Surround Sound Speakers?
I recently received a set of brand new Curtis 5.1 Surround Sound speakers with subwoofer for my computer. I had to buy an audio splitter cable (PC-to-red/white) to get them to work, and they seemed to work fine for about an hour.
After an hour, the left front speaker started buzzing. I tried to ignore it, but the buzzing sound slowly increased, then started making a popping sound. I turned the speakers off, waited five minutes, and turned them back on again. The noise stayed away for about fifteen minutes, then started again. Same thing - a quiet buzzing becoming a loud buzzing, then a popping sound. If I unplugged them for longer, they lasted longer, but never more than about an hour and fifteen minutes, even if they were unplugged overnight.
Also, the buzzing and popping sound occured when there was no sound being played by a game, music, or Windows. I had the computer on a screen saver and left the speakers on to get something to eat, then heard the loud popping sound from another room. Therefore, I don't believe it's related to the games or my software.
If I unplugged the speaker at the subwoofer, the buzzing stopped of course, but resumed as soon as I plugged it back in. When I did this, I also noticed that the back of the subwoofer was very, very warm, which is strange because I have no heat in the computer room and it was only about 55 degrees in there. The speakers and subwoofer have proper ventilation, are on a flat desk (not a carpeted floor, blanket, or anything like that), and are plugged into a surge protector on a regular household outlet (110V AC), just as the instructions said. Everything is also connected properly, as the instructions indicated.
What could be causing this sound? Is it the lack of a sound card (I'm using integrated SoundMAX Digital Audio)? Is the speaker or subwoofer bad?
The sound is great while it works, and it was a gift, so I'd like to keep the speakers if possible. I can't just send them back either (they came from California, and I'm in Michigan, so shipping would be astronomical).
I would appreciate any help anyone would have with this. I thank you for your time and patience, and good luck!
Another detail - Could it be because the computer is sending the 5.1 sound through a single audio cable to five speakers and a subwoofer, and the subwoofer just can't handle it?
Would a surround-sound sound-card that could split up the singal help?
Larry L - I tried that already. It was whichever speaker was plugged into the output port for the front right. Also, it only buzzes and pops when the subwoofer heats up (it gets really hot, even though it's in a cooled room and has nothing blocking the vents and isn't near another heat source.
I called the company that sold it to me, and they're sending another unit to see if that fixes it.