Y510 Speaker Problems?

[RPall]

Right about now, I guess that everyone who has posted their similar problems on these 6 pages, agree with those last two lines of mine like they had written the words themselves! Thanks for inserting them again. 

Once again, based on my statement about my limited knowledge in the use of a computer, I'm about to ask a really dumb (?) question.  Has anyone actually "Opened Up" their Y510 & disconnected that **bleep** sub-woofer that seems to be the root of all the problems & just leave the 4 speakers playing?  I know that sounds like a too easy of a solution, as the audio system could be wired in a 'series'. Doing that could then kill the whole sound system if disconnected. Then again, that could eliminate the 'drain' on the other 4 speakers!  I would take a wild guess that the 'brains' at Lenovo would have already tried that; although they have never told us so.  Hey, I guess that I'm just grasping for straws!!!

RPall

[mikepasta]

Doesn't sound like a bad idea! You go first!    Seriously, I really don't care about the sub, I don't think it adds much bass anyways.

[RPall]

mikepasta

I accidently came across this 'review' of the Lenovo IdeaPad Y510 at  'Notebook Review'.  They must have been 'Paid' for these audio comments!

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4272      ( the complete review) 

 "Audio

The built-in Dolby Home Theater stereo speakers located above and on both sides of the keyboard are quite impressive. To be fair, I'd have to say the built-in speakers on the Y510 are freaking amazing!  While most built-in speakers fail to produce a full range of high, middle, and low frequencies, the four speakers on the Y510 have impressive clarity and loudness with excellent highs and midtones. The Y510 also features an integrated subwoofer located on the bottom of the notebook which delivers deep, satisfying bass.  There is, of course, a headphone jack located on the right side of the notebook for people who like to plug in earbuds or external speakers.  However, with four built-in speakers and a subwoofer like these, why use external speakers?"

I sure wish that I had received the Y510 that he 'reviewed", as we ALL fell for the 'Bull' that was said above!   As for 'disconnecting' that sub-woofer, I guess that I'll wait until the balance of my 1 year warranty is up, before trying that bright "Idea"!

RPall

[captianm]

Honestly guys, I have never experienced any of the problems you are talking about. And I'm about as far away from being paid to say that as you can get. The buzzing problem I had before was solved by changing the audio settings (via multimedia keys) to normal or classical. It seems that these two use the least amount of bass. I would recommend trying it out if you haven't already.

[mikepasta]

captiann, we don't have a "buzzing" sound. If you read through all of the pages of this thread, you'd realize that the problem that the Y510 has is an unbalanced sound issue. Because of the placement of the sub (underside, top, right) and the fact that the sub is getting the same volume level and frequency response as the rest of the speakers, the sound appears unbalanced to the right. My system was in the hands of the engineers and they agreed that the issue is a perceived problem. The speakers are actually getting the proper levels, but the sub "adds" a third speaker to the right vs. the two on the left... hence the sound is unbalanced to the right. Lenovo had my system for three weeks before they said that I need to adjust the balance to compensate for the imbalance. Of course, when I use the headphones , I need to center the balance again. So much for their touted Dolby surrond sound! As far as using "normal" or "classical" mode to get rid of your buzzing, are you satisfied with your supposed fix? If your roof were leaking and you could stop the leak by putting a tarp over it, would you be happy to leave it like that permanently or would you rather have the roof fix correctly?

Message Edited by mikepasta on 01-30-2009 09:40 PM

[RPall]

As for this 'unbalanced' audio problem on many of the Lenovo IdeaPad Y510 laptops, no one on these 7 pages have stated the facts any better than 'mikepasta' has.  'Captianm' seems to be the only one who was lucky enough to get a good Y510. 

I accidentally came across a Oct. 20, 2008 Cnet News article by Michael Horowitz, that he wrote after receiving a Lenovo IdeaPad S10 Netbook.  There were a few lines that he wrote, that would apply to most ANY Lenovo 'IdeaPad' product.  Those words were:

"Lenovo ThinkPads have an excellent reputation, but an IdeaPad is not a ThinkPad. The S10, in particular, is a whole new product category, one for which there is no preexisting reputation. So things boil down to confidence and Lenovo did not inspire confidence."

Until my factory warranty expires & I work up the nerve to 'cut' the wires leading to that sub-woofer, I've dug a pair of Logitech V20 notebook speakers out of my closet & hooked them up to a USB port on this Y510.  The sound coming out of them is as 'balanced' as the sound that comes thru a set of earphones.  That's about as good as it's gonna get for right now! 

By the way, I still have an old IBM 'ThinkPad' 600x laptop, that I once bought (refurbished) on eBay & it's still working.  I partly based my purchase of the Lenovo IdeaPad Y510 on various remarks posted, that Lenovo was the "New IBM".  Maybe so, but with the ThinkPad, not the IdeaPad!

RPall

[djonepl]

Hey you guys so any of you try to take a part your laptop yet ?? Cuz my sub started disconnecting kinda dont know what happend i dropped my y510 it bounced of the wall made a hole in the sheetrock and fell on the gorund overall its finenot even a scrache but since than my sub started turning off and on  i gotta tap it for it to start working again, reson im asking cuz i might take it apart make a tutorial for those who want to do it.

[mikepasta]

Sorry to hear about the drop... ouch. At least it seems that only the sub is affected. Unfortunately, I don't think Lenovo will repair this, so if you decide to attemp the repair yourself, we would greatly appreciate any pictures!! I think the fix would be pretty simple, probably just loosened the connector, but the path getting to the sub is the hard part. Good luck!

[RPall]

Would you believe that I just received a survey participation 'request' from Lenovo, as to my satisfaction with their 'response' & quality of 'knowledge', in their resolving my recent (?) sound problem.  Oh really..., when did they do that???  I certainly filled in every blank space of their survey with as many "Very Dissatisfied" as I could possibly squeeze in!  It's good to 'vent' every once in a while!

RPall