7.1 receiver with Bose 5.1 speakers

by Bill
(Kearny, NJ)

Can I hook up my Bose 5.1 channel speaker system to a 7.1 channel receiver and still have the same quality? Thanks for taking the time to help me out here.

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Hi

I'm not completely clear what you are asking here, but I'll give you an answer anyway!

I'm assuming you are talking about something like the Acoustimass 16 Series 5.1 speaker system, which allows a connection from an AV receiver to the subwoofer module - and this then connects to the surround speakers.

Well yes, a 7.1 AV receiver will be fine to use with this type of speaker system. You will just connect the center, front left/right, surround left/right and subwoofer speakers as normal, and you will leave the two extra rear left/right speaker outputs disconnected.

When you setup your receiver, it will detect you only have 5.1 speakers connected and will operate as a 5.1 receiver.

You could always buy two extra satellite speakers similar to the Bose ones, and have 7.1 surround sound - you just connect these speakers directly to the receiver rather than via the Bose module.

Hope that has answered your question.

All the best.

Paul (Site Editor)

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