Noob needs help
I see the pinouts for my matching RCA version of the Z5500. Armed with this info, how can I make a bypass cable? I'm a noob, but I have spare cables and a soldering iron, etc
I see the pinouts for my matching RCA version of the Z5500. Armed with this info, how can I make a bypass cable? I'm a noob, but I have spare cables and a soldering iron, etc
Hi,
I'm having the issue with the pod displaying black blocks.
I've contacted Logitech (Not hoping for much) but I did read Basi's post on pg59 for checking x3 voltage regulators.
I've opened the amp and have done some readings on the 78m18a and the 79m18a he listed.
The 7818 regulator reads 36.1v at the input, output is -0.6v.
The 7918 regulator reads 36.1v at the input, output is 18.4v.
I've yet to locate the 7805 on my board (the board I have is different from Basi's original photo).
Regardless, I take it that the 7818 should be throwing out 18v or thereabouts on the output pin?
As to my problem with the black blocks being displayed... Logitech replied to my support question.
Long story short, they offered me 30% discount on a new purchase to replace the z5500, but in all honesty I'm not impressed with their recent offerings so I declined.
As to their initial response to the 78m18a chip malfunctioning, let's say it was extremely guarded.
I was treated like I was reverse engineering their product. I was given no information as to if my findings were correct on the 7818 outputting -0.6v.
So... I've ordered the 7818 regulator anyways and will perform the transplant. Will let you know when I receive the item and carry out the work.
Fingers crossed it'll work ��
Long story short, they offered me 30% discount on a new purchase to replace the z5500, but in all honesty I'm not impressed with their recent offerings so I declined.
As to their initial response to the 78m18a chip malfunctioning, let's say it was extremely guarded.
I was treated like I was reverse engineering their product. I was given no information as to if my findings were correct on the 7818 outputting -0.6v.
So... I've ordered the 7818 regulator anyways and will perform the transplant. Will let you know when I receive the item and carry out the work.
Fingers crossed it'll work ��
Hello All,
i have read all 73 pages of posts and its trully amnezing.
What brings me here is trying to find help for my Z-5500. So all my speakers started to produce high pitch noise which is annoying when playing some movie and there is some silence. I was trying to isolate case, but it happens on all connected sources as soon any signal is being provided. Tried to reconnect wiring, replace fuse and more such stuff. But nothing bring solution.
I took them to local speakers repair shop, guy just checking by ear told DSP processor is damaged and needs to be replaced. Problem is they are not avialable and also im not 100% sure his diagnose is correct.
Maybe someone here got similiar problem and was able to fix? i really dont want to replace them
i have read all 73 pages of posts and its trully amnezing.
What brings me here is trying to find help for my Z-5500. So all my speakers started to produce high pitch noise which is annoying when playing some movie and there is some silence. I was trying to isolate case, but it happens on all connected sources as soon any signal is being provided. Tried to reconnect wiring, replace fuse and more such stuff. But nothing bring solution.
I took them to local speakers repair shop, guy just checking by ear told DSP processor is damaged and needs to be replaced. Problem is they are not avialable and also im not 100% sure his diagnose is correct.
Maybe someone here got similiar problem and was able to fix? i really dont want to replace them
Z5500 Pod Issue
Hi All. I resurrected my old Z5500 from storage but couldn't find the original Control Pod. So, I purchased a new old stock one and seem to be having some issues when I tested them... The original speakers and subwoofer have a PID of 501 and the replacement Control Pod has a PID of 108.
In Direct 6 channel mode, none of the speakers can be heard using the test tones. Only if I flick the switch on the back from "6 ch direct" to "stereo 1-3" mode, and do the test from windows sound manager cycling through the three inputs will I hear all speakers work properly. This rules out the speakers and amp as the issue I assume.
Is there an known incompatibility between the versions of original speakers/amp and a newer control pod?
Thank you in advance!
Hi All. I resurrected my old Z5500 from storage but couldn't find the original Control Pod. So, I purchased a new old stock one and seem to be having some issues when I tested them... The original speakers and subwoofer have a PID of 501 and the replacement Control Pod has a PID of 108.
In Direct 6 channel mode, none of the speakers can be heard using the test tones. Only if I flick the switch on the back from "6 ch direct" to "stereo 1-3" mode, and do the test from windows sound manager cycling through the three inputs will I hear all speakers work properly. This rules out the speakers and amp as the issue I assume.
Is there an known incompatibility between the versions of original speakers/amp and a newer control pod?
Thank you in advance!
