Solved! Salvalging logitech X-540 sattellite speakers to work with my computer

JackS06

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Jun 30, 2010
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18,510
Hi everyone, super newb question here.

Recently I left for vacation and left my >10yr old X-540 plugged into the wall. I guess there was a surge and unfortunately may have tripped the breaker on the amp board in the sub and now the speaker won't turn on. Currently I have a 5.1 setup with the back of the sub looking like this:


https://techgage.com/reviews/logitech/x-540/logitech_x540_08.jpg


And it's plugged into my computer's Asus M4A785TD-M Evo mobo.


https://dlcdnimgs.asus.com/websites/global/products/QHbvGVB1mXmmD8qQ/M4A785TD-M_EVO_B.jpg


Rather than try and mess around with repairing the circuit board on subwoofer, is there any way I can salvage the other 4 satellite and center speakers to work w/my computer's sound card?

Without cutting off the RCA male cables from each of my satellite speakers and splitting them into positive and negative, is there a cheap (<$30)mini-amp or pre-amp that takes RCA as output?
In other words do they make mini-amps or pre-amps that will take my 3.5mm soundcard and output it to my 5 remaining RCA type speakers?

Thanks in advance.
 
Solution
You will need to re-wire them to connect to the speaker poles on an amp. There are of course plenty of devices with RCA connections but they are not meant for direct un-powered speaker connections.

Those speakers won't sound very appealing on their own, without the sub you are better off taking the money and buying a $100 full working powered speaker setup. If you really want to have 5.1 then the Z506 is under $100, but you can get better quality in a 2.0 or 2.1 setup for the same price.

Did you already check if the sub has a fuse you can replace?
You will need to re-wire them to connect to the speaker poles on an amp. There are of course plenty of devices with RCA connections but they are not meant for direct un-powered speaker connections.

Those speakers won't sound very appealing on their own, without the sub you are better off taking the money and buying a $100 full working powered speaker setup. If you really want to have 5.1 then the Z506 is under $100, but you can get better quality in a 2.0 or 2.1 setup for the same price.

Did you already check if the sub has a fuse you can replace?
 
Solution

JackS06

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Jun 30, 2010
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View: https://imgur.com/a/a7xicPU


Yeah i took it apart and inspected the fuse, but it doesn't look blown, so I'm out of ideas at this point. I'll probably buy a new 5.1 setup and then for the current sattlelite speakers from the X-540, hook them up to small amps and use them as 2.0 setup for the patio or something. That or buy a receiever/ home theatre amp w/5.1 support but that would mean also investing in a new sub w/the new amp.

Guess bottom line is w/o a spending $100 on a functioning amp, those satellite speakers are just gonna collect dust
 
View: https://imgur.com/a/a7xicPU


Yeah i took it apart and inspected the fuse, but it doesn't look blown, so I'm out of ideas at this point. I'll probably buy a new 5.1 setup and then for the current sattlelite speakers from the X-540, hook them up to small amps and use them as 2.0 setup for the patio or something. That or buy a receiever/ home theatre amp w/5.1 support but that would mean also investing in a new sub w/the new amp.

Guess bottom line is w/o a spending $100 on a functioning amp, those satellite speakers are just gonna collect dust

You can get a cheaper amp to power the speakers, but it's really not worth using them that way unless you just want to play with them to see how they work, and you will need to modify the wires.

These are not great quality, but plenty of people use similar things https://www.amazon.com/Multifunctional-Bluetooth-Audio-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B07HR7PRV5/ref=pd_sbs_23_3/134-5295541-9576341?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B07HR7PRV5&pd_rd_r=2724cdd1-838e-41ec-820e-8105f7a193c7&pd_rd_w=VVA6Y&pd_rd_wg=Nf42r&pf_rd_p=7cd8f929-4345-4bf2-a554-7d7588b3dd5f&pf_rd_r=N4HNQPSZE6G4M9TCSVVK&psc=1&refRID=N4HNQPSZE6G4M9TCSV