I bought a 40$ 2.1 speaker system from a biglots store
And as I checked the subwoofer over. first of all air leaks out of the aux in making an irritating sound.
And theres lots of slappy flicckery "noise" coming through the subwoofer port at the higher frequencys
The main issue is around the edge of the subwoofer cone. a quarter inch past the very edge of the surround its slightly bent. as if it was over powered and bent or someone mushed the edge of it.
its only very slight but i'm worried it will completely ruin the subwoofer and cause the sound quality to be off.
It uses thick soft foam to seal the subwoofer and the back input/output panel of the subwoofer.
Also its somehow bluetooth and aux-in.
The satellite speakers are rated 4 ohms 8 watts. And the subwoofer i believe rated 9 watts at 4 ohms.
It seems like the subwoofer is slightly overpowered by the built in amplifier at higher volumes and the cone almost immediately gets warm but not hot after about 10 seconds of a solid frequency tone being played at a very high volume.
Will the subwoofer work itself in and the spider and surround become more flexible (handle more power?)
its incredibly stiff spider and surround. if you were to press on the dust cap you would likely scrunch it in before the subwoofer gets close to bottoming out.
The bass sounds decent at 56-59hz and easily fills the entire room with bass that sounds like a car booming their speakers in the distance.
The only problem that really bothers me is a background hiss when plugged into AUX in. or when a very quiet sound is playing when connected with bluetooth i can hear enormous amounts of hissing unless the air conditioning is running.
Is there a way I could bypass the bluetooth module and directly solder the aux input wires bridged across to the amp chips input and cut off the bluetooth module?
I feel that would eliminate all the hissing. it seems to only make the hissing sound when the bluetooth module switches the speakers on to the ready state
in its standby state there is no hiss and just pure silence.
Also the gain is WAAAY too excessive.
Is there any way to tone down the gain? its like 1% volume in my computer master volume and its still ridiculously loud and thumping bass.
At 100% volume music is distorted beyond recognition and sounds like someone is scraping a wire brush across all the contacts of the circuit board.
At low volume the quality is perfectly fine though.
Could I also solder some resistors in a specific series parallel arrangement across the inputs of the amplifier chips to permanently reduce the excessive volume gain and reduce static hiss?
Im sorry for this really long description. I end up going typing crazy and i typed this all within 5 minutes.
And as I checked the subwoofer over. first of all air leaks out of the aux in making an irritating sound.
And theres lots of slappy flicckery "noise" coming through the subwoofer port at the higher frequencys
The main issue is around the edge of the subwoofer cone. a quarter inch past the very edge of the surround its slightly bent. as if it was over powered and bent or someone mushed the edge of it.
its only very slight but i'm worried it will completely ruin the subwoofer and cause the sound quality to be off.
It uses thick soft foam to seal the subwoofer and the back input/output panel of the subwoofer.
Also its somehow bluetooth and aux-in.
The satellite speakers are rated 4 ohms 8 watts. And the subwoofer i believe rated 9 watts at 4 ohms.
It seems like the subwoofer is slightly overpowered by the built in amplifier at higher volumes and the cone almost immediately gets warm but not hot after about 10 seconds of a solid frequency tone being played at a very high volume.
Will the subwoofer work itself in and the spider and surround become more flexible (handle more power?)
its incredibly stiff spider and surround. if you were to press on the dust cap you would likely scrunch it in before the subwoofer gets close to bottoming out.
The bass sounds decent at 56-59hz and easily fills the entire room with bass that sounds like a car booming their speakers in the distance.
The only problem that really bothers me is a background hiss when plugged into AUX in. or when a very quiet sound is playing when connected with bluetooth i can hear enormous amounts of hissing unless the air conditioning is running.
Is there a way I could bypass the bluetooth module and directly solder the aux input wires bridged across to the amp chips input and cut off the bluetooth module?
I feel that would eliminate all the hissing. it seems to only make the hissing sound when the bluetooth module switches the speakers on to the ready state
in its standby state there is no hiss and just pure silence.
Also the gain is WAAAY too excessive.
Is there any way to tone down the gain? its like 1% volume in my computer master volume and its still ridiculously loud and thumping bass.
At 100% volume music is distorted beyond recognition and sounds like someone is scraping a wire brush across all the contacts of the circuit board.
At low volume the quality is perfectly fine though.
