[TravelerDiogenes]

I have:

PC: Dell Dimension 8300
Processor: 2.8 GHz Pentium 4
RAM: 2.5 GB
Sound Card: Soundblaster w/ Creative SB Audigy 2
Speakers: Altec-Lansing that came with the Dell - 4.1


My sound went out 4 months ago, and I got it back by getting updated drivers from the Soundblaster web site. Nothing else worked.

Now in the last month, the sound level has dropped off a LOT. Prior to that, it may have been down a bit, but nothing I really noticed.

With the Windows volume set all the way up and the speaker turned all the way up to 10, I can barely hear sound - about the same as was at 2. NOTHING is coming out of the subwoofer.

EVERY setting I can find is set to maximum.

Is my sound card shot? Any way of testing it?

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Have you tried the speakers on another computer?

Are the speakers powered, with a separate wall-wart transformer? If so, is it plugged in securely to the wall receptacle and into the power input port on the speaker? You might also want to check the wall-wart's power output with a multimeter.

I have seen some speakers that are battery powered. Maybe the batteries need to be replaced?

I have also seen speakers that use a USB port for power. If yours do, make sure the USB port that they're plugged into is actually working (supplying power).

[SpywareDr]

Have you tried the speakers on another computer?

Are the speakers powered, with a separate wall-wart transformer? If so, is it plugged in securely to the wall receptacle and into the power input port on the speaker? You might also want to check the wall-wart's power output with a multimeter.

I have seen some speakers that are battery powered. Maybe the batteries need to be replaced?

I have also seen speakers that use a USB port for power. If yours do, make sure the USB port that they're plugged into is actually working (supplying power).

[TravelerDiogenes]

Thanks for your reply.


All your points would seem good ones if this was all a new system. The speakers have worked fine for years, though it DOES sound like a battery dying, doesn't it? There is no battery compartment on any of the four speakers. I checked the fuse, just to make sure. The sound dropped to zero when I pulled the fuse out.

The 4 speakers come off the subwoofer, which is powered from 110 VAC. What transformers the subwoofer has inside I don't know. Would there be a battery inside an Altec Lansing subwoofer?

I don't have another PC to check the speakers out on.


But I do have to say that the sound has now dropped to nearly zero. I have to have the speakers right by me to hear.

[SpywareDr]

Before I started tearing up my Windows drivers, settings, etc., I'd invite someone with a laptop, over for a drink/dinner.

If the speakers exhibit the behavior when plugged into the laptop, you'd know your speakers are the problem.

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Or, how about the other way around? Do you, or a friend, have another set of speakers you could try? If they work fine, you'd know your speakers are the problem.