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5.1 surround sound humming/static

Discussion in 'Audio and Video' started by flippykitten, Jan 8, 2007.

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  1. flippykitten Newcomer, in training

    My speakers are crackling and humming to the point they are unusable. Background: They are 5.1 Altec Lansing computer speakers, a few years old. I'd had problems with them just after I got them and had packed them in a box. So now I pulled them out to see what I could do.

    I pared everything down to the subwoofer (which is plugged into a power strip). And the cable that leads from the subwoofer to the right front speaker (which has the "on "button). It still made a (very) loud humming sound with static (almost like knocking at times).

    I unplugged the subwoofer and right front speaker, and moved it from the den to the living room. It still had the same behavior. Can this be fixed? Or is it a bad speaker (which would mean the whole system is fubared)?

    Thanks in advance,
    -flippy
    flippykitten, Jan 8, 2007
    #1

  2. Jesse_hz Newcomer, in training

    Maybe your cables aren't properly shielded, try replacing them with better quality ones.
    Jesse_hz, Jan 8, 2007
    #2

  3. flippykitten Newcomer, in training

    Hmm... I don't know that I can do that. (Can I?)

    The cable from the back of the woofer is sort of hardwired into the back of the right front speaker. (Which means I can't do a simple replace, I think?)
    flippykitten, Jan 9, 2007
    #3

  4. mailpup TechSpot Special Forces

    Your speakers should be dead silent when there is no sound to play. Something is wrong internally I suspect. I doubt it would be worth fixing at a shop. I know it's too late but you should have tried to exchange or return them while they were still new (unless you got them used). I'm sorry to say, I think you're hosed.

    I have an old Altec Lansing THX speaker set I got from Dell around 1998/1999. It has 4 speakers plus a subwoofer. The right front speaker has volume and other controls built into it. It recently began to hum from inside the amp/subwoofer enclosure and I just replaced it with a new Logitech 5.1 THX speaker system. You probably will have to replace yours too.

    A side note: If your Altec Lansing is similar to mine, the front right speaker cable connector to the subwoofer seems to be a special proprietary connector, especially since the right front speaker has all those controls on it. All four speakers are hardwired to the back of each speaker, by the way. Therefore, I agree, you can't do a simple cable replacement. However, it may not be a cable problem anyway.
    mailpup, Jan 9, 2007
    #4

  5. flippykitten Newcomer, in training

    Thanks for the reply. I was hoping they might be fixable, because they did work for one day (when I pulled them out the second time).

    It was only one day though, and then the screeching started. Oh well. It sure was nice while it lasted. Thanks again.
    flippykitten, Jan 9, 2007
    #5
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