Could I also solder some resistors in a specific series parallel arrangement across the inputs of the amplifier chips to permanently reduce the excessive volume gain and reduce static hiss?
Im sorry for this really long description. I end up going typing crazy and i typed this all within 5 minutes.
Ew.
Air leaks: If you can't build a new box for it, try sealing the stuff up with silicone.
The cone: Could you show us a picture? It's very hard to understand.
The gain: Just.. Don't turn it up all the way. Master your music at -3dB like I do. It always prevents clipping partially. The amplifiers in those things are likely rated at 5w coninuous clean power.
The resistance of the speakers is low so that way they can artificially inflate the power handling. 40W at 8 Ohms is decent, but 40W at 4Ohms is pretty terriboo.
Aux in hiss: Is the Aux in on the control pod or the plate/amp?
If it's a remote pod: Look for ground faults. Open the device up, and look if the signal ground is connected to the correct reference ground, or even at all.
(https://youtu.be/11Kr6W6jSdg by GreatScott)
I hope this is somewhat helpful!
Regards,
Anna
The subwoofer is 4 ohms 9 watts.
the satellites are 4 ohms 8 watts a piece
There is NO volume knob or control on the speaker or subwoofer box
Absolutely none at all. Only way I can control the volume is with the device im using's audio volume control through aux in or bluetooth
Theres also NO power button. only way I can turn it off is unplugging it. There isnt even any switch solder pads or volume solder pads on the PCB!
There is no remote pod either.
The cone around the edges very near the surround (paper/cardboard like cone)
is mushed like its been shoved outwards too far causing the edges to flatten inwards near the surround.
And would hot temp hot glue gun hot glue be enough to seal leaks?
The only place I need to seal is on the inside the box around the AUX IN input jack port.
the only way I can adjust the volume at all whatsoever is with my computer. phone or tablets volume control option on the device itself.
The speaker has no volume or power buttons at all. Nothing hidden either.
I'm thinking of probing the PCB with my fingers till I hear a loud buzz like if you touched the 3.5mm jack plug while its unplugged from the computer but plugged into the speaker.
while its in bluetooth mode.. That should allow me to find near where the ACTUAL direct inputs to the amplifier chip is. so i can manually solder a 3.5mm jack with a plug on the end straight to the chip and bypass the bluetooth module. reducing the static by 10 fold.
would that be possible?
if so. could i simply wire three 1k resistors in series with the leads. 1 to negative. then 1 to left and right channels. in series with the chips inputs.
just an idea but I dont have to do that.
the satellites are 4 ohms 8 watts a piece
There is NO volume knob or control on the speaker or subwoofer box
Absolutely none at all. Only way I can control the volume is with the device im using's audio volume control through aux in or bluetooth
Theres also NO power button. only way I can turn it off is unplugging it. There isnt even any switch solder pads or volume solder pads on the PCB!
There is no remote pod either.
The cone around the edges very near the surround (paper/cardboard like cone)
is mushed like its been shoved outwards too far causing the edges to flatten inwards near the surround.
And would hot temp hot glue gun hot glue be enough to seal leaks?
The only place I need to seal is on the inside the box around the AUX IN input jack port.
the only way I can adjust the volume at all whatsoever is with my computer. phone or tablets volume control option on the device itself.
The speaker has no volume or power buttons at all. Nothing hidden either.
I'm thinking of probing the PCB with my fingers till I hear a loud buzz like if you touched the 3.5mm jack plug while its unplugged from the computer but plugged into the speaker.
while its in bluetooth mode.. That should allow me to find near where the ACTUAL direct inputs to the amplifier chip is. so i can manually solder a 3.5mm jack with a plug on the end straight to the chip and bypass the bluetooth module. reducing the static by 10 fold.
would that be possible?
if so. could i simply wire three 1k resistors in series with the leads. 1 to negative. then 1 to left and right channels. in series with the chips inputs.
just an idea but I dont have to do that.
Or use a potentiometer..
