TwoCables

I'm having trouble figuring out how to get a rubber band or two stretched across the opening of the tube (on the inside of the subwoofer, of course). I mean, I had envisioned a rubber band wrapped around the tube holding a rubber band or two stretched across the opening, but that's proving to be quite difficult. I'm afraid of breaking the tube off of the inside. So, what if I were able to find some kind of a flexible screen or maybe a piece of old pantyhose and modify it so that more air could pass through but still get diffused so as to get rid of this air turbulence? Would this be a bad idea for any reason, including any potential harm to my sound?

Definitely. I'm quite determined.

This is the PM 2.1's subwoofer. I can't just replace it. Besides, I don't have that kind of money. I need to modify this thing so that the chuffing stops (if that's what this sound is). I don't know what you mean by, "Some rattle, if intended can be some mighty fine bass". Any rattling noise is unwanted because it's distracting. It needs to be clean.

Damn, you have a good memory. Thank you! You're right that I don't want to find out what that would feel like. I most certainly wouldn't be smiling and saying, "that was shocking". It sounds like I'd probably be injured and seeking medical assistance right away. Maybe? Anyway, I'm thinking that I will try to find a way to change the way the air goes into the tube. Maybe I'll use a rubber band (wrapped around the tube) to enable me to stretch a rubber band or two across the top of the tube. I mean damn, with the way the low-end sounds during this rattle, it seems to me that it's nowhere near its limit! It just sounds to me like the tube is too small or that they should have built in some crossbars inside the tube to diffuse the air a little bit as it moves through it. Mine doesn't appear to have the simple plug-in design; I think it's soldered to the circuit board. When I said that I will need to find a way to do this, I meant that not being able to simply unplug the subwoofer from the amp is going ot make it a bit of a challenge. However, I feel that it will be more than worth it - even if this takes me a ridiculously long time.

The port is still firmly glued in place. I forgot to mention that in my original post, so I added it just now. So, I thank you for asking. Regarding the risk of being electrocuted, would the capacitors in the PM 2.1's amplifier be drained if I put the switch back to the On position for a moment and then followed that by toggling between off and on for good measure (ending in the Off position when I finish, of course)? Also, if I did get electrocuted using the one-hand method, then what would it be like? Painful and scary? Or no big deal at all?

No, it's definitely coming out of the port. The sound is loudest at the port (but it's a quiet rattling sound). With my ear physically touching the mouth of the port and then moving away in any direction, it becomes very clear that the sound is coming out of the port. So, are you saying that port chuffing has a rattling type of sound to it?

I noticed during parts in movies where there's a sound effect going (and sustaining) that's pretty much all low-end and no mids or highs that my subwoofer rattles a little (meaning, it probably rattles for almost any low-end but I can't hear it when it's drowned out by mids and highs coming out of my satellites). The first time I heard it, I spent several minutes pinpointing the source and finally pinpointed it as coming right out of the port on the front. I verified this over and over and over just to be 100% certain of it. So, I took the amplifier off the back with plans to unplug the subwoofer from it so that I could look at it very easily. However, I saw no way to unplug it. In addition to that, i was suddenly extremely afraid of being electrocuted by one of the capacitors due to suddenly remembering that it's quite possible. So, the best that I could do was hold the amp by the panel, shake it and then proceed to check the plastic tube that makes the port on the front. To check the tube, I tapped it using the fleshy part of my fingers (rather than allowing my fingernails to make contact with it). I also verified that the tube isn't loose - it's still firmly glued in place. When I shook the amplifier, I heard no ratttling (nothing is loose that I could tell). When I checked the port tube, it seemed rattle-free, so I don't know where to go from here. Can you help? Or, is this the way all of the PM 2.1 subwoofers are?

If only I had more desk space.

