This sounds like there may be a fault in the cable or the connectors themselves. When things are working, wiggle things around where the cables end up and see if there's any reaction. Sometimes volume control and buttons become intermittent and require cleanup or some mechanical exercising to do things...

Tiido wrote on 2021-12-02, 00:30:

This sounds like there may be a fault in the cable or the connectors themselves. When things are working, wiggle things around where the cables end up and see if there's any reaction. Sometimes volume control and buttons become intermittent and require cleanup or some mechanical exercising to do things...

wiggling never seemed to do much- I must've re-seated the cables in the subwoofer and the sound cards a dozen times and it never did anything. The cables run directly from inside the speakers, so I can't unplug or reseat them on that end. And I have zero audio experience/knowledge so I'm wary of cracking these things open to do any kind of maintenance- they were budget options when they came out and from the looks of them they don't seem like anyone envisioned them getting opened up/maintenance- just trashed and replaced.

Though the 'mechanical exercising' sounds interesting in the sense that there were definitely times where the output would be quieter from the rear, or the rear would output sound starting halfway through the test sound. Meanwhile now, it's outputting at roughly 100% of the time, full volume.

From what you wrote though, it sounds like this spottiness is within the realm of 'normal' for almost 20 year old analog audio components?

If wiggling cables etc. does nothing then problem is likely not there. Is there crackle etc. when volume is being changed from the knob ? If yes, it is quite likely that this is where the problem lies. Opening things up and spraying some cleaner in it can make thing behave properly for a the coming decade.

It can very well be "normal". I primarly deal with old HiFi stuff that is 30+ years old and most such problems are mechanical in nature. Some connector, switch or pot is just not connecting due to dirt and/or wear and needs to be cleaned or otherwise dealth with.

Tiido wrote on 2021-12-02, 01:44:

If wiggling cables etc. does nothing then problem is likely not there. Is there crackle etc. when volume is being changed from the knob ? If yes, it is quite likely that this is where the problem lies. Opening things up and spraying some cleaner in it can make thing behave properly for a the coming decade.

It can very well be "normal". I primarly deal with old HiFi stuff that is 30+ years old and most such problems are mechanical in nature. Some connector, switch or pot is just not connecting due to dirt and/or wear and needs to be cleaned or otherwise dealth with.

(this pdf probably explains things better than I am about to re connections: https://images10.newegg.com/User-Manual/User_ … _36-121-104.pdf)

There isn't crackle from changing the volume, but there is from moving the speaker->pc 3 cable bunch. This speaker->pc cable runs from inside the center speaker to the PC, and the speaker that crackles is connected directly the subwoofer- not the center speaker. That was why I thought that maybe the movement was interfering with the satellite speaker's wire, since the satellite speaker started working when the cable was moved farther away from the satellite speaker- there' s no direct connection between the then-silent, now-crackling satellite speaker and the speaker->pc cable.

Would that mean that the problem is maybe inside the center speaker where there is a connection issue with the speaker->pc cable, and so the satellite speaker puts out crackle when the speaker output cable is moved?

That narrows things down, this is definitely a cable fault. Unfortunately there's no easy fix for the cables going into the speakers. Cables almost always break at the ends, where stresses are greatest. Ends meaning at connectors and places where cable enters the device when there is no connector. Maybe someone stumbled into the cable or something fell, and it got tugged really hard...

One has to open them up in some way and remove a little length of the cable at the entry and get in a new fresh bit. Soldering etc. is going to be necessary but when there's little to lose it is certainly an option to pursue.

If the PC to speakers cable movement is the only one that has an effect you have pinpointed the problem.

Tiido wrote on 2021-12-02, 02:47:

That narrows things down, this is definitely a cable fault. Unfortunately there's no easy fix for the cables going into the speakers. Cables almost always break at the ends, where stresses are greatest. Ends meaning at connectors and places where cable enters the device when there is no connector. Maybe someone stumbled into the cable or something fell, and it got tugged really hard...

One has to open them up in some way and remove a little length of the cable at the entry and get in a new fresh bit. Soldering etc. is going to be necessary but when there's little to lose it is certainly an option to pursue.

If the PC to speakers cable movement is the only one that has an effect you have pinpointed the problem.

Thanks for the help educating me about these older speakers- I really appreciate it! Seems like the best option is to sell off the working satellite and subwoofer and hunt for a new set of analog speakers for my EAX soundcard. Amazingly, many of these pc speakers sell for more than MSRP 15-20 years later.