I found a Phillips subwoofer, it was a sound bar for TV with subwoofer, the signal from the sound bar to the sub is trough Bluetooth, I only own the sub.. I searched online for the repair manual ( service manual) and also i saw before searching on the web, the Bluetooth device had it's own PCB and 5 wires go to the main subwoofer pcb, and 3 of them where ecranated, so i tought it was signal, I ve soldered two rca s on there, and also it had stand by just putting 5v to one wire,got it to work.. Tell me the model of your sub and I might find the schematics. Cheers, Bruno
I found a Phillips subwoofer, it was a sound bar for TV with subwoofer, the signal from the sound bar to the sub is trough Bluetooth, I only own the sub.. I searched online for the repair manual ( service manual) and also i saw before searching on the web, the Bluetooth device had it's own PCB and 5 wires go to the main subwoofer pcb, and 3 of them where ecranated, so i tought it was signal, I ve soldered two rca s on there, and also it had stand by just putting 5v to one wire,got it to work.. Tell me the model of your sub and I might find the schematics. Cheers, Bruno
40w at 4 ohm or 40w at 8 ohm is the same power!
Let's say the amp outputs 12v rms, 12v into 4ohm is 12/4=3, 3x12 = 36w. Same 12v output in 8ohm is 12/8=1.5 x 12 = 18w. So 40w in 8ohm is the same as 40w in 4 ohm, only difference it requires more voltage for the same power at higher impedance. Cheers
Let's say the amp outputs 12v rms, 12v into 4ohm is 12/4=3, 3x12 = 36w. Same 12v output in 8ohm is 12/8=1.5 x 12 = 18w. So 40w in 8ohm is the same as 40w in 4 ohm, only difference it requires more voltage for the same power at higher impedance. Cheers
Just use nailpolish, nail ( transparent nail polish) this way tje speaker cone will be hard as rock, and this will help for better bass at lower frequency as well, just bend the cone the way it should be and polish it, I did one of mine 2-3 layers of nail polish, and the result were great. You can try this
It has a 3.5mm aux input jack.
And two RCA outputs to the left and right speakers (yes its really in that configuration)
The bluetooth module is on a seperate PCB
Can I wire a resistor to the 5v standby from the power supply and find the chips inputs and just wire some wires straight up to them?
I was thinking i could bridge the left+right channel positive wires to the chip FROM the aux input solder pads left and right with a resistor in series to the chip. and leave the ground where it is so there wont be any ground loops.
Its an Altec Lansing speaker 2.1 system but I dont believe theres a schematic anywhere. I cant find any images on google by searching the model number
Tried terms like Altec lansing 2.1 bluetooth "model number" which the model number is "IM210 BLACK" exactly on the package and in the manual. the satellite speaker cones look VERY vintage and retro. with a futuristic speaker box design for the sub and satellite speakers.
and many variations of it. Cant find the exact model on google. its just not there
but the subwoofer is on the bottom. and the port is on the left side
It says 18W on the package. with each satellite being 3 watts RMS each and the subwoofer being 6 watts RMS
I havent got any nail polish though so I would have to go buy some.. Also wouldn't that change the frequency response and tune it lower?
The PCB has a built in switch mode power supply with good seperation going directly to the amplifier chips and whatnot.
Don't know the voltage but it might be from 12v to 20v
I'm thinking of bypassing the entire situation by getting a 3.5mm jack splitter and hooking the sub up seperately. and powering it alone by itself. and hooking the speakers up to separate amp that doesnt have any static.
The subwoofer is silent compared to the satellite speakers background static/hiss so it would be fine to use it that way. i'd just need to be careful with the way I have the volume on the subwoofer to match the speakers volume.
And two RCA outputs to the left and right speakers (yes its really in that configuration)
The bluetooth module is on a seperate PCB
Can I wire a resistor to the 5v standby from the power supply and find the chips inputs and just wire some wires straight up to them?
I was thinking i could bridge the left+right channel positive wires to the chip FROM the aux input solder pads left and right with a resistor in series to the chip. and leave the ground where it is so there wont be any ground loops.
Its an Altec Lansing speaker 2.1 system but I dont believe theres a schematic anywhere. I cant find any images on google by searching the model number
Tried terms like Altec lansing 2.1 bluetooth "model number" which the model number is "IM210 BLACK" exactly on the package and in the manual. the satellite speaker cones look VERY vintage and retro. with a futuristic speaker box design for the sub and satellite speakers.
and many variations of it. Cant find the exact model on google. its just not there
but the subwoofer is on the bottom. and the port is on the left side
It says 18W on the package. with each satellite being 3 watts RMS each and the subwoofer being 6 watts RMS
I havent got any nail polish though so I would have to go buy some.. Also wouldn't that change the frequency response and tune it lower?
