Connecting a Lifestyle CD receiver to an HDTV

## Which Lifestyle CD

With CD based Lifestyle 5.1 systems, you have two potential audio inputs. All Lifestyle CD receivers only support stereo RCA. Later generations of the Lifestyle CD 5.1 systems added a 5.1 Digital Coax input to the subwoofer (Lifestyle CD 2.0 systems only ever had stereo RCA inputs).

Which version do you have? There are options to use this with your HDTV either way.

	+ Lifestyle CD 2.0: 3, 5, 10, 11, 20, 40, & 901
	+ Lifestyle CD 5.1: 900, 8, 12, 25, & 30 (either Dolby Pro Logic or simulated surround-sound from RCA stereo)
* RCA Receiver + 1 Digital Coax input on the Subwoofer:
	+ Lifestyle CD 5.1: 800, 8II, 12II, 25II, 30II, & 50

\*Numbers in **Bold** are 5.1 systems.

The Digital Coax 5.1 systems mentioned only support **Dolby Digital 5.1** and **PCM 2.0**. So change all audio setting on your 3rd party devices to **Bitstream** or **Dolby** and *avoid* DTS or PCM or LPCM sound options.

## Option 0. Universal Remotes

Most of the setups I mention below would work best with a harmony remote or something similar (there have been Black Friday sales in the past). They can control everything ***EXCEPT*** for your Lifestyle system. Yet there might be a way to control everything with one remote.

Lifestyle CD systems only use an RF to receive signals wirelessly. So you need an external device to communicate with your system. Here are the solutions I have discovered so far.

The CD20 & MRI receivers "Serial Data" port allows 3rd party devices to control the receiver:

1. I came across this post for Bose CD20 & MRI receivers. It's called the Audio Authority C-1024A IR Converter. This looks to be a simple solution as it directly plugs into the data port and looks to have been designed specifically for these receivers. While it's discontinued, there are still some still on sale.
2. I found a similar product to option to the one above. While it is not explicitly designed for Bose Lifestyle CD systems like that was, it can control the CD20 & M1 receivers. You would need a TT455-RT-238, an optional extender if needed, a BB-232LPTTL converter, and a Female RS232 to mini-jack that plugs into the data port on your receiver. Sadly it is sold at a similar price to the first option plus you'd need the other parts to get this to work.
3. Another way to control the M1 receiver is by using a paid-for app. It uses a special network controller, an optional extender if needed, a converter, and a Female RS232 to mini-jack that plugs into the data port on your M1 receiver. All the information about this is found on this website.

The CD5 or CD10 receivers only have two data outputs, one for the subwoofer and the other for the CE-1 control expander unit (an optional IR transmitter), but no data inputs. So you would need a 3rd party device that can transmit over RF to control the receiver:

1. There is an open-source project on GitHub to control the CD5 receiver using RF. It might be able to control other Bose receivers. It uses an ESP8266, a Raspberry Pi, with code to control the receiver. This is still a work in progress and with some drawbacks to the current setup. The developer says they are "looking for a different solution."

If you find any other ways to control the CD5, CD10, CD20, or MRI receivers using 3rd party devices please mention it in the comments.

### Option 1a. RCA Only Lifestyle

If your system only supports RCA and your TV has an RCA out then you can easily connect everything to your TV and send the Audio to the Lifestyle system. If it has a or a 3.5mm headphone jack, then you will need to purchase a simple cable to make this work.

If your TV does not have an RCA out or a 3.5mm headphone jack but does have a Digital Optical or Digital Coax out, then you will need to purchase a converter.

If your TV only has an HDMI ARC out, then you will need to use options 3 or 4.

### Option 1b. RCA & Digital Coax Lifestyle

Most modern TV's do not feature a Digital Coax output, but an Optical one. You could get a Digital Coax to Optical converter to your Lifestyle CD 5.1 system.

But know that a lot of TV's do not output 5.1 for sources connected to the TV only PCM 2.0 (be aware that sometimes internal TV sources like apps do output 5.1). It is almost impossible to know what your TV outputs as it is rarely mentioned in the manual. To discover this, you might want to find a surround-sound test track that outputs the sound to each channel, but only one at a time (just know that YouTube still does not support 5.1 as every audio source there is still standard 2.0 including the 5.1 audio test mixes. Even the original series that they have to offer there are in stereo). The only other sure way to know is by connecting your TV to a receiver that tells you what signal it is processing.

If your TV only has an HDMI ARC out, then you will need to use one of the following options.

## Option 2. Purchase a Digital audio switch

**RCA & Digital Coax Lifestyle:** This solution would not work for *RCA only Lifestyle systems*.

If your TV does not output 5.1, you can purchase a Digital Coax Switch or an Optical Switch with a Digital Coax to Optical converter to ensure that your system receives a surround sound signal. There is at least one automatic switch out there with multiple Digital Optical in to Digital Coax out if that helps as you won't need a remote to use it.

## Option 3. Get an HDMI switch with audio outs

I found a few HDMI switches with audio outs that support 4k @ 60hz. This HDMI 4x1 switch features 4 HDMI in's and has RCA, Optical, & Digital Coax outs, but there are many others.

To set this up:

* Connect your HDMI devices to the HDMI in's on the switch
	+ If you need more than 4 ports there are other HDMI #x1 switches out there
* The TV & Lifestyle
	+ Connect Output to your TV's ARC HDMI port.
		- ARC is a special HDMI port that will send the TV's audio to your Lifestyle
	+ Connect the audio out (labelled on the HDMI splitter below as stereo or coaxial) to the RCA or Digital Coax input of your Lifestyle system.

## Option 4. Possible Lifestyle Upgrade

Some Lifestyle systems might be eligible for a trade-in.  Please talk to your local Bose dealer and see if they offer this solution. I talk about it in "Option 2" on this post.