They do. In my limited experience, I always find it to be very difficult to convince someone that they would be much happier with some speaker system that ISN'T made by Logitech or Corsair or some other overly-popular brand and product. They fall for things like the 10" subwoofer and high power rating of the Logitech Z-5500 or the clever wording of the product pages for such speaker systems, including the Corsair SP2500. When people like me speak up and tell them that even the ProMedia 2.1 can produce a better sound, they respond in disbelief, almost as though it's impossible to beat these other speaker systems because they are more popular! One argument they use is that these professional reviewers say that such speaker systems are extremely awesome. heh Of course, then you have the word of mouth and the fact that all of their friends are using these silly speaker systems. You just can't compete with that or convince them that something better is financially within their grasp no matter how much of an audiophile you are. Some gamers are even like, "how would you know? You're not a gamer". What they don't know is, that can be exactly why they should listen because to some of us. Unfortunately, it's like trying to convince someone that a much better version of their favorite food exists and that they have access to it! You can't prove that it's better. I dunno, I think that Klipsch is in an unfortunate position because they don't have the name recognition that these other manufacturers have like Logitech or Corsair - and that's really what the stores want. They care less about selling the highest quality products and more about whether the product will SELL. With the Klipsch name on computer speakers, they don't have that guarantee because people walk right past them going, "That's not a Logitech or a Corsair speaker system, so it's probably some generic piece of crap". Y'know? Yes, SOME people see "Klipsch" and are like, "Whoa! They have Klipsch speakers here!" However, the majority already have their heart set on "Logitech speakers", because they think they're the best since that's what everyone else uses. So Klipsch, perhaps the solution is to just go ahead and create the very best 2.1 computer speaker system that you can (put all of your best people on the project and treat it with the utmost importance) without making it end up cost more than $150 or $200. Take a chance. You know? All it would take is for just a few of the most popular reviewers to try it, and BAM: word of mouth spreads like wildfire. Before you know it, you have orders coming in left and right and then you have a very good reason for stores to sell your product, and that reason is called "demand" (obviously). I mean, Klipsch, you have shown that you are capable of producing some extremely awesome computer speaker systems that don't really break the bank, so I say stop being afraid and just DO it. Ironsave wisely quoted Field of Dreams because it's true: if you build it, then they WILL come. Besides Klipsch, doesn't it bother you that the computer speaker market is being dominated by garbage? I say, I think it's time for you to FIX that problem.

I think that it should be too, but I'd like to know for sure. Maybe I should ask Klipsch directly.

on this monoprice cable. It is made with double shielded RG6. It is quite stiff though so use if your cable run is straight. Also get some 1 female to 2 male couplers so you can put signal into both inputs: http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=102&cp_id=10236&cs_id=1023603&p_id=6261&seq=1&format=2 I confess that I only posted that one just to compete with the $9.99 MediaBridge cable. In reality, I would recommend a cable like this: http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=102&cp_id=10236&cs_id=1023601&p_id=619&seq=1&format=2 Of course, the length depends on the setup, but still. At first I was like, "lol", but then I saw the price and then I was like "LOL" Good one.

MonoPrice is great, but can their cables be acquired in Argentina at a decent price? I hope so! I love their cables. Anyway, if I believe what MonoPrice.com says about "subwoofer cables", then I wouldn't buy one that's advertised as such: I don't have enough experience to know if a "subwoofer cable" really WOULD result in an inferior sound in comparison to a cable that can carry the full range signal, but it makes sense to me. Of course, if you set your crossover frequency to match the cable, then it should be no big deal. Still, I'd rather pay the lower price for the MonoPrice.com cables. For example: $5.28 before shipping for this high-end 15-foot cable: http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=102&cp_id=10236&cs_id=1023603&p_id=6306&seq=1&format=2