The PCB has a built in switch mode power supply with good seperation going directly to the amplifier chips and whatnot.
Don't know the voltage but it might be from 12v to 20v
I'm thinking of bypassing the entire situation by getting a 3.5mm jack splitter and hooking the sub up seperately. and powering it alone by itself. and hooking the speakers up to separate amp that doesnt have any static.
The subwoofer is silent compared to the satellite speakers background static/hiss so it would be fine to use it that way. i'd just need to be careful with the way I have the volume on the subwoofer to match the speakers volume.
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Sorry I dont understand what you meant with 5v from the Bluetooth and bridging the L and R
For my sub I had to put 5 volts on one of the TDA chip because that's the way it's stand by works, your doesn't have stand by? i mean that's not the problem for you.
Can you make some pictures, also what ic's are in your sub
For my sub I had to put 5 volts on one of the TDA chip because that's the way it's stand by works, your doesn't have stand by? i mean that's not the problem for you.
Can you make some pictures, also what ic's are in your sub
Mine might have some sort of standby but I believe its part of the bluetooth modules.
i cant see the IC's because they have a heatsink soldered into the board whilst covering them up at the same time.. It would destroy the heatsink to get them off.
I believe the standby is part of the bluetooth modules system rather than the chip itself.
because if i put my ear up to the speaker I can hear some static still. so its still on but the static is coming from the bluetooth module.
i think there might not be a standby for the chip itself. but for the bluetooth module instead. because immediately after i stop playing music. i hear the hiss for for about a half a second. then suddenly silence.
and thats what my other bluetooth speakers do as well.
there is TWO ic's with a seperate heatsink on each soldered along with the pins of the IC on top of the IC.
it would be an ENORMOUS pain to desolder the heatsinks off of the chip without damaging them. and it would be an even bigger pain to get them back on tightly!
Theres a lot of capacitors around the IC's of varying values.
i cant see the IC's because they have a heatsink soldered into the board whilst covering them up at the same time.. It would destroy the heatsink to get them off.
I believe the standby is part of the bluetooth modules system rather than the chip itself.
because if i put my ear up to the speaker I can hear some static still. so its still on but the static is coming from the bluetooth module.
i think there might not be a standby for the chip itself. but for the bluetooth module instead. because immediately after i stop playing music. i hear the hiss for for about a half a second. then suddenly silence.
and thats what my other bluetooth speakers do as well.
there is TWO ic's with a seperate heatsink on each soldered along with the pins of the IC on top of the IC.
it would be an ENORMOUS pain to desolder the heatsinks off of the chip without damaging them. and it would be an even bigger pain to get them back on tightly!
Theres a lot of capacitors around the IC's of varying values.
Aren't there on the board, markings of the wires? Or the name of ic?, i dont know..
On aux do you have hiss?
A potentiometer on input would help if the hiss is from the amp not the Bluetooth, and you can set the volume. Just put the third pin of the potentiometer to gnd, on the forst one you apply signal from your pc/phone whatever and from the middle one you enter the signal to the subwoofer, also try 100pico farad (101 code on small cap) from L + to GND ( same on the other channel
On aux do you have hiss?
A potentiometer on input would help if the hiss is from the amp not the Bluetooth, and you can set the volume. Just put the third pin of the potentiometer to gnd, on the forst one you apply signal from your pc/phone whatever and from the middle one you enter the signal to the subwoofer, also try 100pico farad (101 code on small cap) from L + to GND ( same on the other channel
Yes its most likely an aluminum heatsink.
Very small heatsink. just a flat box bent into a rectangle upwards shape. No extra fins.
And the heatsinks are soldered onto the IC's into the PCB.
Full through-hole PCB pads as well.. so good luck to me getting even the tiniest chance of getting the heatsink off to see the IC chip names.
Its not a vertical IC that screws onto a heatsink like most amps are made these days.
I believe the IC's might be bridged for the subwoofer with a filter. And with a filter for the 2 stereo satellite speakers in seperate channels.
or they could be one IC for speakers and the other for the amp. havent tested yet.
There is hiss regardless if i'm using aux input or bluetooth mode.
Doesnt matter if a cable is plugged into the aux in or not either if its in aux mode.
Tried completely shorting the aux in left+right channels to ground absolutely NO change in hiss or static.
