Sub from Logitech Z-5500 can be reused?

[rrondo]

Hi everyone! Yesterday, my old Logitech Z-5500 (5.1) speakers finally died after 16 solid years of service (R.I.P). Now I’m thinking about getting pairs of Edifier MR4, but I have a question: is it possible to keep the subwoofer from the Z-5500 and somehow connect it to the new speakers? I saw an adapter on ebay/Aliexpress that probably(?) can help, but I'm not sure (I am very bad at this)
So, my question is: it possible to make MR4 speakers work with my old Z-5500 subwoofer, and will I need this (or some other?) adapter and possibly additional cables?
I'd appreciate any help! Thanks!

Edifier MR4 Inputs :
TRS Balanced
RCA unbalanced
AUX unbalanced front
NO subwoofer output

Spoiler: the back of the devices + adapter

 

[staticV3]

Hi @rrondo! Welcome to ASR.

is it possible to keep the subwoofer from the Z-5500 and somehow connect it to the new speakers?

If it's the Logitech control pod thingy that died and the Sub's power supply and Amp are working, then yes.

will I need this (or some other?) adapter and possibly additional cables?

Yes, you will need some kind of adapter to convert the subwoofer's d-sub port into something usable.
The one you linked to looks reasonable.

Which additional cables you may need, depends on what kind of soundcard you want to use this new system with.

 

[rrondo]

Hi @rrondo! Welcome to ASR.


If it's the Logitech control pod thingy that died and the Sub's power supply and Amp are working, then yes.


Yes, you will need some kind of adapter to convert the subwoofer's d-sub port into something usable.
The one you linked to looks reasonable.

What kind of additional cables you may need, depends on what kind of soundcard you want to use with this new system.

Hi @staticV3 ! Thanks for fast respond and warm welcome
I used my Z-5500 by connecting it directly to my PC motherboard (Asus TUF Gaming B550M-Plus) via cheap S/PDIF (TOSLINK) cable (original cable(s) died 5 years ago)

Spoiler: motherboard rear

I hope that it is the pod that died, but I have no way to check

 

[staticV3]

Hi @staticV3 ! Thanks for fast respond and warm welcome
I used my Z-5500 by connecting it directly to my PC motherboard (Asus TUF Gaming B550M-Plus) via cheap S/PDIF (TOSLINK) cable (original cable(s) died 5 years ago)

Spoiler: motherboard rear

View attachment 400860

I hope that it is the pod that died, but I have no way to check

Somewhat tricky actually.

You can use the Line out and C/Sub out to connect to the speakers and Sub, but it's possible that then the Sub will only play with proper surround sound content with a dedicated LFE channel, and not when listening to music or watching YouTube etc.

You can use just the Line out to connect both via splitters, but then you'll get an uncontrolled overlap between Sub and MR4 as both will play as high and as deep as they can. This is less than ideal.

The best solution would be to buy something like the miniDSP 2x4HD, to replace the crossover DSP that was previously performed by the Logitech control pod, but that's expensive, requires manual setup and only supports Stereo input which means that when watching movies that have an LFE channel, it would be downmixed to Stereo, sent to the miniDSP, then split up into 2.1 again for playback.

Another option would be to replace just the control pod, then make some sort of breakout adapter to connect the MR4 between control pod and subwoofer.
That would give you good compatibility with both Stereo and Surround content and would not required manual DSP setup, but you'd have to reverse-engineer Logitech's d-sub pinout and make your own cable.

None of these is a perfect solution.

 

[twsecrest]

Hi everyone! Yesterday, my old Logitech Z-5500 (5.1) speakers finally died after 16 solid years of service (R.I.P). Now I’m thinking about getting pairs of Edifier MR4, but I have a question: is it possible to keep the subwoofer from the Z-5500 and somehow connect it to the new speakers? I saw an adapter on ebay/Aliexpress that probably(?) can help, but I'm not sure (I am very bad at this)
So, my question is: it possible to make MR4 speakers work with my old Z-5500 subwoofer, and will I need this (or some other?) adapter and possibly additional cables?
I'd appreciate any help! Thanks!

Edifier MR4 Inputs :
TRS Balanced
RCA unbalanced
AUX unbalanced front
NO subwoofer output

Spoiler: the back of the devices + adapter

View attachment 400850

My brain says it should work. connect the motherboard's C-sub, to the adapter (attached to the Z5500), using and RCA to RCA cable and connect the motherboard's green line-output (3.5mm) to the (dual) RCA inputs on the Edifier MR4.
But I would add a sound card for the better DAC function (better DAC chip, higher SNR), like a used Xonar D2X or Creative X-FI Titanium sound card.

 

[rrondo]

Thanks you guys! Just ordered Edifier MR4 and this fancy adapter, for now without sound card.

I will have to wait at least 30 days for the delivery of the adapter (AliExpress), so see you soon!

(I hope that Edifier MR4 will sound good tho. My first upgrade for 16 goddamn years)