Hey, Got a Z-5400 here tried to wire a 3.5mm plug into the d-sub but the speaker is humming very loud. The music from phone is playing on the speaker, but just very loud humming. at first I thought the input cable was to long and picking up noise. Shorted the cable but nothing improved. When I pull power out the wall while music is playing, the humming goes down and for a second music plays without a humm untill I plug the power back then humming is back..
pin 9. Right front - connected to 3.5mm plug in phone
pin 7. Unmute left right center sub - connected to pin 11 ground
pin 6. Turn amps on - connected to pin11 ground.
pin 11. Ground - connected to 3.5mm plug in phone ground.
Anybody knows if I did something wrong or forgot to wire a pin?
I also tried left front, center and sub they all play music with loud humming. Also tried other phone but same effect.
pin 9. Right front - connected to 3.5mm plug in phone
pin 7. Unmute left right center sub - connected to pin 11 ground
pin 6. Turn amps on - connected to pin11 ground.
pin 11. Ground - connected to 3.5mm plug in phone ground.
Anybody knows if I did something wrong or forgot to wire a pin?
I also tried left front, center and sub they all play music with loud humming. Also tried other phone but same effect.
Hi.
Maybe you could use an resistor in your 3,5mm headphone plug. Then you need to put the resistor between left signal to ground and right signal to ground.
But i dont remember how many ohms you need to pick.
also an isolated cable would be nice, because of disturbing frequencys.
Hopefully it helped a little.
Kind regards,
Mordi
Thanks for reply, I fixed the humming by using original z-5400 cable. But then had a high pitch noise in my speakers which was solved by soldering a potentionmeter in line with front speakers and put pc volume at 100%.
This fixed noise in front speakers so orderded an 6 channel potentiometer so volume can be controlled on all speakers at the same time.
The resistor probably have the same effect as potentiometer so that will help indeed!
As addition to previous post this is now my replacement for Z-5400 control center.
Got a potentiometer for front, rear, center and sub.
Waiting for an 6 channel potentiometer from Aliexpress, but might not need it since it works perfect right now.
Problems I had with the original control center was that it would hop automatic through all inputs which made it almost impossible to use and the leds behind the display were weak for years at this moment.
Thanks for all information provided in this thread!
Hi.
Thanks to all those who have contributed to this thread over the years
It's been interesting reading.
Thanks to camouflageX also, whose pinouts I plan to work from.
I have a fully working Z5400 system.
A few years ago I replaced the 5 speakers with some Kenwood 6Ω hifi speakers I had.
They worked ok and sounded good to me (I am no audiophile). Still have the original speakers
Recently I have got a new set of 5 8Ω Wharfedales.
While I think they sound better than the Kenwoods, the Z5400 amp doesn't have enough RMS wattage to drive them properly.
The original speakers are 2Ω, I think, so need less power.
So I have ordered a 5 channel power amp with RCA inputs, 90WPC, all 5 driven and also another active sub.
Reading through this thread it would appear that most of you are bypassing the control pod.
My pod is working and as I like it, I would like to use it to control the volume levels to the new amp.
The only options I've found otherwise are to get an AVR, which I don't need any of the other inputs or a USB/keyboard volume controler.
I prefer the pod as it lets me change the other levels as well as the main volume, has the display, remote and is a compact unit on my desk and so would like to keep it.
The soundcard in the pc does the sound processing, so I mostly only use the pod in 6 channel direct mode. I set the effects and bass crossover in the software.
The pod is connected to the soundcard with the original 3.5 jack cables and will still be connected this way.
I'm thinking to replace the D plug pod output lead with 6 RCA terminated shielded cables to plug 5 into the amp and 1 into the sub.
Then to take a 12v supply and ground for powering the pod from a molex in the pc and also take another for the trigger to activate the amp.
So would I be right to replace the pod output leads like this?
Rear right amp in RCA centre - 1 (brown)
Rear left amp in RCA centre - 3 (red)
Center amp in RCA centre - 4 (green)
Front left amp in RCA centre - 5 (yellow)
Front right amp in RCA centre - 9 (purple)
Sub in RCA centre - 2 (grey)
All grounds RCA outers - 13 (signal ground)
12v pc supply - 14 (thick brown)
Pc ground - 15 (thick black)
All other leads de-soldered and removed
12v pc supply and ground to a jack for the amp trigger
Then hopefully it all works with the pod and amp being turned on when I boot the pc
Thanks for your opinions, Kristen
Thanks to all those who have contributed to this thread over the years
It's been interesting reading.
