I adopted the Altec Lansing VS4121 subwoofer but do not have the satellite speakers. I was hoping to just use it as a subwoofer for my TV or to use it in combo with other brand speakers for my computer. Does anyone know how to change the wiring so the subwoofer will work on it's own?
Normally these low end system components depend on each other and cannot be interchanged with components from other system. So if one of the components (subwoofer or right control satellite speaker) breaks or gets lost the whole system is unusable...
I was in the same situation. Got a subwoofer from VS4121 without original satellite speakers. I acquired satellite speakers from Altec Lansing 251 which used same connectors but the internal wiring was different and incompatible. Speakers are also glued together so it is impossible to open without damaging it. Obviously there is no service documentation anywhere..
But if you like electronics you can try to make something based on the information below:
Altec Lansing VS4121 connector pinout:
Take the male connector (from right satellite speaker) and number pins in first row from left to right as 1-3, pins in the second row as 4-7, pins in the bottom row as 8-9 and the circle enclosure as 0. Then:
0 - Ground
1 - Speaker Right
2 - Treble (seems just like voltage control but may need to be confirmed: Min=0V; Max=voltage from Volume control Pin 9)
3 - Head Set Right
4 - Bass signal (not sure what the exact original design is as I have not opened the speaker) But seems like they use 50K potentiometer and some sort of RC low pass filter configuration. When potentiometer is set to Min it is shorted with ground. When set to Max it is taking signal from Right and Left Head Set (pins 3 and 5) combined through some larger resistors and low pass filter.
5 - Headset Left
6 - Ground for Headset (grounds 0 and 6 seems to be connected in the subwofer but within the right satellite speaker they seem to be isolated with separate leads to sub)
7 - Power ON/OFF. When OFF or headset jack plugged then 0V. When ON and headset jack unplugged then 5V
8 - 5V Power in
9 - Volume (min=0V; max=5V). It seems they use 50K potentiometer but probably anything >10k should work.
At minimum for standalone subwoofer you will need to implement:
- Power On/Off (switch between pins 8,7)
- Volume control 50k potentiometer (probably anything between 10k and 50k will do) between pin 7 and 0 with variable output to pin 9
- Bass control - join two resistors R (I used 7k) and call this join point A. Attach other ends of the resistors to pins 3 and 5 respectively. Attach 50k potentiometer (I used 10k) between point A and ground 0. Attach Variable pin of the potentiometer to pin 4 (Bass input signal). Attach capacitor C between Pin 4 and Ground pin 0 (I used Electrolytic 1uF with negative end to ground) . Resistor R and capacitor C should make simple passive low pass filter (Google for formula) that should short any frequency higher than 80-120Hz to ground and feed frequencies lower than 80-120Hz to pin 4.
PS: I managed to hack 251 control satellite speaker to somewhat work with VS4121 Subwoofer but that is another subject. All electronic parts were salvaged from old broken TV so total cost was $0 but took several days of tinkering for speakers that I could buy used for $10-20 :)
DO YOU KNOW WHERE I CAN BUY VS4121 RIGHT SPEAKER CABLE??
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SOURCE: Altec Lansing VS4121 no sound
If removing and reinstalling the driver fixed your problem then there was nothing wrong with the speakes. There was probably a problem with your soundcard drivers.
That being said, you should double check that you speakers are plugged in to the right sound board connector and the power supply is plugged into the wall outlet.
Does you computer have a headphone jack? If it does, you might try plugging a headset into it to see if you can hear sound there. If you do then you'll know the soundboard is working properly and maybe the speakers really are part of the problem. CD/DVD drives usually have a headset jack, but this will only work if a cable was run inside the computer from the CD/DVD drive to either the soundboard or motherboard.
What kind of computer do you have? Do you know if you have on board sound or a seperate sound board?
SOURCE: No Power (LED off) in the Altec Lansing VS4121
There is a fuse on the power supply board which is held in place with 4 screws. Yiu will have to unplug the sub-woofer connector to remove it.
SOURCE: Altec Lansing VS 4121
It is unlikely that this is a problem with your speakers more likely that it is a problem with the DVD player itself. I would recomend trying another DVD player.
Regards, Andrew
SOURCE: I have the Altec Lansing
buy a convertor audio jack cable from (phone to rca) hope this helps!http://webpages.charter.net/nmejia496/3_5mm_rca_cable.jpg
SOURCE: Umm I have an altec
Umm, so what's the question? The sub COULD be damaged or it could be reacting to being overdriven. Sometimes resonances form due to room- or nearby surface interactions. Try moving the sub a foot or two in each direction. Or turn the bass down.
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