that could fill in the gaps.

Thanks,
Greg

Best thing to do would be to forget about using the bose cubes and save up for real speakers. Two (at least) fundamental problems with the cubes:

1) The 2 1/2 inch cone drives will roll off the highs about 12 - 13k or so (you want response to about 20k to cover the range of human ears, young human ears anyways)

2) The 2 1/2 inch cone drivers will roll off the lows about 200 hz or so, such that you'll have to cross over a sub at an abnormally high frequency or have a large hole in your frequency response. Crossing over a sub at anything higher than 80 - 100 hz or so will result in it being very localizable, and many male voices will sound like they're coming from the sub.

If you like serious listening to music, my guess is that you'll be disappointed in the bose cubes.

Thanks deneb,

I know I will be disappointed with the Bose cubes. I've heard them before and know they are not to my liking, BUT; my wife wants the speakers to be heard and not seen. I have a pair of old Bose 401s which I would like to continue using, but they are ugly and my wife won't have them in the new house.

The cubes are already mounted, so that is one thing in their favor. Thanks for the frequency ranges... I had been unable to find them anywhere.

Can the cubes even be used without the bass module? Is the crossover built into the sub or can I run the cubes straight out of my receiver.

I am going to move the 401s to my office room in the house which is where I will be most of the time, but I need an inexpensive option for the living/tv room.

is there some option of getting a sub and some sort of mid range support?

I believe you really have to use the cubes with the bass module. They will sound even worse without.

You might want to consider some other tiny speakers that are available along with a decent, yet small sub. Check on the speaker forum for some good, very small speaker choices.

The Bose system uses proprietary connectors and it's crossover is in the sub.

Your best option (when keeping the speakers) is to get the guy who is selling you
the house to sell you the sub. The sub will ONLY work with Bose speakers so it's
really worthless to him.

Thanks swgiust. I have already sent my realtor an email asking him to ask the seller to sell me the sub.

I appreaciate the help everyone.

And while you are at it check fleabay to make sure they are not overcharging you.

these subs are on ebay all the time dirt cheap

the am-7 sub will work also, you'll just have one un-used speaker terminal for the center channel

there are a few am-7 subs up there right now

Thanks! I'll check ebay to ensure I am not paying too much to the guy I am buying the house from.

Will the AM 10 sub work? Will any of the "AM" subs work?

Thanks! I'll check ebay to ensure I am not paying too much to the guy I am buying the house from.

Will the AM 10 sub work? Will any of the "AM" subs work?

Here's and AM Bose Sub for $85. Doesn't get cheaper than that. Why does this guy want to keep the sub? Seems strange to me.

Item number: 180131544969

The guy selling the house is an odd ball. I've asked my realtor to ask him to sell it to me since he can't really use it without the rest of the speakers anyway...

Thanks for the ebay link. That one looks like it will do the trick.

What about getting one of the powered AM subs?

I found a powered sub from an AM 10 system locally for $100. Will this work with the cubes from the AM5 system? Sorry for all the stupid questions, but Bose has gotten rediculous with their proprietary technology.

My old Onkyo has only a two channel amp and is around 50 watts per channel I believe.

Thanks,
Greg

I found a powered sub from an AM 10 system locally for $100. Will this work with the cubes from the AM5 system? Sorry for all the stupid questions, but Bose has gotten rediculous with their proprietary technology.

My old Onkyo has only a two channel amp and is around 50 watts per channel I believe.

Thanks,
Greg

i think the am-10 sub has an extra driver in it than the am-5 or am-7 subs have but both are passive and use the same cubes

Since the speakers are connected to the wall, you can demand the sub be left behind because it is a necessary part of a built-in system. Unless he stipulated in the selling agreement that the sub was not included, the law is on your side. (Not allowed to remove curtains, light fixtures, ect unless stipulated).

On the other side, the Bose is trash and you don't want it. Get something else.

Chris.