Thanks to camouflageX also, whose pinouts I plan to work from.
I have a fully working Z5400 system.
A few years ago I replaced the 5 speakers with some Kenwood 6Ω hifi speakers I had.
They worked ok and sounded good to me (I am no audiophile). Still have the original speakers
Recently I have got a new set of 5 8Ω Wharfedales.
While I think they sound better than the Kenwoods, the Z5400 amp doesn't have enough RMS wattage to drive them properly.
The original speakers are 2Ω, I think, so need less power.
So I have ordered a 5 channel power amp with RCA inputs, 90WPC, all 5 driven and also another active sub.
Reading through this thread it would appear that most of you are bypassing the control pod.
My pod is working and as I like it, I would like to use it to control the volume levels to the new amp.
The only options I've found otherwise are to get an AVR, which I don't need any of the other inputs or a USB/keyboard volume controler.
I prefer the pod as it lets me change the other levels as well as the main volume, has the display, remote and is a compact unit on my desk and so would like to keep it.
The soundcard in the pc does the sound processing, so I mostly only use the pod in 6 channel direct mode. I set the effects and bass crossover in the software.
The pod is connected to the soundcard with the original 3.5 jack cables and will still be connected this way.
I'm thinking to replace the D plug pod output lead with 6 RCA terminated shielded cables to plug 5 into the amp and 1 into the sub.
Then to take a 12v supply and ground for powering the pod from a molex in the pc and also take another for the trigger to activate the amp.
So would I be right to replace the pod output leads like this?
Rear right amp in RCA centre - 1 (brown)
Rear left amp in RCA centre - 3 (red)
Center amp in RCA centre - 4 (green)
Front left amp in RCA centre - 5 (yellow)
Front right amp in RCA centre - 9 (purple)
Sub in RCA centre - 2 (grey)
All grounds RCA outers - 13 (signal ground)
12v pc supply - 14 (thick brown)
Pc ground - 15 (thick black)
All other leads de-soldered and removed
12v pc supply and ground to a jack for the amp trigger
Then hopefully it all works with the pod and amp being turned on when I boot the pc
Thanks for your opinions, Kristen
Yes this should work, as the wires in the cable are behind the pod's sound control and effects.
What I would do to accomplish what you want is this:
Open the pod and desolder the wired 1 (brown), 3 (red), 4 (green), 5 (yellow) and 9 (purple). Drill a hole in the back of the pod to put in your shielded wires for RCA plugs and solder these wires to the board which you desoldered before.
Then its also possible to solder a wire to 14 (thick brown) in your pod and get this to the remote port of your amp to turn it on when you push the power button on the pod.
{added}
Read your post again and see you also want another active sub through your new amp. Then it's probably easier to just cut off the d-sub connector off the cable and put RCA connectors on the pins for all the speakers incl sub and strip the thick brown wire for 12v for remote on your amp and power pin 14 and 15 with your pc. In my opinion then you should be able to completely control your new amp with the z-5400 pod.
{2nd add}
https://gathering.tweakers.net/forum/list_messages/1424449Here is a post in dutch you might be able to translate it, but he kinda achieved the same as you want.
He says he used the +12v,-12v and ground from his pc PSU. He also needed to put +8V on pin 10 which is Control Pod logic (thick red). SO he did put 6x1.5V batteries on pin 11 and 10 after this his pod worked. I think you could also put pin 10 on your 12v line and pin 11 on 5v lines as the difference between them is 7V. Question is is 7V enough.
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Thanks for your quick reply. The sub, having its own amp, won’t be going through the 5 channel amp that will be powering the 5 speakers. I’ll only be using the one sub. I’ve got the cables with the rca plugs on already. So I had planned to bring them in through holes in the back of the pod like you’ve suggested.
Thanks, Kris
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Hi all, this thread is awesome, so much quality content over the years and still going! I've had it in my bookmarks for years as I thought I would pimp my kit but it hasn't happened yet, I'm still using it stock since 2009.
I started to have this problem where the sound suddenly stops playing on all speakers, without any pop, without changes on the display, the switch stays blue ... it just goes silent. Sometimes I just need to switch off and on the pod once to get the sound back, sometimes it takes a few switches, and sometimes I stop trying after 10 times and use my headphones instead, plugged directly to the pc.
I opened the sub (R846 with clips) and didn't see anything out of place, moving part or the common problems seen on this thread (blown capacitor, burnt component...).
