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Rewire a VGA cable?

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rankinaaron

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So here's my situation. I own a set of Logitech Z-2300 speakers. The control module that takes care of volume, power and bass levels plugs into the back of the sub-woofer via D-sub 15 (VGA) connector. What happened was my control module broke and my speakers were still in warranty. So I contact Logitech and they want to send me a new set, but I have to send in my broken control module. That is, I get to keep my perfectly functioning speakers and get a whole new set. So now I have two sets of speakers but one control module. My first thought was that I could just buy a VGA splitter and be able to control all of the speakers with just one control module. I mentioned this in a Logitech official forum, however, and an administrator told me that Logitech uses their own proprietary pin configuration and it's different for every set of speakers they sell.

So down to the question. My idea is to buy a regular VGA splitter and then rewire it by testing signals on each pin-hole in the sub-woofer and matching the pins. I have a multimeter to do this. Is this even possible? Will splitting the signal cause something to go awry?
 
The problem with this is that when you split the speakers you're going to be driving two sets of speakers from one amp in parallel, So the effective speaker impedance for each output will half, this is NOT going to be good for output power or linearity, and could fry the amp.
 
Ok good to know. I'm determined to get all of speakers playing the same signal though. What would you suggest in this situation? Is there anyway I could make my own control module?
 
I would suggest... NOT doing it in the first place, you could damage or shorten the life of the new amp you're getting. Proprietary connectors like this in the first place are stupid. The only Logitech sets I've bought were with standard audio connectors.
 
So tempting though! I'm now going to have a completely unused set of high quality speakers. I feel like there's got to be some way I can put them to use.

Suggestions?
 
Give them to someone that needs them, you don't.
 
I just found this and decided to bump it to update my situation for anyone who is interested.

I tried hand crafting a custom cable out of two cat-5 ethernet cables. They have 8 wires in each so I used two strapped together and just left one unconnected to match the 15 pins in a VGA cable. I ordered male and female VGA connectors from a hardware surplus website. I then handcrafted the cable with solder, electrical tape and a very steady hand. The cable ended up working, rather shottily I might add, and with some noticeable feedback which I decided was probably due to weak shielding of the wires. The important part however was that my control pod did not blow out and that it could handle two power sources from either sub.

So I ordered a custom cable which consisted of a shielded, split vga cable with pins that run straight through. It ran me about 70 bucks. The end result however is TOTALLY worth it. I have 2 sets of speakers (only one of which I actually paid for), 240 watts of bass (400 watts peak power including the sats), and the satisfaction of knowing that I worked the system. Speakers sound awesome.

I'm putting this out because I know there are a lot of people out there who are in my boat with this particular set of speakers. It IS possible and it'll run you about 70 bucks to get the job done.
 
The Ethernet wires version worked very well for me, but it needed three or more layers of aluminium foil around it (the same found in kitchen) plus a layer of electrical tape
 
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Nice. I wasn't careful enough with my work, and I'm not extremely experienced with soldering (especially those tiny and condensed solder points on a vga connector). I felt more comfortable with something professionally made anyway.

It's interesting to see that someone out there had the exact same idea though... what are the odds?
 
70 bucks =P This is why proprietary cables are a BBBADDD =)
 
Ohhh!! "#$%&/@ now I see!
Speakers driven by SUB-D15 (a.ka.) VGA connectors?
My aluminium foil solution was made for VGA signals, not strange-speaker interfaces! ha!

Forget the control box idea. Why you don't disassemble the unused speakers, get rid of the strange Interface and just weld new "common" wires to them (I mean + and -) directly to the speaker's pins? Then you can use them with any suitable amplifier (I mean capable of "X" ohms required)
 
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That's absolutely plausible. My way was if you want it to still look pretty and professionally done and don't have a lot of experience under your belt. Besides that I don't have a receiver or amp of any kind, at least at the moment.
 
If they use they're own layout, surely a y-cable wouldn't make any difference, as the signals would just be connected through regardless, same as if you used an extension, unless theres a crossover of wires withing the cable it shouldn't be a problem.

Gareth
 
I'm in the same boat as the guy from the OP. So the solution is just to use a vga splitter? Or have I misread it? Thanks in advance.
 
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