A:AnswerHello AMM. Great question. For best stereo performance, the speakers would need to be mounted horizontally as the sound travels more to the sides of the speakers. You can mount them vertically, but the stereo effect will be less.
A:AnswerThanks for the question. The Bose 161 speakers require a speaker wire connection to an amplifier or receiver in order to power the speakers.
This is true of any speakers that are not self powered.
A:AnswerIn order for these speakers to play the sound from your TV, you will first need to purchase a stereo or home theater receiver. The receiver would provide power for the speakers and it will also allow you to connect your TV sound so that it plays through the speakers. You will need to make sure that your TV has an audio output and also that the receiver has the same type of audio input connection.
Thank you for the question!
A:AnswerHello Mike. Great question. The Bose 161 speakers need to be powered by an external device such as an amplifier or receiver, otherwise there will be no audio. A computer would not have enough power to drive the 161 speakers. However, you could connect the output from the computer to a receiver and then connect the 161 speakers to the receiver's speaker outputs and use it that way. Thanks!
A:AnswerThanks for your inquiry. Replacement mounting brackets for our 161 speakers are available from our technical support team. They can be reached at 1-800-380-4831 and are available 8:30am-10:00pm M-F, 9am-7:00pm Sat EST. Thank you!
A:AnswerNo. The only port on the speakers is for standard speaker wire. You cannot use banana connectors on these. The standard is to simply input the bare wire.
A:AnswerHi Singh.
The impedance specifications of the 161 and 301 speakers refers only to their compatibility with a receiver. Since the Onkyo is compatible with any speakers rated between 6 and 16 ohms, you will not run into any problems. You are correct in your statement that the receiver is putting out 130 watts RMS. Since the 161 speakers are being used as surround speakers, they will not be playing all the time and not at an extremely high volume level. We don’t see any issues with the setup there, either.
Regarding the wattage rating of the 301 speakers, the difference between 130 and 150 watts is extremely negligible. We doubt you’d be able to hear a difference at all.
12 gauge speaker wire is a rather thick gauge for a run of this length. Signal loss is not a concern in this situation, so dropping down to a 16 or 18 gauge wire would be our recommendation, since you may have difficulty connecting a wire of that thickness to the speakers.
Although the 301 speakers use our Direct Reflecting technology, this will not impact their quality in a home theater set up whatsoever. The receiver handles the duty of directing sound to the proper speaker positions so therefore the surround sound effect will be preserved.
In reference to the floor stands and wire thickness, our suggestion would be to change your wire gauge to something smaller.
Due to internal design of the 301’s, the 24 inch height of the floor stands should be sufficient for your listening position. The height of the ceiling in your room should dictate how high to mount the 161 speakers, but the general rule of thumb is about 18 to 24 inches above ear level. At this height, a slight downward angle of 15 to 25 degrees would be acceptable for the rear speakers in your setup.
We hope this information is helpful for you. If you are located withing the U.S. and require further assistance, feel free to contact our support group at 1-800-711-5772. Thanks!
A:AnswerThey are mirror images of each other, but otherwise identical. Looking at each speaker from their front, at one end there is a slot, and on the other end the front surface curves off to the back of each speaker. This curved edge is meant to face toward the center of the room/listener, while the slotted end is on the end away from the center... this identifies the left and right speaker from the listeners perspective. (even better, the speakers are labeled "left" and "right" on the back of the respective speaker).
A:AnswerI have a str dh130 receiver that puts out only 10 watts less per channel and the speakers work fine. Don't be intimidated by the small speaker size. They can deliver at a high range of wattage, clear and crisp ~~ easily the equivalent of much bigger traditional "bookshelf" size speakers from the 80s. BOSE quality probably rivals the "big" sound one expects from many pairs of tower speakers.
A:AnswerThe 161 speakers are meant to be used with a 3rd party receiver directly. For the best sound quality we generally recommend that the Acoustimass 10 IV system be used only with the original speakers it was sold with. However, if you do want to try setting the 161's up as your front speakers (or as surround or back speakers) make sure you plug them by standard speaker wire straight into your receiver. Do not connect them to the Acoustimass 10 bass module the way your cube speakers attach.
For further setup help with our products, please contact 800-380-4831. Hours are Mon-Fri from 8:30AM to 9PM est & Sat 9AM to 5PM
A:AnswerThank you for the great question! Although you are free to play around with different settings, and decide what sounds best, here is our recommendation: In a stereo-speaker setup, we recommend choosing the 'Large' speaker setting within your receiver's settings. If you are using these in a 5.1 or higher surround-sound setup, we also recommend using the 'large' setting, unless the speakers are being used as the rear-channel speakers, in which case we'd recommend the 'small' setting. We hope this helps! Thank you - Brian
A:AnswerHi there,
Replacing the front speakers of your home theater will make the most dramatic improvement to the sound quality. The Bose 161 speakers are typically used for surround speakers instead of the mains, though. A better option may be our 301V Bookshelf speakers, since they produce a louder and fuller sound overall than the 161’s.
Thank you for the question!
A:AnswerThey are for both... Be careful putting the speakers on the ceiling though, they're heavy enough to leave a good mark on your head if you have butter fingers.
A:AnswerThank you for asking, the Bose Wave Music Systems would only be able to connect with a set of powered speakers. They would need to connect via the headphone jack, which would mute the Wave's internal speakers. You might consider using the Bose SA-5 amp to power your 161 speakers.
A:AnswerHello Troyboy,
The 161 speakers are compatible with receivers 10-100 W per channel, 4-8 ohms so they certainly have plenty of power. If you have a very large room you might require more than 1 pair.
A:AnswerYES! These speakers are direct connect or to be plugged into receptacles in a receiver or stereo. They do need to be driven with some power from the receiver though. But to answer your question, YES! And they sound incredible. Especially for the money!
