Subwoofer not working on powered speakers connected to Airport Express

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Level 1

8 points

Subwoofer not working on powered speakers connected to Airport Express

Hope someone can help. I set up my Airport Express with iTunes today with no problems. I can play music to the airport express in another room. The only problem is, the subwoofer doesn't seem to be working. These are just speakers that are meant to be connected to a computer; two small speakers connected to a subwoofer. Harmon Kardon cheapo speakers. Thanks!

Airport Express, Windows 7

Posted on Dec 27, 2009 6:22 PM

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Answer 1

Bob Timmons

Level 10

185,156 points

Dec 27, 2009 6:59 PM in response to jdye01

Plug a pair of headphones into the jack on the AirPort Express. If you hear sound in both ears,the signal is working correctly at the AirPort Express and your problem is either in the cabling, a poor electrical connection at the speakers, or it is possible that the subwoofer is not working correctly.

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Answer 2

jdye01 Author

Level 1

8 points

Dec 27, 2009 8:24 PM in response to Bob Timmons

The speakers are working - only the sub is not working. To see if the speakers are faulty, I removed this set of speakers and directly connected them to a computer with iTunes and all the speakers are working correctly, including the sub. I moved the speakers that were connected to the computer to the airport and it works correctly too, including the sub on that system. I'm not sure what's different about these speakers. Can you give me some clue? I'll have to return these speakers and get another set, but I need to know what the difference is so I don't make this same mistake again. The cabling seems to be the same.

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Answer 3

Bob Timmons

Level 10

185,156 points

Dec 27, 2009 8:49 PM in response to jdye01

+I'm not sure what's different about these speakers. Can you give me some clue? I'll have to return these speakers and get another set, but I need to know what the difference is so I don't make this same mistake again.+

You posted in the AirPort Express forum to ask if there might be an issue with your AX and there is not.

Now you asking about speakers and what might be wrong with a certain manufacturer's product. Sorry, we can't answer that for you on the AirPort Express forum. You really should contact support at the speaker manufacturer for more details and information on their products.

If the replacement speakers do not function correctly, you might want to try another brand.

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Answer 4

jdye01 Author

Level 1

8 points

Dec 27, 2009 9:19 PM in response to Bob Timmons

I thank you for your response, but I doubt the speaker manufacturer support personnel will understand wireless computing. If you don't mind, I'll leave this questions "unanswered" and hope someone else has an idea. Thanks again.

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Answer 5

Bob Timmons

Level 10

185,156 points

Dec 27, 2009 10:04 PM in response to jdye01

The speaker manufacturer will understand that you have a stereo mini jack on your product. That is all they need to know to help you. It makes no difference whether you have a CD player, an iPod, etc.

They all furnish the same type of analog audio signal. If you feel that the support person at the speaker manufacturer would not understand this basic fact, you might want to ask for a higher level person.

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Answer 6

Tesserax

Level 10

158,286 points

Dec 27, 2009 10:58 PM in response to jdye01

It may be possible that the subwoofer will only work if your speakers are getting a digital audio signal. The AirPort Express does support digital audio but only via optical, not COAX cabling. Does your speaker system support decoding digital audio encoded streams or analog audio only? ... and if it supports digital, does it have an optical digital audio input?

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Answer 7

jdye01 Author

Level 1

8 points

Dec 28, 2009 1:25 PM in response to Tesserax

Thanks for your helpful response. The box says it is optimized for digital devices, but there are no optical inputs that I can see. So that is probably the issue. I see that Apple sells a cable kit for the airport. Do I need to purchase it to get the correct cabling?

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Answer 8

Tesserax

Level 10

158,286 points

Dec 28, 2009 1:59 PM in response to jdye01

The Apple cable kit includes two cables: 1) A minijack to twin RCA (analog), 2) A minijack w/TOSLINK adapter (digital). What audio inputs does your powered speakers provide? For digital from the AirPort, it would require an optical jack.

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