Where can I buy speaker cables that hook into my subwoofer? one of them fried.

[technoViking]

Hi guys, I have Klipsch THX speakers for my computer. I plugged them in and one of the speakers don't work. So I tested to see if the speaker itself was screwed but it turns out just one of the wires that has a 5mm jack, seems to not be working.

The way the wire works is, the 1 end of it (it has a + and - end) is just cut off and you clip in the stripped exposed copper wire into the sub woofer. Each speaker has 2 of these +/- wires.

Well I'm pretty sure I can find that wire, I can't seem to find one that already has the 5mm jack on it so i can plug it into my monitor.

ANy ideas where I can find these wires? I tried FRY's and found nothing and they usually have everything. Also does anyone even know what these wires are called?

Thanks


EDIT: these are what my speakers look like (mine are about 4 years old now) but look exactly like these.


https://www.klipsch.com/na-en/products/promedia-2-1-overview/

The user guide says:

Connect the DIN plug to the subwoofer from the control satellite preamp.
3. Connect the speakers by inserting the tinned wire leads into the subwoofer and the back of the
satellites. The solid black wire (-) connects to the black spring clips; the black wire with white
dashes (+) to the red spring clips.

So the end of it is called a DIN plug, and the end that connects to the speaker is called a tinned wire lead. They sound like just standard audio cables, but I can't find any that already have the ends, its just wire with no ends to connect to the speakers. Also the end of the wires that connect to the subwoofer seem to be coated with some other material than just the copper wire.

 

[Aztroth]

can't you just get a standard AUX cable and snip one of the 3.5 mm jacks off of one end and go like that? not sure how you would know which is + and which - though...

 

[technoViking]

Hm....Yah I could try but i don't think these are standard AUX, if they are 1 wire that is seperated by +/- wires.

 

[jmt391]

Buy a set of good cans

No but really - why couldn't you just use normal speaker wire? I may be misunderstanding your problem - are you saying that instead of the connection being sub out -> speaker wire -> speaker wire it is speaker wire -> 5mm jack that plugs into the speaker?

 

[Aztroth]

he wants to go from sub (which uses +/- speaker wire) into his monitor (which uses a 3.5mm jack)

 

[technoViking]

There are 2 speaker wires. Each speaker wire has 2 wire ends, 1 is a negative, one is a positive (which clamp into the subwoofer which has a positive and negative clamp). The other end of the speaker wire is a 5 mm jack which goes into the speaker. The subwoofer has a cord coming out of it and at the end of that cord is a male 5mm which goes into the sound card of your computer. Thats it.



Here are photos to show you:
This is the one end of the cable that goes into the speaker:

This is the BAD wire that doesn't work anymore, I used wirecutters to strip off the ends to see if that worked, NOPE bad idea I think I really ruined it if it wasn't already ruined because the GOOD wire has special stuff at the end of it which I'll show you.

This is the good wire, that works, notice the stuff at the end.

This is where the other end of the speaker cable is inserted into the sub woofer, notice there are 4 inputs, because each speaker wire has 2 ends a + and -.




Finally there is a cord that comes from the subwoofer and the other end is this 5mm jack that goes into your sound card.

The wire I need looks like this:
This one wire has two 5mm jacks that go into the speakers, and 4 of those silver colored ouputs which hook into the subwoofer. The subwoofer has another cord that comes from the subwoofer which connects to the computer's sound card.

Any help would be great.

 

[shirker]

I have two sets of Klipsch Promedia 2.1 speakers hooked up to the computer I'm using right now, so I believe I can help.

So the end of it is called a DIN plug

That's the end for the cable that connects the preamp (the satellite speaker with the volume controls and such) to the subwoofer, and the DIN plug itself looks something similar to this:

If that subwoofer cable is damaged, you have another problem on your hands, but since its the speaker cable that needs replacing, don't worry about it.

Also the end of the wires that connect to the subwoofer seem to be coated with some other material than just the copper wire.

As you mentioned, they're just copper ends coated with (electrically conductive) tin to prevent the strands of copper from coming apart. You could just use standard copper wire and evenly apply solder to the ends to have the same effect, or twist the ends enough to prevent them from unraveling.

can't you just get a standard AUX cable and snip one of the 3.5 mm jacks off of one end and go like that?

That's what I thought too at first, but then I actually unplugged the jack from the back of the satellite speakers and they aren't your standard 3.5mm jacks/TRS connectors that you'd find on a pair of headphones. Instead of having two black rings, there is only one. Whether or not this affects the functionality of the cable were you just to replace the plug at the end with a standard stereo plug with two bands, someone else may be able to tell you.

 

[jmt391]

Ah I see what you're talking about - My only valid guess as to what to do is to strip/soldier pieces together to get the right kind of wire together. Unfortunately PC speakers cannot be treateed as regular speakers because they use different wiring.

 

[shirker]

Your speaker cables are un-balanced/mono TS cables, since they only have the Tip and Sleeve with the single black band separating them. If you manage to buy a mono 3.5mm plug, you don't have to worry about there being a left or right channel (since its mono). I think you'd solder the black/negative wire to the long exposed silver tab, and the red/positive wire to the center of the plug.



You can buy the mono plugs at places like radioshack.
Alternatively, search ebay for "klipsch promedia speaker wire"

 

[ghettogeddy]

not by any means is your wire fried i woudl proly bet the solder came loose in the 3.5 plug the end you said is good vs the bad jsut has a lil solder on them you can actually cut the wire on the "bad" end and re strip it and when you do twist the **** out of then they will look just as good

but ya cut the end ouf and get a replacement one or jsut go to radio shack they prolly have what you need

 

[Mr. Roboto]

Have you tried spinning the 3.5mm jack around a bit till you get a good connection? I used to have these speakers, and you had to fiddle with them after a while.

If I remember correctly, Klipsh also made an upgraded cable you could buy to replace the factory wiring.

 

[Aztroth]

I think you should just check for a hole in the bad wire indicating a cut shield where it could be shorting out, and if you dont find one, do as was suggested above, cut the 3.5 mm jack off and resolder it back on, OR just buy a new 3.5mm mono and solder it on. thats your easiest bet.

And if I recall, if its a mono speaker it doesn't matter if you use the mono or stereo 3.5mm jack, but if it were stereo, then it would need to be a stereo 3.5mm... make sense?

 

[ratbuddy]

Grab a pair of these http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=092-156 and some decent wire and do both speakers at once.

 

[technoViking]

Thanks guys!

Yep what I did was buy the 3.5mm Mono Plug, and I'm going to sodder these speaker wires I bought that loook just like it from FRY's eletronics should work like a charm.

thanks again

 

[technoViking]

Okay so i'm an idiot i should have checked this first. But it turns out the INPUTS on the subwoofer on the 1 side is fired! Looks like I need to buy a new sound system or a new subwoofer.

 

[ghettogeddy]

Okay so i'm an idiot i should have checked this first. But it turns out the INPUTS on the subwoofer on the 1 side is fired! Looks like I need to buy a new sound system or a new subwoofer.

just take it apart and replace that input
or get a replacement sub
im sure they can be had for not to much