That's "The Placebo Effect". If you were to strip the jacket off of a "subwoofer cable" and compare it to these other cables that you can use, then you'd find that they are pretty much identical inside. Consider this: you can use plain old lamp cord (the power cord for lamps) as speaker wire because the term "sound signal" is just a simpler way of saying "electricity that gets sent to the speakers and vibrates the drivers in those speakers for the purpose of vibrating the air so that we can hear it as sound". So, it's not that sound is being sent through the speaker wires or subwoofer cables, it's that electricity is being passed through them. This is why you can use a USB port to do different things, like provide sound to a device or to recharge a device. The only difference is how that electricity is used by whatever is "requesting" it. So, just like MonoPrice is saying in that FAQ section that I asked you to read, calling a cable "a subwoofer cable" is marketing hype. It's bait. They want you to buy their cable so that you don't give your money to someone else selling the exact same type of cable under it's TRUE name, which is far more complex than just "a subwoofer cable". Again, this is a subwoofer cable: http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=102&cp_id=10236&cs_id=1023601&p_id=619&seq=1&format=2 As you can see though, it's not just for subwoofers. If you were to buy "a subwoofer cable", then you'd be getting this exact same type of cable. You could use it for all the same things as this cable. Actually, if you were to buy "a subwoofer cable", then it would probably look more like this just to fool all potential customers: http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=102&cp_id=10236&cs_id=1023603&p_id=2680&seq=1&format=2 (be sure to scroll down and read the questions and answers this time, wink wink) I mean, look at the difference. Which one would you rather have? Knowing what you know now though, I am hoping that you would rather have the first one because there's no additional benefits other than maybe the cable lasting longer in harsher climates and harsher setups. Most people though would say that the second one here is far better because of its looks. It's thicker and has better connectors. Yet, about 99% of people will not get an audible difference between these two unless we're talking about extremely long cable runs. Even then, it might still be difficult to hear a difference. So yeah, please don't allow manufacturers to fool you with their lies. Don't allow the fooled customers to fool you because any differences they think they are hearing are simply due to The Placebo Effect. I mean, think about it: they can see the difference in the cables. Right? They can SEE IT. Therefore, they will automatically assume that the audio quality will different and that actually changes how you listen to the sound. Try this for yourself: buy a super expensive very high-end super high-quality cable and and also buy the worst one that you can find. Now, have someone swap these back and forth on you while you have your eyes closed. Tell them to make sure you can't predict which one they are using. Now, try to guess which cable they have connected to your system after 10 or 20 different tries. I'll tell you how accurate you will be: you will get it right approximately 50% of the time because you won't be able to hear a difference. After this, now do it yourself so that you know which cable it is each time you swap. This time, you will always think that the more expensive cable sounds better because of The Placebo Effect. We humans will believe almost anything, and we even have the power to make something seem to be absolutely true due to how strongly we believe it to be true. Here's something that I had to do in order to avoid The Placebo Effect. After buying the ProMedia 2.1 system, I was having a tough time deciding between having the satellite speaker grills on or off. On one hand, I like them on because of the cool black and gold logo on the grills. On the other hand, I want them off because I enjoy being able to see the woofers and the tweeters. So, I decided instead to see if I could hear a difference. Therefore, I closed my eyes and kept removing and putting the grills back on over and over and over and over. After a few times, I began to notice that I could hear a clearer sound with the grills off. Again, I was keeping my eyes closed in order to avoid being influenced by the LOOK of my satellites. Here's another placebo effect in action. I needed an adapter that allows me to plug the 3.5mm plug into the stereo RCA jacks on my sound card. Instead of just getting the cheapest adapter I could find, I went with this: http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=102&cp_id=10218&cs_id=1021815&p_id=5612&seq=1&format=2 Talk about overkill. LOL The only thing I'm using this for is the super weak, unamplified electrical signal that's going from my sound card to the speakers. However, I enjoy looking at it. It makes me feel good, and it makes me think that my sound is a little better when the reality is, I'm not getting any audible benefit from using this instead of some cheap generic cable. So yeah, as long as the cable can bring the signal to your subwoofer without harming that signal, it will work. That means, it doesn't have to be advertised as "a subwoofer cable". In reality, there is no such thing as "a subwoofer cable". It's really just a coaxial cable! Hell, you could take your cable TV cable and put these RCA-style plugs on the ends and you'd get the exact same results in sound out of your subwoofer. That's why MonoPrice.com doesn't have a special section for "Subwoofer Cables". They don't really truly exist. What you use the cable for determines what you can call it. Notice the different uses for this type of cable: "S/PDIF, Digital Coax, Subwoofer and Composite Video". You could use a cable that's being sold as "a subwoofer cable" for the same things because iit's really the same. I apologize for the length, but I just want to make absolutely sure that you are no longer being fooled by the clever marketing tricks of some of these manufacturers and stores.

