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1. ZoneRide on July 16th, 2009 12:20 am

   IN most cases yes, it can be fixed. The case that wouldn’t make it worth while to repair is if the speaker is blown in the non-functioning speaker.
   First you need to determine why it is not functioning. If you have independent left and right channel out puts, switch the plugs for the functioning and non-functioning speakers to make sure that it is a speaker or a speakers cable/cord and not a channel output that has gone bad.
   Hook up a seperate pair of speakers to make sure that this is the case. By doing this, you isolate the computers sound card, checking it’s channel outputs.
   IF the card proves to be good, then open the sound cards software. Here, you want to check the BALANCE setting, checking to see if the balance has been changed, shutting off or lower the level to that side so that you can’t hear it. This happens from time to time, why, I don’t know, but it will save you money if the problem is found here. Also check to see if that one side has been muted, this is a function of only a few sound cards, but I don’t know which you have.
   One of the easiest ways to check the new speakers you purchased is to plug them up to a portable CD player if you have one. I have split my speakers between CD player and my computer. I can listen to a CD without the hassle of the computer’s software wanting to know everything about me or my CD’s. I can work on the computer and listen to a CD with out the extra noise from the computer’s CD player too.
   IF the sound card proves to be good and you have isolated the bad speaker, it’s time to check the speakers cable/cord.
   Plug everything up to your computer or the CD player, roll sound and put your fingers at one end of the suspect speakers cable/cord pinching it gently, just enough pressure to slip your fingers along the cord. Slowly slide your fingers along the cord and listen for it to pop or crackle. You are checking for breaks. IF you find a break, you can splice out the broken section and/or add new speaker wire of the same guage. IF you don’t find a break, you will need to open the suspect speaker and look for a broken connection; this usually happens when a cord has been pulled too hard, of course I’m not saying that you did this, it is one of the most common problems with computer speakers and speakers in general. Check the soldering of the cable to the speaker, is it solid? IF it is not, you can resoldier it. IF you don’t know who to soldier, this isn’t a job for you to do. Too much heat and you will burn the wire, connection or other parts of the speaker. Take it to an electronics repair store. It shouldn’t take more than a few minutes to repair if this is the only problem. If the speaker has a small computer board, check all of the soldier points and look at every piece for signs of burning or breakage. Next take a good look at the speaker itself. Does everything appear to be in good shape? You are looking for tears, rips and blown surrounding material. If you see any of these, it’s likely that the speaker was pushed too hard, usually due to being played to loudly. A power surge and also cause this kind of damage. Plugging in a speaker while the audio source is playing and turned up can blow the speaker too. IF you find anything wrong with the speaker, you can contact the manfacturer for a replacement. However, it may be more cost effective to purchase a new speaker or set of new speakers. Don’t mix brands or models of the same manfacturers speakers, the differences can be quite noticable and aggrevating.
   I hope this helps.

2. rmkenter on July 16th, 2009 12:45 am

   Did you buy them new? Make sure you cable from the speakers to the computer is in ALL the way in your soundcard jack. Otherwise only 1 channel will work. Also that you have the right cable. The cable that goes from your speakers to the computer should look like regular headphone type plugs on the end, but with two black bands, not one.
   If you bought it new, cant you get an exchange? Check the warranty, otherwise check your cable.
   Also check your Mixer settings for your soundcard and make sure both speakers are selected.

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