Subwoofer not working in my new 2.1 system.?

Question

Hi guys. i just bought an altec 2.1 speaker system for my pc.

but the problem is that the sub woofer isn't working on my pc while it worked perfectly at the shop.The sound comes only from the 2 speakers but no output from the woofer. I have a cmi9761 ac97 audio card. Is the soundcard causing the problem? Please help!!!!!

Answer 1

In windows settings if your using XP, you will need to go into your sound settings into advanced audio properties, sorry I can't help more as I'm on vista and don't remember.

Basically tho you need to change the setting in the speaker setup to 'surround sound speakers'.

Here's a small picture to illustrate what you'll need to find.

http://l.yimg.com/tech.yahoo.com/util/an...

Answer 2

Assuming the subwoofer is self-amplified, and plugged-in, and turned on...

and the sound card has its own subwoofer-out, which certainly not all do...

The fact that the subwoofer worked at the shop means you either broke it on the way home, or it's somehow not getting the same kind of input it was getting from the shop.

If you turn up the subwoofer's volume high enough, you should hear a low-frequency hum that promises to shake the floor if you actually run any sound through it (don't), if it is amplified

Many subwoofers have, in addition to RCA input, regular speaker-wire inputs and outputs that get the low frequencies from the same lines as your right and left speakers. If you have this kind of setup, make sure the line goes first to the subwoofer, then the other speakers, not vice-versa

If your subwoofer isn't amplified, which would be unusual for a pc sound system, you'd have to amplify it

Other than that I can't really say without seeing it, but I do know that in a smaller room, you won't set the overall volume as loud, and that often makes the subwoofer's output negligible. They may have played it louder at the shop than you have it at in your home.