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I wrote most of this for a different receiver, but if you account for minor differences to your receiver this will work just fine.
There's good news and bad news. The bad news you need a separate amp because a multichannel receiver with Bose 901's attached as recommended for a standard stereo receiver will only sound right in STEREO on stereo analog material. The other speakers around the room are not designed to receive its Active Equalization and if you engage your Tape Monitor you will NOT BE ABLE TO HEAR DIGITAL sources at all. Tape Monitor is for analog stereo material only and on modern AV receivers it disables any digital inputs so you really can't use the Tape Monitor circuit or attached devices for modern digital sources. However, you can still employ the various DSP options to spread 2-channel analog source material around the room. I do.
The good news. I have a setup similar to what you want to do and it works great!
A separate stereo amp for the 901's was my solution. I run a Carver AV-406 (5-channel amp) for my 901's in Front, 2 Subwoofers and the Rear Surround channel, with the Active EQ between the receiver Front L&R Outputs and the 901's amp channels. My receiver controls everything and just drives the Center and Surround speakers.
You could get by with just a stereo amp for the 901's. A Carver M-200 is a good efficient amplifier that would have you cooking just fine (2x100W). Run it with the Active EQ between the receiver Front L&R Pre-Outputs ** and the 901's amp channels.
** Front Pre Out (or one of your analog Tape Outs) >>> Bose EQ Amplifer IN, then Bose EQ Amplier OUT >>> new amplifier IN.
Attach the 901's to the new amp, set its volume to Max and run through your receiver's speaker level setup.
Write off the Tape Out as an input if you use it to extract the Front L&R channels. DO NOT monitor it or you'll chop the 901's out of the signal path AND kill any digital source audio in the receiver.
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The Bose 901 speakers require the use of a specific equalizer that is designed to optimize their performance. If you have a Bose 901 equalizer, you will need to connect it to your Lafayette 3500 receiver in order to properly use the speakers.
Here are the general steps for connecting the Bose 901 equalizer to your Lafayette 3500 receiver:
First, ensure that the power is turned off on both the receiver and the equalizer.
Locate the preamp output jacks on your Lafayette 3500 receiver. These will typically be labeled as "pre out" or "line out".
Connect a pair of RCA cables from the preamp output jacks on your receiver to the input jacks on your Bose 901 equalizer. These jacks are typically labeled as "preamp in" or "line in".
Next, connect another pair of RCA cables from the output jacks on your Bose 901 equalizer to the main amplifier input jacks on your receiver. These jacks are typically labeled as "main in".
Turn on your receiver and equalizer, and ensure that the volume levels are set to a low level before playing any music.
Set the Bose 901 equalizer to the "On" position, and adjust the various equalizer controls to your preferred settings.
Finally, play some music and adjust the volume levels as needed. You should notice a significant improvement in the sound quality of your Bose 901 speakers with the equalizer properly connected.
Note: It's important to use the Bose 901 equalizer specifically designed for the speakers. Using a different equalizer or not using any equalizer at all may result in poor sound quality or damage to the speakers.
The TX 8555 can drive the speakers directly but if you want to use the equalizer then you need to add an amplifier to the system so that you can feed the pre-amp connections from the TX8555 through the equalizer and then into the amplifier to drive the speakers. This is because the TX 8555 doesn't have a loop back function for monitoring recordings.
Search Fixya for the dozens of times I have answered this type of question. The central theme is you will need a separate power amp for the 901's and use of the Pre-Outs.
Examine your receiver to be sure it has a tape monitor loop. Receivers with a tape monitor loop will have a button or switch on the front for "Tape Monitor," and have two sets of RCA connections on the back, one labelled "Tape In," and the other "Tape Out."
2
Take the two cables that are provided with the 901 speakers and insert one end of the first cable into the "Amplifier Input" jacks of the equalizer. Connect the red connector to the R input and the other connector to the L input. Connect the other end of this cable into the "Tape Out" connections on the receiver. Again, hook red to R and the other to L.
3
Connect the second cable between the "Amplifier Output" jacks of the 901 receiver and the "Tape In" connections on the receiver. Follow the guidelines in Step 2 for R and L connections.
4
Plug the 901 equalizer into a 120-volt electrical outlet. Your 901 equalizer is now installed.
My suggestion is do not hook the 901's directly to the Onkyo. It is compatable, but they WANT more than what the receiver can give them. I suggest going and getting a dedicated amplifier for them. Trust me, you'll be a lot happier going that route.
There is no direct connection between the 901's and their Active Equalizer. It is designed to be inserted between the source and the DEDICATED amplifier driving the speakers. Typically, this would be in a Tape Monitor loop on a receiver.
Tape Rec/Out to EQ In; EQ Out to Tape Play/In on the receiver. If you have a tape deck(s), it(they) would go into the back of the Bose EQ as if it was the receiver and you would use the Tape and 1/2 buttons for selection.
Or,if you have access to any other point that doesn't use the Tape Monitor, like a Pre Out/Main In jumper set, place the Equalizer there. That way it's always in front of the speakers and doesn't take up the Tape Mon.
Flip in the Tape Monitor and leave it on or the speakers will not receive the essential ACTIVE Equalization they require for proper frequency response. DO NOT place non-901's onto any amp using the Active EQ.
Like any speakers, the 901's will attach to the speaker terminals in the conventional manner.
The short answer is no. The more useful answer is:
The EQ is designed so that the 901s reproduce the correct sound levels throughout hte audio spectrum. Given the size of the individual speakers (approx 4") and the lack of bottom end response for speakers that small, some tricks are used between the EQ and teh cabinet design to allow for total response from 20Hz to 20,000Hz. That being said, the power to drive the speakers comes from the amp not the EQ. The output of the EQ is not sufficient to drive speakers.
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