Computer Speakers Problem

LittleCabbage
LittleCabbage Posts: 3
edited August 2005 in Troubleshooting
I have a set of speakers that came with my old HP computer, and they say they're Polk Audio. Well, my HP kind of blew up and now i have a compaq that has built-in speakers. I don't like the built-in speakers and would like to use the polk speakers, but when i plug them into the Compaq's sound card, they play so softly that, if i turn up the master volume and the speaker volume and the media player's volume i can just barely hear it. I don't think the connection is bad, it feels secure. Do i need drivers for the speaker or something? The speakers, even when plugged in, don't show up in the Audio options menus, so i don't know how to check them out.
All else fails, maybe you guys would know- is it possible to take the sound card from my old HP computer and put it into the new Compaq? Or do they get configured to the motherboard like my hard drive was? Just wondering if anyone knows. Any advice is helpful. Thanks!
Post edited by LittleCabbage on
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  • BrentMcGhee
    BrentMcGhee Posts: 548
    edited August 2005
    First off, make sure the polk speakers are getting power, either from batteries or from beeing plugged into the wall. If these speakers have a seperate subwoofer to them make sure the sub woofer is the thing plugged into the computer and the speakers are plugged into the subwoofer and the sub woofer is plugged into the wall.

    Second it goes without saying but make sure that you are plugging them into the correct connection on the computer. There will be several such as mic line in line out and possibly even a digital one that all look the same... and if you plug it into the wrong connection you may still be hearing the sound but just barley becasue it is leaking over form another connection.

    Third.... when you go into the windows audio volume control make sure wav and master are turned up.

    That last thing thing you may want to check is by seeing if you have the driver for you soundcard installed. You can do this by right clicking on my computer clicking on properties, then clicking on the hardware tab and then clicking on device manager. You want to make sure that nothing listed there has a yellow exlamation point on it.
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  • LittleCabbage
    LittleCabbage Posts: 3
    edited August 2005
    There is no power cord for these speakers, and they have no batteries. They draw their power directly from the computer, as is my understanding.
    If the plug was in the wrong outlet, i wouldn't be getting any sound at all. I am getting sound, but it is extremely quiet.
    I've never had to keep the master volume all the way up to hear anything before. Even so, even with the master computer volume, as well as the speaker volume, as well as the media player volume- all three of them- all the way up, i'm barely getting any sound.
    As for the driver, everything checked out and it said it was all working. No yellow exclamation points. I even tried updating the drivers for everything listed under audio in the device manager, and they all said they didn't need updaing.
    I'm bamboozled.
    Anyone have any ideas whether or not i can switch the sound cards?
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  • BrentMcGhee
    BrentMcGhee Posts: 548
    edited August 2005
    You could get that faint sound you are talking about from it not being plugged into the right conncetion becasue computers sound cards are normally not very isolated so sound from input/output wil lleak over to the others. But let's say that we know for a fact that it is hooked up correctly and the drivers are all fine. I find it hard to beleive that they do not have anyform of power to them though becasue the amount of power thayt is coming out of the connections is ver neglible at best. Do you happen to have a model number of these speakers so we can see what you are dealing with.

    As for swapping out soundcards you can do that as along the sound card in your old computer is not integrated onto the motherboard. Just pop open the case and see if the audio connections are on a seperate card, if so then you can pop it out and slide it into a free pci slot on your new computer. You will then have to install some drivers fro that card but that should not be hard just go to the manufacteres website and downlad them from there.
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  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 7,658
    edited August 2005
    Hello,
    The difficulty is that the speakers are not self-powered, meaning they don't contain an audio amplifier. The original H-P sound card had the amplifier and when you use the speakers with another computer's sound card there isn't anything to provide the power. I'm afraid you'll have to use another speaker system that is self-powered.
    Regards, Ken
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  • LittleCabbage
    LittleCabbage Posts: 3
    edited August 2005
    Ken, that makes perfect sense. Thank you so much!
    Brent, thank you for your help as well.

    I think i'll try swapping the sound cards- if that won'y work, it's off to find new speakers.
    Thanks, folks! I really appreciate it!
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  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 7,658
    edited August 2005
    You're certainly welcome, glad to be of help!
    Take care, Ken
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  • RODZILLA
    RODZILLA Posts: 2
    edited August 2005
    Wazup 'all?!

    Brand-spankin' new to this site! Took me a while to get this far with my problem. I have a small, ~4 in., pair of "Polk Audio" speakers which, I guess, came with my HP Pavilion 533w Desktop, running XP Home, which was recently given to me. I guess a system recovery was done a while back, and now the speakers aren't being recognized, or any audio devices. There are several Audio, Video & Multimedia Codec related entries installed in Device Mgr. with no conflicts. How do I get these darn things to work. Appreciate any suggestions! Thanks Much!

    RODZILLA
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