sound issue

[xaeniac]

I own a set of Cambridge Soundworks DTT2200 speakers. Yesterday the speakers were playing 5.1 sound perfectly. Got a lightning strike/power outage yesterday and I can no longer get 5.1 sound. All the speakers are good, but when I do a speaker test through Audigy test; only the rear and subwoofer speakers output sound. The soundcard output goes into an input on the subwoofer, and subwoofer has outputs that go to the speakers. I can hookup my earphones into the Audigy soundcard and the output is fine, so I know the soundcard is good. I can not test the Subwoofer speaker outputs as it looks to be an RCA jack. No output from sound in 2.1 settings. Any help or comments would be appreciated. If you agree with my troubleshooting and think the Subwoofer sound controller is bad which do you prefer, Klipsch Pro Ultra Media's or Logitech Z5500's?

Cliff's: My speakers are having major issues and I need help. If you determine them to be bad which do you think are better Klipsch Pro Media 5.1's or Logitech Z5500's. Please read above if you have the time and want to help a poor old chap out.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Have you tried taking the rear speakers that are working and hooking them up to the front outputs? Maybe the amp in the sub is fine and it's just the speakers that are fried (not that it would solve your problems).

If you plug your rear speaker input into the front output on your computer, do the rear speakers play the front sound?
If you plug your front speaker input into the rear output on your comptuer, do the front speakers play nothing still?

It seems pretty clear cut that it's the speakers that are the problem though from your description.
Before you give up on them, try plugging the front input into another source (like a portable cd player or mp3 player) and see if you can get thr front speakers to play.

What's your budget for a replacement set? If you're on a tighter budget, the z-5500s are a good option, but if you can afford the Klipsch, I think they are the better option.
Any interest in moving another step up into the entry level hometheater system area?
I can make some suggestions if you think this might be something you'd want to think about.

Good luck with your problem 🙂

 

[xaeniac]

I have tried taking the rear speakers and putting them on the front outputs. No sound is heard that's y i think it's the amp. I take the front speakers and put them on the rear output and I hear sound out the front speakers. I have tried my laptop as a source also, and still nothing. I would consider a entry level hometheater system if the price is right. Just don't want to spend close to 1k for sound.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Well, sounds like you're going to be getting some new speakers 😛

Computer speakers are good value and do what they do well. (Did that make sense?)
I mean that they easily take 5.1 computer output and give you surround sound.

I think the biggest drawback to hooking up HT speakers is that it's a little more work to get surround sound in games working.
The solutions to this are either:
a) get a soundcard that encodes DD in real time (soundstorm, X-Mystique, Montego are the options I know about)
b) get a receiver that has 5.1 direct input and then get some RCA adapters and run analog to the receiver.

Do you have a HT already or have you used one? As you probably know, this can become a fairly major investment compared to the average speaker system an Anandtech-er has.

There are some very nice options that are not much more than a set of computer speakers.
Examples:
A rocket tykes bundle is not too much more. An Onkyo HTIB is an even more affordable option.

If you have a Circuit City or Best Buy near you, it might be worth a trip over there to listen to some of the offerings they have.

You could also put together a pretty solid system of separate parts for under $1000.
For example:
Get some Polks from Outpost as they have them on sale (R50s are on sale right now)
Add in a dayton tiny mighty
and a refurb receiver from a good company like Onkyo, and you have a pretty nice system going for under $1000.

Computer speakers are a very good option for most people though... just wanted to let you know there were alternatives 🙂