Promedia 4.1 Setup

[emgoodrich]

I have sold old Klipsch Promedia 4.1 speakers that I would like to be able to use on a new Dell XPS system. The pc has a decent integrated audio card supporting 5.1 surround with the following audio ports:

- line in connector

- lineout/headphone connector

- microphone connector

- side surround out

- rear surround out

- center/LFE surround out

I know my speakers are old, but they still sound great and I'd like to be able to use them on this system for a true surround and not simply spreading out a "stereo" sound to 4 speakers and the sub. I'm unsure how I would connect everything though for this and was hoping for a bit of guidance. Any thoughts on how I can do this and if I can even do 4.1 surround......or if I'm stuck with stereo output to front and rear speakers.

[ifi123]

first off do you mind telling us what integrated sound does your dell uses? some (like realtek) can be easily set to 4.1 or Quad mode by entering the Realtek Audio Control Panel, and plug the jack according to the color highlighted in the control panel itself.

[emgoodrich]

Again, it's an integrated board for a Dell XPS 9100 and from the Control Panel there is a "Realtek HD Audio Manager" that I can go into.

Since this is such an old system and I don't have the manual anymore I'm forgetting what the two inputs are that plug into the computer are that run from the subwoofer. Is one of them the line for the front speakers and the other for the rear? If that is the case, would I just simply not plug anything into the subwoofer output on the audio card? Sorry if these are dumb questions but I'm pretty new to this.

[ifi123]

no problem. go to the realtek hd audio control panel, and select Quad setup. if it isn't there then just choose 5.1 speakers but untick the center and subwoofer.

either way, after you setup, see the jack colors on the right. if you hover your mouse at the colored circle there it would display i.e. front speakers out, that way you know which color you're suppose to plug. after you plug the pm4.1 cable, check out the speakers individually by clicking the speakers icon in the center of the control panel.

if it's correct then each speaker should sound according to the icon you clicked. btw this is assuming you're running windows vista or 7.

[emgoodrich]

Thank you...and just so you know I'm running Windows 7.

In the Realtek Manager screen I actually don't get to choose either the Stereo or Quadrophonic option until after a jack is plugged in. The option isn't even there. However, once I plug a jack in a new tab opens up which has the dropdown menu to allow me to choose those setups.

Here is how I have it plugged in. My front speaker jack is plugged into the spot that is designated for "Lineout/Headphone." The computer manual says to use this line-out connector to attach headphones or speakers with integrated amplifiers which I think the Promedia 4.1 has (doesn't it?).

My rear speaker jack I'm plugging into the port for "Rear Surround Out" which according to my manual is for "surround sound connector to attach multi-channel capable speakers."

So I think I have everything plugged in correct. I should also note that when I plug those two jacks in I get a pop up menu which allows me to put a checkbox into what those speakers are that I just plugged in so I made sure to designate that they are front and rear respectively. What is very odd is that when I click the "Play" button to test the speakers I get odd results. When it highlights the LEFT FRONT speaker I get no sound. When it highlights the RIGHT FRONT speaker I get sound from the left front. Then the rear speakers appear to be working as they should. It's just weird that I get no sound to the right front when Quadrophonic is selected....and that the left and right are swapped.

Any ideas on what could be going on here? It is very frustrating and I'm not sure if the problem maybe resides in the Realtek software or even the integrated card....or if there is something wrong with the speakers. Again, I just upgraded to a new computer and the speakers worked fine on the old pc. My last option will be to get a splitter jack so I can plug both front and rear speaker jacks into just the one output for Headphones which I would think would transmit the Stereo sound to all 4 speakers. I'd really prefer to have true surround but I'm not sure where to go from here. Any ideas on why my front speakers are doing this under the Quadrophonic setting? Also tried the 5.1 setting (turned off the center) and that doesn't work either.

[ifi123]

one of the way to temporarily solve that is that by swapping the left and right speaker terminal on the left and right satellites speaker, behind the subwoofer. that way you can get correct left and right audio. but im not sure why when u press the left speaker icon it does not provide any sound.

have you tried plugging the front speaker to your mp3 player or phone to verify that front left and right is working perfectly?

[emgoodrich]

As it turns out, I have a Control Pod that has gone bad it looks like.....which I'm finding out is a known issue with these speakers. As soon as I turn the volume up....the left speaker comes to life and works but then that causes my right rear speaker to not work. When I adjust the volume again to get the right rear speaker to work.....the left front goes out.

Unfortunately I contaced Klipsch customer support and they are no help. Basically just got the runaround answer that they don't sell these anymore and they don't have a replacement part I can buy. Looks like I'll be one of many trying to buy a new Control Pod for their promedia speakers off of EBAY for about $100 a pop. Thanks Klipsch!

[ifi123]

try to contact mister_clean, he sells control pod or maybe he is able to repair yours.

http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/p/146706/1506523.aspx#1506523

also check if the DIN cable is the culprit. mine used to shutdown randomly when cable is tilted to specific direction. cable ducting to blame lol