To fix...or scrap?

[Mellman]

I've had a set of Cambridge Soundworks 510D 5.1 speakers for about 4-5 years now, I love these things. They're not the best anymore but they were a gift, and they worked great.

I recently returned home from a trip and they did not work when i came back. I don't think it was any kind of power surge but it could be, they were hooked up to a UPS, and the fuse isn't blown on the amp itself.

Anyways, I opened up the amp, looked for any blown caps, loose connections (used to fix TV's and monitors by doing this all the time) Jiggled a few of the power connections and the speakers worked for ~15 min, powered them off for bed, woke up and powered them on, and no sound.

Are they worth troubleshooting? Would I be better off just replacing them? What 5.1 systems are out now? I really only use 3.1 in my setup, but i Like having a center channel.

I also have some R50's that aren't being used, and an Onkyo 6.1 receiver(502) . I could use optical out from my sound card (onboard Asus sound) to my onkyo, and my center.

Uses? some light movie watching, mostly music though.

Sorry for the long post...maybe someone will read it and give some advice

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

If you have R50s and a 502 sitting around, go ahead and use those if you can set them up well.

 

[Mellman]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
If you have R50s and a 502 sitting around, go ahead and use those if you can set them up well.

Yeah that's part of the problem :-\ the area my computer desk is in, is not very audio friendly. I have room to put the r50's and the center and the receiver, but i'll be sitting pretty close to them.

Oh yeah I have a Dayton 10" sub too :-D

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Yeah, I'm not really sure how well the R50s do at near field.

If you do have a subwoofer and receiver available though, I think your best route would be to get some bookshelf speakers that are decent at near field if you can't get your current creative set fixed.

 

[Mellman]

Yeah i suppose it makes more sense to use what i have rather than spend $200 on some computer speakers that won't produce near as high sound quality.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: Mellman
Yeah i suppose it makes more sense to use what i have rather than spend $200 on some computer speakers that won't produce near as high sound quality.

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking would be your best bet.

R50s would make very nice surrounds too if you can work those into the room somehow. (If mounting the creative speakers was the problem before)

Also, FYI with a digital connection you might run into issues if you're trying to do gaming and if your integrated solution does not encode DD or DTS. It looks like based on your usage though that it's not going to be an issue.

Are you happy with the sound you're getting from the Polks, or do you think you'd be looking at something else for new speakers to fit?

 

[Mellman]

well, the polks are fine, they're cheap, and nice looking, and they produce good sound. As far as new speakers go, I doubt i'd get any new HT speakers right now. this is just my computer rig. I don't have room for a true HT setup anymore, (used to when i was in my old house) but in the next year or two i will, but by then I intend on getting some of the JBL floor standers for my fronts.

I'm aware that the digital connection could give me some issues, but i'm not too concerned, I have the DLPTV upstairs for watching movies on.

I imagine even my bookshelf Onkyo HTIB speakers would be good enough sound wise for me on my PC, but I have these polks too so i figured i'd try them out. Oddly enough my speakers started working on their own last night as I was getting ready to pull the amp out, they have a wicked hum now though, so I'm not so sure I'll be able to 1) fix it and 2) be able to deal with the hum....furthermore 3) want to spend the time fixing it when I'm not sure I can.