Or at the VERY least, bring back the original quality of the ProMedia 2.1 system. I've read posts here and there that say the new versions don't have as good of a sound as the old ones, even on the stock satellite speaker wires. Another thing that I would absolutely LOVE to see happen to the ProMedia 2.1 is, a change to an 8" subwoofer. 6.5" is ok, but 8" would probably be PERFECT for this system. I still don't understand why a 6.5" sub was used. Even some of the ProMedia 2.1 manuals I've downloaded say that the subwoofer is 8", so it was obviously considered. I would also like to see the speaker wire connectors on the satellites be changed to match what you had on the ProMedia 5.1's satellites. The 3.5mm connector is OK, but not as good as the red and black spring-loaded connectors. Of course, it would be even better to have connectors that are even better than this, but I don't want to be unreasonable since it's not supposed to be THAT good of a speaker system! Really though, I'd love to see more options for computer speakers; BETTER options. Options that would make audiophiles happy! Do you know what I'm talking about, Klipsch?

Not only that, but the subwoofer cable is just carrying electrons (electricity) from the receiver to the subwoofer, but I don't think it's amplified like it is in speaker cables (aren't subwoofers powered internally?). So, the cable just has to be good enough to carry the electrical signal from the receiver to the subwoofer, just like how the cables you use from the source (be it CD player, MP3 player, whatever) only have to be good enough to carry the signal to the receiver. Therefore, the quality of the cable is more about how long it will last in harsher climates, or how well it will resist unusually high amounts of interference from other things - or how well it maintains signal integrity over a very long distance (like, 100 feet or something). So, just get a good one, but don't spend too much on the over-hyped ones. Oh, and it does NOT have to be advertised as "a subwoofer cable". That's marketing hype, and it's B.S. The job of the cable is no different than any other: to carry the electrons from the source to the destination. So, all you need is something like this: http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=102&cp_id=10236&cs_id=1023601&p_id=619&seq=1&format=2 I don't know if they ship to Argentina or if it would even be financially wise to order from them if they DID (what if shipping costs a fortune?), but a cable LIKE THIS ONE is all that's needed. Scroll down to see the "Knowledge Base" section for a list of Frequently Asked Questions. Of course, the prettier connectors on a cable like the one below can be kind of fun: http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=102&cp_id=10236&cs_id=1023603&p_id=2680&seq=1&format=2 The thicker wire gauge here (18 AWG for RG6 and 22 AWG or RG59) is good for extremely long cable runs, but it has no added benefit when used for the most common length of cable runs in most home theater setups.

What do you think of the idea of replacing my ProMedia 2.1's satellites with two satellites from a ProMedia 5.1 system? I'm really liking the look and design of the 5.1 satellites, especially from the Ultra model. I also like the fact that the speaker wires connect with bare ends instead of 3.5mm plugs. Good idea? Bad idea? No difference in sound? Better sound? Worse sound?

It seems against the electrical principle, if subwoofer is powered on it's own and all you're providing is the signal (active subwoofer versus passive) to it. Now, the biggest question is that "are you sure that it's the subwoofer which is producing the sound that you're hearing?", or "is it mains or satellite producing sound in matrix sound or like wise?" The RC-64 II in my set up produces unbeliveble and tight bass up to 60Hz. During some passages, I couldn't believe that it's RC-64 II producing tight bass. Of course it's the subwoofer. Like I said in the post that you quoted here, this is the ProMedia 2.1 that we're talking about. The woofers in its satellite speakers are only 3", and there's absolutely no way that these little 3" woofers in plastic cabinets are going to produce the low-end that I'm hearing (not only that, but I isolated the satellites just for fun once to see what they're capable of, and their low-end is very weak and cheap-sounding, as expected). The RC-64 II's woofers are 6.5", which is the same size as the ProMedia 2.1's subwoofer. Anyway, I'm actually way past this thread now because I've since learned that it's just an illusion due to a higher quality sound coming out of the satellites.

Keep notes on paper or on your computer or on your mobile device.

