20 Most Recent Dell ADA745 Computer Speakers Questions & Answers

Guys,

In case my nickname does not show, this is treefarmer. I had the same problem and decided to fix it myself over this Christmas. I was successful, and here is what I found.

In my case, the problem lies with the volume control chip ( it has a voltage controlled amplifier, or VCA in it) on the main amplifier board. The voltage which controls the volume for all channels comes from the right front speaker. There is an issue with the I.C., in that it has some abnormal loading (leakage) of the volume control signal at the I.C. pin. You need about 5.2 volts for full volume output, and on my system, I can only get about 1 volt. You can find the IC data sheet (Mitsubishi M51132L) here:

datasheet.html">http://www.datasheetarchive.com/M51132L-datasheet.html

The parts inside the enclosure get quite hot under normal operation, and I would not be surprised if this I.C. has an issue with degradation under high temperature. Regardless of the problem, I managed to get the volume back with one simple fix.

If you can open up the right front speaker, place a 10 kohm resistor in parallel with R1, which should have three orange stripes, and one gold stripe. This fixed mine, but this might only be temporary, depending on how much worse the volume control I.C. becomes.

I did check out the power supply, including transformers and everything else, and they all look fine. It would surprise me if the transformer failed as has been posted in other forums. They should be able to survive higher temperatures than the other electronic components in the box, especially when most of them are consumer grade parts with a max temperature of 70 C. One thing of note is that turning off the right front speaker pretty much shuts off most of the quiescent current draw of the amplifier board. I found that with only the sub cabinet switch on, nothing gets warm. You won't see significant warming of the interior components until you turn on the right front speaker. However, then the inside of the sub enclosure gets pretty hot (too hot in my opinion) just sitting there with all the speakers powered up.

I would recommend at least turning off the Right Front speaker when the computer is powered down. More often if you are not listening to anything. I don't think you need to shut off the sub enclosure to keep things cool, but turning off everything ensures that the amp is not sitting there cooking itself. And, unless Altec has changed the design, I would bet new systems will fail in the same manner.

For what that's worth. Hopefully somebody will find this helpful

TF

in order for your sound to work you have to disable the on board sound in the bios . unless you already did the , then i would return it and get a different one.

Give cyberguys a call they should be able to help you out on this. www.cyberguys.com

Standard RCA extension cables should work.

Yes the speakers are plug and play but you will need to go into control panel on your pc and set the configuration 4.1 surround

click start control panel sounds and audio volume advanced speakers make sure you have selected the (((appropriate speakers ))) also audio you will find 3 drop down lists make sure you have the correct settings there also try swapping the speakers around if the problem still persists either the speaker is faulty or the speakers plug/outlet is usually at the back of the computer you will have to open up the computer to check the lead attached to the rear of the input plug make sure the connection is good or you might have to clean the dust from your computer dust causes static which causes your computer to overheat and all sorts of problems be sure to wear an anti static earth strap before touching anything inside your computer try cleaning your computer of dust using a fine air blower from a compressor making VERY sure that there is no MOISTURE in the air line specifically around the CPU central processing unit and your SOUND CARD dust causes static to build up in a computer causing it to overheat any many other problems hope this helps

Found your problem when trying to solve the same issue.
I have just got a Dell XPS tower and am having the same issue.Given that your post was 5 months ago, did you ever solve it ?
Charlie

the specs on mine are #239 1 amp 250volt. this is a fast burn fuse. you can find it any radio shack.hope this helps.

Datasheet complet avec plusieurs mod?les de connexions et schemas
http://www.datasheetcatalog.org/datasheet2/3/07wekepw0qlowr5upksuaioej1yy.pdf

have you made sure that your dell computer is compatible with windows vista before upgradeing if not compatible you will have to reload it with windows xp

If it works on another computer without any problem, then problem might not be with your speaker, it must be with the computer's probably with sound settings. I think it was working with your windows XP running desktop and your other laptop, but it doesn't work with another (new) computer. If so, could you please let me know the model and make of your new computer with the operating system installed on it? If the sound card on your new computer is onboard, then I will be able to find out the details about the sound card and it's related software and I would check out it's settings/features. But if in case the sound card's purchased separately and you installed it, then I would need that sound card details.


If my assumption is wrong and your problem is with your speaker, then I won't recommend you to get it repaired. If it's a new item and you still have the warranty unexpired, then that's another case, and so this would be your time to use the Warranty.

Let me know with the details mentioned above.

Thanks.

if your computer came with a motherboard disc the sound drivers could be on it you might have to uninstall then restart your computer then reinstall both the sound drivers and the sound card make sure you have both of these devices backed up to a disc before uninstalling a yellow? question mark means you need to install/update driver to do this right click to install driver also click start control panel administrive tools computer management device manager scroll to sound,video and game controllers you might see a yellow question mark? Right click to reinstall drivers click start control panel sounds and audio,volume,advanced,speakers select appropriate speakers also audio you will find 3 drop down lists make sure you have the correct settings there also click start control panel sounds and audio devices you can adjust the volume there also select speaker volume you can change your settings there you can also tick in the box place icon in taskbar if his does not fix the problem

have you tried this control panel sounds and audio,volume,advanced,speakers select the appropriate speakers from the drop down list or navigate to the device manager scroll to system devices + to expand,system speaker right click properties then select use this device (enable) also you might check the speakers plug/outlet is usually at the back of the computer you will have to open up the computer to check the lead attached to the rear of the input plug make sure the connection is good try cleaning your computer of dust using a fine air blower from a compressor making VERY sure that there is no MOISTURE in the air line specifically around the sound card and the CPU central processing unit dust causes static to build up in a computer hope this helps