It has TOO MUCH GAIN i believe. and theres no way to fix it besides getting rid of the bluetooth module and wiring the chips directly to the 3.5mm input aux in.
The hiss is from the bluetooth module being active (and out of standby mode) Whenever audio is playing or the bluetooth module is in active mode (continously active when running through AUX IN since with aux in. the static doesnt go away when its in aux mode. continous static even if i short the 3.5mm left+right channels to ground with a metal wire. makes no change.
Very small heatsink. just a flat box bent into a rectangle upwards shape. No extra fins.
And the heatsinks are soldered onto the IC's into the PCB.
Full through-hole PCB pads as well.. so good luck to me getting even the tiniest chance of getting the heatsink off to see the IC chip names.
Its not a vertical IC that screws onto a heatsink like most amps are made these days.
I believe the IC's might be bridged for the subwoofer with a filter. And with a filter for the 2 stereo satellite speakers in seperate channels.
or they could be one IC for speakers and the other for the amp. havent tested yet.
There is hiss regardless if i'm using aux input or bluetooth mode.
Doesnt matter if a cable is plugged into the aux in or not either if its in aux mode.
Tried completely shorting the aux in left+right channels to ground absolutely NO change in hiss or static.
It has TOO MUCH GAIN i believe. and theres no way to fix it besides getting rid of the bluetooth module and wiring the chips directly to the 3.5mm input aux in.
The hiss is from the bluetooth module being active (and out of standby mode) Whenever audio is playing or the bluetooth module is in active mode (continously active when running through AUX IN since with aux in. the static doesnt go away when its in aux mode. continous static even if i short the 3.5mm left+right channels to ground with a metal wire. makes no change.
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Yes it is exactly like that. 4 leads in the middle soldered to ground and heatsink!!!!
Except there is two separate chips in same exact configuration with two individual heatsinks. one heatsink per IC
I really hope the IC's aren't being overdriven That would suck if they popped! They sound really good when there isnt any hiss from the bluetooth module being active! (volume turned up loud enough to drown out the hiss)
Also you might want to read all my edits. sorry for making so many. i tend to add a lot of extra detail. just in case.
Also take note!! even when the aux in 3.5mm cable is plugged in.. No change in hiss when shorting the L+R to ground by wrapping wire over the end of the plug! It still hisses exactly the same!!
They ARE altec lansing bluetooth 2.1 wireless speakers. They must be extremely new because you cant even find them on amazon or google images!
Except there is two separate chips in same exact configuration with two individual heatsinks. one heatsink per IC
I really hope the IC's aren't being overdriven That would suck if they popped! They sound really good when there isnt any hiss from the bluetooth module being active! (volume turned up loud enough to drown out the hiss)
Also you might want to read all my edits. sorry for making so many. i tend to add a lot of extra detail. just in case.
Also take note!! even when the aux in 3.5mm cable is plugged in.. No change in hiss when shorting the L+R to ground by wrapping wire over the end of the plug! It still hisses exactly the same!!
They ARE altec lansing bluetooth 2.1 wireless speakers. They must be extremely new because you cant even find them on amazon or google images!
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You said the Bluetooth is on other pcb? The wires that go from it to the main subwoofer pcb, can you remove it or it os soldered?
If you have a multimeter measure the voltage after the bridge rectifier, than from gnd to the Bluetooth board measure each pin, note if there is a a voltage on one of them, the get a signal source wire the gnd to the gnd of the board and with the signal + wire try every pin on the wires that go from the Bluetooth to the main subwoofer board, you can do this even if you cant remove the cables, od there's sound, you cab by pass the Bluetooth and directly feed the amp, measure from gnd to those wires from the Bluetooth to make sure there is no voltage that goes back into your signal source, that voltage is for the Bluetooth supply and one of them wires must be and the others should be for signal as well
If you have a multimeter measure the voltage after the bridge rectifier, than from gnd to the Bluetooth board measure each pin, note if there is a a voltage on one of them, the get a signal source wire the gnd to the gnd of the board and with the signal + wire try every pin on the wires that go from the Bluetooth to the main subwoofer board, you can do this even if you cant remove the cables, od there's sound, you cab by pass the Bluetooth and directly feed the amp, measure from gnd to those wires from the Bluetooth to make sure there is no voltage that goes back into your signal source, that voltage is for the Bluetooth supply and one of them wires must be and the others should be for signal as well
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