I've had the original ProMedia 2.1 since about February 20th, and I've been noticing something interesting (something that I like very much): unlike with my Altec Lansing VS4121 system, I don't need any EQ at all for my DVD movies, but i still need it for games and music. I also need more EQ for music than I do for games (I can almost get away with no EQ for games, but not quite). Is this normal for the ProMedia 2.1? The reason why I'm confused is, when I play either music or movies, I use the bit-matched playback option in Audio Creation Mode for my X-Fi Titanium HD (and I also always match the sampling rate to either 44.1kHz or 48kHz in both Audio Creation Mode and Windows). So, the only difference is the media player: I use WinDVD Pro 11 for movies, and I use Winamp v5.666 Build 3516 with the Maiko WASAPI plug-in set to Exclusive Mode for my retail CDs (I never play my music from music files because I don't want to take the time and drive space to rip them to lossless files). I tried my retail CDs in WinDVD, but I still need to use the Graphic Equalizer, so it's not due to a difference between these two media players. So, what's different about movies in comparison to music and games? Is there a difference, or does it have something to do with the ProMedia 2.1? Or is it somehow the difference between 44.1kHz and 48kHz? Or is it just that movies are the ProMedia 2.1's forté?

This is indeed an interesting thread, and it's a concept that I've given some thought about before when listening to my music. When I was younger, I would just crank it to nearly ridiculous levels. These days though, I keep it at a level where the music is near the louder end of the normal decibel level of range of human speech. So, I usually keep my music at a volume where it isn't yelling at me, but it's also not so quiet that I'm tuning it out. I want it to be calmly and respectfully speaking to me while simultaneously being loud enough to keep my attention. So yeah, the dB level tends to be between 60 and 75. If I ever go higher for any reason, then I usually go back down after a while because even though loud music is fun for me for a while, I don't want it loud for extended periods of time. It's the same with having a conversation with someone: it might be fun if they were to use a louder voice for a while, but not for a long time. I discovered that if I have my music too loud, then I begin ignoring it and tuning it out and my mind can begin to wander. The same thing happens if it's too quiet. So, it has to be in that magic sweet spot so that it's fully engaging, making me WANT to listen carefully. It's the same as how quiet or loud someone is speaking: if they're too quiet, most people won't listen. If they're too loud, most people won't listen. If they use just the right volume, then people won't mind listening at all. I noticed this many years ago when I was listening to my music super loud and then I suddenly had to turn it down to a more personal level (like the volume level of a conversation between just 2 people). As soon as I did that, I was suddenly listening more closely to it and enjoying it more and it made me begin reconsidering my usual listening volume. This is a good thread!

Yeah, I did start thinking that if petroleum jelly isn't conductive, then that would have a potential of making the signal weaker. I don't have enough education to know if that would make an audible difference, but I guess it doesn't if there are others using it even though there are products that are specifically made for this that are conductive.

Absolutely. Even if you don't, there will always be ways to get the subwoofer to sound perfectly balanced with the satellites. One of those ways is by increasing the subwoofer's volume. Unlike increasing the Bass (or any of the low frequencies in a Graphic Equalizer), this doesn't change the tone that the subwoofer produces. Instead, it just makes it louder, independently of the main volume. Failing that though, you can also increase the Bass. Or if you have a Graphic Equalizer in Windows or in your favorite media players, then you can increase like say 30-125 Hz, with 60 Hz being the peak of that range. Also, again, I highly and sincerely recommend buying one of those used ProMedia 2.1 systems through eBay. Or, a different used one if you can find a better one (and one might be available by now). They will have a superior sound to any of the brand-new ones that you can get these days, even with the junk stock satellite speaker wires (that is, if the one you end up buying comes with them - always ask the seller).

I never said that I was going to use any.

I guess it makes sense though because the Vaseline would prevent oxygen from getting to the strands where it is applied. After all, Vaseline is just petroleum jelly with a fancy brand name. I'm not saying that I'm going to try it, but I'm beginning to understand the concept and why it would work.

hehe I may only be 35 going on 36, but I know what snake oil is. Thanks for the tip. I opened a tab with that search criteria for later when I have some time. It should be fun. Anyway, so you miss MN? Where do you live now?