Using old Dell surround speakers on a new XPS

I bascially have the same question. If you look at the thread below titled "Can I use my ADA995 speakers with my new XPS 8500", you will see my guess as to the correct connections but no one has confirmed my guess. If I don't hear from someone soon, I will try and see what happens.

I tried connecting earlier just matching colors but it zapped the sound card and I had to contact support. They ended up flashing the BIOS so that I could connect a 2.1 speaker system but I really want to use the Dell surround speakers.

Ihave the same problem , Lloyd  let me know if you get a solution thanks

Chip c , I found a cable for my dell surround speakers it has the green , black , and yellow  and goes to a single green out . I plugged it into the green jack on the sound card and set up the speakers for 5:1 . Works like a charm !  Hope this help you ...

chris there is a little cable you connect to your yellow ,green, and black from your sub that goes to a green single out . If you have that with your speakers i had to find mine but it works fine just plug it into the green on the sound card and set up your speakers 5:1 . It was driving me crazy ! Hope this helps you ....

Hmm..wish i had one of those..i can only get stereo sound cause it's more than one input..

You guys know where i could get one? (I didn't get these speakers with my comp)
They're 5.1 but they have the same colors as the back..just can't use 5.1. 

Just getting back to this issue.  Still haven't found an answer and REALLY don't want to go out and buy new speakers.  The speakers I have that work great on my old computer are Dell MMS 5650. Any ideas on how to use these.  One would think...  Dell Computer, Dell Speakers - No Problem...                 NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I see some of you talk about some sort of adaptor into which you plug your black gray and yellow cords and end up with just a green on the other end that you plug into the green input on the sound card (Did I get this right from reading above?)  I've never seen such an adapter.  Ideas?????

Lloyd

as far as the previously mentioned adaptor cable ..you should be able to purchase this adaptor cable at radio shack or any electronics store ...maybee even best buy  the adaptor cable you need is similiar to what you would use to connect 5.1 speakers  to a laptop with 2.1 output  ( mini stereo plug to split  to 2 rca female .... please note that you will only have 2.1 stereo in this configuration and no THX  Dell screwwd up by putting laptop audio in a performance desktop ...

                                 MAC  II

the xps 8500 can  only  support 2.1 via the integerated onboard sound card  NOT 7.1 as advertised...if you want to experience the full capabilities (5.1) of your ada 885 you will need to purchase a external  (pcle) sound card  Dell recommends Pcle   Sound blaster X- fi titianium  card... a little pricey However before purchasing any pcle card sound or other type  i would read all the comment on this forum pertaining to pcle cards non  reconigition  problems on the xps 8500...Presently it appears Dell has to date not resolved this issue This problem  has been ongoing since it first released the xps 8500 approx 4 1/2 months  ago  ... You should also be aware of the other problem plaguing the xps 8500  it also  has a problem reconizing USB 3.0 devices  ...sometimes it will reconize the usb 3.0 device as usb 3.0 and other times it will not   sometimes only as usb 2.0....very irratic at best...   no fix to date for this issue also buyer beware!!!

                                                                    MAC   II

Has Dell even responded to this issue? This is very disappointing.

Lloyd,

I found the color coding at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_and_video_connector :

For computers:

There are exceptions to the above:

• Hosacables use grey and orange for left and right analogue channels.
• RadioShackcables sometimes use grey and black for left and right.
• Older sound cards had non-standard colour codes until after PC99, prior to that there were no colours at all.

I just purchase a Dell XPS 8500 and I set up my dell 5650 speakers  from
my dell dimension 8400 to my XPS 8500..First I connected my cable plugs
from my speakers to my integrated sound card on my computer.Cable plug green to green on sound card,black cable plug to black on sound

card,and cable plug yellow to orange on sound card. I turn on the
computer I went to start ,control panel ,& then to Dell Audio i  had
another page that will opened up I went  to SPEAKERS/ HEADPHONES (TOP
OF THE PAGE) when I did this on my left I saw SPEAKER SETUP

I clicked  on this option &saw  CONFIGURATION  below this I
had a small downward arrow I  click on this which gave me four choices,  I
chose  5.1 speakers  the I click AUDIO TEST .Each speaker was tested
for sound and the result was positive with each speaker and
subwoofer in there respective positions.Speaker size I chose MEDIUM.Next
I had  OPTIONAL SPEAKERS   Center,Subwoofer & Rear pair ,I check
all 3 squares  they turned blue with a check mark in each square (confirmation that I have these speakers.)
            I went back to Control panel  I click on SOUND  It opened
another  window I  brought the side bar down till I saw  Speaker 
(Realtek High Definition Audio){ Default Device} I had a small check
circle in green I highlighted  Speakers went to properties

{bottom right} clicked on it another page opened up  on the top left I 
went & clicked on levels I brought down the side bar to adjust
volume for the center , subwoofer,rear and front. I adjusted the
speakers by moving the horizontal  bar slider to the left or right.

P.S. I did a lot of trial & error  before I got these results,this is how I found this form by searching for solutions.

Ray

hello dear, i am rooz merry and i am new this forum. its my first post on this forum. i like your post.

Read the setup for dell 5650 speakers with a Dell XPS 8500 above.

thanks for your input. I tried it as you said and it worked!

too bad dell can't put the definition of the output connections on their support site.

Greg