IIRC, "album shuffle" means "play albums in their entirety in a random order" (So you'd hear all of Abbey Road, then all of Les Miz, etc)

Okay, I hate to monopolize but you guys are too good with this stuff.

Over Christmas I bought a used flat panel tv and a new Blu-Ray player. And finally hooked up the Wii that I bought last February (I know, I know...it took me a year to finally hook up the Roku once I bought it, too. Sometimes I have the money budget but not the time budget to set things up). I shipped my old VCR/DVD player to a nice Buffista. I gave away my excellent amp and 6-disc cd player because I am trying to get everything down to minimal sizes (I got rid of my old big tv and the huge armoire it sat in) and decrease the wire clutter. So that's the background.

What I have left is the Blu-Ray, a Tivo, the Roku, the tv, the Wii, the cable box. And I have two very nice Bose speakers. What I want/need to complete the set up is the simplest thing possible that would allow me to play my iPod through the Bose speakers (which are not currently hooked up to anything). I used to just use a Y-cable to hook it up to my stereo.

My options as I see them:

Sell/give away the Blu-Ray/cd player I did get and buy one instead that supports a home theatre set-up (internal amp). I've seen these in Costco, etc, but it wasn't clear to me how I could best use the Bose speakers I have in this scenario. But then I wouldn't have radio, right? Being able to blast AM or FM is important to me, especially during beisbol season.

Find a super small amp/receiver that plays cds and takes the ipod input AND has enough watts to support the Bose 201s.

(Or maybe I can just unclick "shuffle" somewhere on the Blu-Ray and it will solve all of this for me, too?!)

My main goal is to have minimally sized components, be able to play cds/ipod, listen to the radio, and use the BOSE speakers. What's not important to me, which you might find ironic, is a home theatre experience when it comes to watching tv/movies. I don't want to have to watch tv through the BOSE speakers.

I'm confused - do the Bose speakers have built-in radio antennae already?

Nope, they're just speakers.

So how do you listen to the radio now?

I think the easiest solution would be to trade the speakers in for a radio with an ipod dock.

I can't listen to the radio now...not since I gave away my stereo.

I think the easiest solution would be to trade the speakers in for a radio with an ipod dock.

Unfortunately, I would still be unable to listen to cds, which I often do, despite the iPod. And none of the iPod docks I've seen would support the Bose speakers, watts wise, and I really like the speakers.

I may just end up buying a smaller stereo and sticking that and the Bose speakers into my dining room. I was hoping to use the Blu-Ray player as my cd player - and that's why I've been keeping all of the stuff together.

I think simply adding a receiver/amplifier would get you everything you want, no?

Also, you want to use the Blu-Ray player to listen to CDs through the Bose speakers, but you DON'T want to have DVD audio from the same Blu-Ray player to go through those same speakers? That seems... unnecessarily complicated.

Also, you want to use the Blu-Ray player to listen to CDs through the Bose speakers, but you DON'T want to have DVD audio from the same Blu-Ray player to go through those same speakers? That seems... unnecessarily complicated.

I'm thinking audio outputs to the Bose speakers for cd listening, but keeping the HDMI input into the tv would work, right? The Blu-Ray player has several audio out capabilities. I just really don't like loud tv. But I love loud music.

I think simply adding a receiver/amplifier would get you everything you want, no?

Yep, just have to find the smallest one possible!

Thanks for the input and confirming my options. I just wanted to make sure there wasn't some solution out there that I hadn't thought of or knew about.

The Blu-Ray player has several audio out capabilities.

Ahh, ok. I don't have a Blu-Ray player, so that didn't occur to me.

Anyway, I'd go and get a small receiver/amp. You can attach the iPod directly to it via an adapter cable from Radio Shack.