Using a speaker for "Center"?

[-ism]

My dad gave me a pair of speakers and a sub, and well, only one of the speakers works and the sub just doesn't work at all. Anyways, I plugged the speaker into my stereo and then from my stereo to my PC. Anyways, I set the balance entirely to the right side (the speaker is plugged into the "Right" Section of my stereo) and it seems to work fine. However, on certain songs, such as Light my Fire by The Doors I can hear all of the music and sounds except for the organ (and probably some other things that I can't notice). I have a feeling this has something to do with my setup. I'm not exactly an audiophile but I love my music.

 

Does anyone know what I could try? Also; would speakers still work if I had the positive and negative messed up or what it not even work at all? 

[defunkt]

Get new speakers.

[Feeterican]

There can be a number of things gone wrong here.

 

1) bad cable from PC to Stereo

2) Left Speaker blown out or channel on stereo blown out

3) Not plugged in all the way

4) Make sure to have the gold wire or the wire with the line as the positive from stereo to speakers

5) Sound card may have a channel not working

 

First try going behind the stereo and unplug the right RCA (witch should be red) and take the Left (witch should be white) and plug it into the right channel and see if you still have sound, if so your sound card is ok. Then next try taking your stereo and then switch it to AM/FM and see if both speakers are working. if not then you have a bad channel on the stereo and if you can get behind it when it's on and plugged into your PC, Grab ahold of the plugs and bend them around and shake them, if you hear static in one of the channels you have a bad cable and or a bad RCA on the stereo it self and to check that plug it into another input.

 

There are a lot of things that can be wrong with it and if none of them work you might have to go get a new speaker set up.

[-ism]

There can be a number of things gone wrong here.

 

1) bad cable from PC to Stereo

2) Left Speaker blown out or channel on stereo blown out

3) Not plugged in all the way

4) Make sure to have the gold wire or the wire with the line as the positive from stereo to speakers

5) Sound card may have a channel not working

 

First try going behind the stereo and unplug the right RCA (witch should be red) and take the Left (witch should be white) and plug it into the right channel and see if you still have sound, if so your sound card is ok. Then next try taking your stereo and then switch it to AM/FM and see if both speakers are working. if not then you have a bad channel on the stereo and if you can get behind it when it's on and plugged into your PC, Grab ahold of the plugs and bend them around and shake them, if you hear static in one of the channels you have a bad cable and or a bad RCA on the stereo it self and to check that plug it into another input.

 

There are a lot of things that can be wrong with it and if none of them work you might have to go get a new speaker set up.

 

I plugged the white rca into the right channel and I had sound only if I turn the volume on the stereo ALL THE WAY up and I mean all the way. The sound isn't very loud at all. Does this mean it's my sound card or the RCA?

 

Tried shaking the speaker cables and it was fine. Shook the RCA and it didn't change anything. 

 

I'm currently using only one speaker with the balance set all the way to the right. I don't mind not having 2 I just want all the sound to come out of the one.

 

Edit:

 

Ok yeah I just fixed it; not sure what I did exactly. Thanks for the help. I'll be buying new speakers and a sub soon anyways these are pretty garbage

[Feeterican]

so you got both right and left speakers working then at the same volume?

[-ism]

so you got both right and left speakers working then at the same volume?

 

No I was never using the left speaker to begin with. My dad couldn't get it to work. I'll try it myself tomorrow probably.

 

Also, what sub-100$ 2.1 speaker set do you recommend? I know literally nothing about audio equipment.

[ShearMe]

No I was never using the left speaker to begin with. My dad couldn't get it to work. I'll try it myself tomorrow probably.

 

Also, what sub-100$ 2.1 speaker set do you recommend? I know literally nothing about audio equipment.

 

Best thing to do is buy some bookshelf speakers on eBay and this $20 LP-2020A+ Lepai amp. If the bookshelf speakers are any good you wont need a subwoofer.

[-ism]

Best thing to do is buy some bookshelf speakers on eBay and this $20 LP-2020A+ Lepai amp. If the bookshelf speakers are any good you wont need a subwoofer.

 

Does that amp color the audio at all? I want to try to get the purest audio experience the way it was intended to be listened to. 

[ShearMe]

Does that amp color the audio at all? I want to try to get the purest audio experience the way it was intended to be listened to. 

 

Nope. It's got bass and treble control if you want a to adjust a simple EQ, but you can turn off that function with one of the buttons.

[Feeterican]

I use the Bose Companion 2 and they sound amazing at flat response (best way to listen to music). but if you want something that has 2.1 look into the Logitech Z623 2.1 set up, for 99.99$ at best buy there the best bang for the buck. My friend has the older version and there loud enough to play drums to and piss off the neighbors.