Speaker repair

[thebigcheese]

I couldn't really figure out where else to put this, so I guess it's going here...
I have a set of Altec Lansing ACS33 computer speakers. They seem pretty nice, but for whatever reason I can't get the sub to work (it's a 2.1 system). I opened up the sub box to do a little investigating, but I don't really have any idea how the electronics work. What I do know is that when I hooked the sub speaker up to my home stereo, sound came out of it, so the speaker itself is working well enough that I ought to be getting something from it. Also, the actual speakers work, and they are powered through the sub, so power seems to be flowing through the circuitry there. The wiring goes: power to sub, cable to speakers, speakers to computer (so the sound goes through the speakers first and the power goes through the sub first, but both are carried through the same multi-pin cable). Does anyone know how I would go about fixing this? All I know is that I'm getting power and I'm getting sound through the speakers but not the sub, so I have to assume that something is wrong with the sub's amp. Is this even something I can fix, or would I have to take it somewhere or send it in? I can post pictures of the circuits if you'd like... thanks!

-Nick

 

[Farview]

http://www.lockergnome.com/nexus/ba...3bw-lansing-3-piece-music-gaming-system-2999/

For 29.99 you can get a new set.

It's most likely the sub amp if everything is hooked up correctly. These things tend to be disposable. If all the circuitry is on one circuitboard, there is nothing to fix, it needs to be replaced.

 

[thebigcheese]

So it's probably not worth my time to try to fix the circuitry on the board itself? Well... I guess that would be kind of a pain anyway, because I'd have to know where on the board the problem is, and since all the connections appear to be fine, that means one of the capacitors or resistors or whatever is bad... maybe I can figure out a way to hook them up to another set of speakers then. Thanks!

 

[Farview]

If you have 'no idea about how electronics work', you aren't going to be able to fix anything. It's most likely the amplifier chip, which could cost you $10. (because you only need one instead of the thousands that Altec goes through) That chip doesn't just fail all by itself. It either took other components with it, or some other componants failed and took out the chip. If you sent it in to get repaired under warrantee, they would just replace all the electronics at once.

 

[thebigcheese]

It's not under warranty... I got them from my dad a while ago, and the sub didn't work then, either. I was just wondering because I'm part of the Audio Tech group at school here, and I know there are some people who do know their way around electronics, but it sounds like it wouldn't really be worth it. Thanks, though.

 

[Farview]

It's not under warranty... I got them from my dad a while ago, and the sub didn't work then, either. I was just wondering because I'm part of the Audio Tech group at school here, and I know there are some people who do know their way around electronics, but it sounds like it wouldn't really be worth it. Thanks, though.

I was just using the warranty example to illustrate that the company wouln't even fix it on a component level.

Anything that costs less than dinner and pie for two at Bakers Square isn't worth heating up a soldering iron.