SOLVED: No center channel in Logitech Z-680

[Zelmo3]

I've had a set of Logitech Z-680 5.1 speakers for a few months now, and have never gotten a signal through the center channel. I always hear some muffled sound from the sub when I test the center, but nothing from the center speaker itself. I used to think it was a problem with my nforce2 sound, but I just got a SoundBlaster and still have the same problem. The speaker works when wired to another channel, the wire checks out with a multimeter continuity test, and the other four satellites and sub perform flawlessly. But no matter what settings I try on both the sound card and the speaker system, there's no signal to the center channel.
Has anyone dealt with this before? Logitech tech support hasn't responded yet after five days, so I thought I'd check here.

 

[Mem]

I've had a set of Logitech Z-680 5.1 speakers for a few months now, and have never gotten a signal through the center channel. I always hear some muffled sound from the sub when I test the center, but nothing from the center speaker itself. I used to think it was a problem with my nforce2 sound

I had that problem with my nforce2 onboard sound,all you need to do is use NVswap ,good little utility that swaps the bass and centre sound around,very easy to use,now I get centre sound when I use the tone test in NV control panel.

 

[Zelmo3]

Thanks, but I tried that on a couple of different occasions already.
What else might it be?

 

[Mem]

I`m not sure what else you can try especially if you have them hooked up right,only thing remaining would be to try another set of Z680s just incase yours are defective.

 

[johnjkr1]

Have you followed this guide?

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/support/products/document/US/EN,CRID=1790,contentid=6810,contentid2=6518,showalldocuments=0

 

[johnjkr1]

The answer another person gave for your exact problem on the logitech forums:

"I run the same setup as you. Asus A7N8X Dlx Mobo (nForce2 Soundstorm and Z-640) and mine work absolutely wonderfully. You may want to check the nForce Tray Control Panel, make sure you are sending a signal to all channels. It has a display to show what channels you are sending a signal to and what levels. The ONLY thing I can think of is maybe you have your cables mixed, to where maybe your front speakers are hooked to the rear outputs...and maybe your system or software is not set up correctly for surround. You can test your cable settings with the nForce control panel too, by clicking the speaker setup tab at the top, and clicking "Test Tone". Remember, you have to configure the nForce for the speakers, and you also have to configure Windows for 5.1 channel sound. I know I didn't offer any definate solutions, but hopefully this info will help. As a sidenote...those components together (nForce2 Soundstorm and Z-640's) are a great combination. Well worth your time to figure it out...I LoVe the sound my system produces. "

 

[Zelmo3]

Thanks for the replies John.
I did follow Logitech's guide when first plugging the speakers into the digital out on the sound card, but my coax cable doesn't seem to work with the Audigy2 so I switched to the 3-wire analog connection, which isn't what's covered in the above link and has been working very well except for the center channel.
I had also done all the checks mentioned in your second post when I was trying to get the speakers working with nforce2, and checked everything again when I changed to Audigy2.
What really has me concerned is that the remote control for the speakers has a "Test" button which sends white noise out to each speaker one at a time, and when it comes time for the center channel to make noise it is dead silent. Before anyone asks, I have tried changing the center channel level via both remote control and control pod, setting it at low, medium, and high levels while running the test, as well as varying the master volume. Still no sound at all from the center.

 

[huesmann]

Have you tried the speakers on another PC?

 

[Zelmo3]

I called Logitech today, and after having me do a couple of checks the tech support concluded that the center channel output on back of the sub is bad. Once I mail in the control pod (one of the smaller parts) they're going to send me out a whole new set: sub, control pod, speakers, everything.
After fighting with Earthlink tech support for over a month regarding a shoddy internet connection, I am very impressed with Logitech's tech support and customer service. I just hope they come through on product quality.