I opened the control pod (R108) and noticed a darkened area around a component that gets really hot while in use (too hot to leave finger on it); it is the one labelled U702 on the board, it is an LM317D2 from STMicroelectronics (also showing GKOY4 VW CHN 047 on it), a linear voltage regulator. The surrounding area seems to have taken a brown color from the original green. I don't know if it's supposed to heat that much or not, if it should be replaced or upgraded, nor if I should clean the "brownish glue" visible on some connections here and there (with what?) and whether or not this is the source of the problem. Any ideas/instructions please?
I started to have this problem where the sound suddenly stops playing on all speakers, without any pop, without changes on the display, the switch stays blue ... it just goes silent. Sometimes I just need to switch off and on the pod once to get the sound back, sometimes it takes a few switches, and sometimes I stop trying after 10 times and use my headphones instead, plugged directly to the pc.
I opened the sub (R846 with clips) and didn't see anything out of place, moving part or the common problems seen on this thread (blown capacitor, burnt component...).
I opened the control pod (R108) and noticed a darkened area around a component that gets really hot while in use (too hot to leave finger on it); it is the one labelled U702 on the board, it is an LM317D2 from STMicroelectronics (also showing GKOY4 VW CHN 047 on it), a linear voltage regulator. The surrounding area seems to have taken a brown color from the original green. I don't know if it's supposed to heat that much or not, if it should be replaced or upgraded, nor if I should clean the "brownish glue" visible on some connections here and there (with what?) and whether or not this is the source of the problem. Any ideas/instructions please?
Attachments
I found this video that made my system silent, after a period of constant noise.
Las link can help someone.
Now I have another problem with the control pod.
When the switch is turned off and I want to turn it on, the control pod lights up directly, I press the button to turn it off, the light bulb turns red, but the display still shows, and I can change anything, volume or effect, when pressing the button the LED turns blue, everything is exactly as it was when it was off, the difference is that the lights on the display turn off.
Another problem is that it has a strange noise in all the speakers, which increases with the volume.
It is not permanent, a small (POC) sound is heard a few seconds away.
It's as if the sound is hanging on.
Has anyone ever encountered this problem?
Las link can help someone.
Now I have another problem with the control pod.
When the switch is turned off and I want to turn it on, the control pod lights up directly, I press the button to turn it off, the light bulb turns red, but the display still shows, and I can change anything, volume or effect, when pressing the button the LED turns blue, everything is exactly as it was when it was off, the difference is that the lights on the display turn off.
Another problem is that it has a strange noise in all the speakers, which increases with the volume.
It is not permanent, a small (POC) sound is heard a few seconds away.
It's as if the sound is hanging on.
Has anyone ever encountered this problem?
Hihi,
(Prerequisites)
I just got a Z-5500 given to me by a lovely guy at a an audio shop that I go to a lot. It is missing the control pod and by the looks of things it's just something that is kind of waiting to fail, and I've looked at a bunch of the serial to 3.5mm cables on eBay, Amazon etc and most of them have some quite bad reviews about the products being duds. And the original pods just seem to be an eventual failing point.
The cables that you find online seem to be quite simple and I don't see why I wouldn't be able to make my own.
(Actual question)
I've done a reasonable amount of research into it and I've seen all the pinouts and things for the serial connector, and since the control pod has to use those pins only to turn the module on and we have pins 10 and 14 that for me both supply +18v, from there I can just add a resistor right and connect it to pin 7 and turn on the speaker. This is if I want an on switch on the cable. I can just cut a hole in the amp and put a switch.
I was wondering if anyone knows where to get +5v on the main board.
P.S I love seeing active communities around products like this
(Prerequisites)
I just got a Z-5500 given to me by a lovely guy at a an audio shop that I go to a lot. It is missing the control pod and by the looks of things it's just something that is kind of waiting to fail, and I've looked at a bunch of the serial to 3.5mm cables on eBay, Amazon etc and most of them have some quite bad reviews about the products being duds. And the original pods just seem to be an eventual failing point.
The cables that you find online seem to be quite simple and I don't see why I wouldn't be able to make my own.
(Actual question)
I've done a reasonable amount of research into it and I've seen all the pinouts and things for the serial connector, and since the control pod has to use those pins only to turn the module on and we have pins 10 and 14 that for me both supply +18v, from there I can just add a resistor right and connect it to pin 7 and turn on the speaker. This is if I want an on switch on the cable. I can just cut a hole in the amp and put a switch.
I was wondering if anyone knows where to get +5v on the main board.
P.S I love seeing active communities around products like this
Btw idk if its obvi or not but I have looked and cannot find +5v on the main board.