This summer I had a computer service call to a current client for many different technical complaints. One of the perplexing ones was low audio on their very nice Harmon-Kardon externals speakers connected to their Microsoft Windows 7 desktop computer. No matter what program I chose, real player or YouTube, the audio was very low. I checked the Device Manager and nothing unusual was seen. Next the audio controls in Windows was checked and it was set to full blast, but still no sound. I checked for volume controls on the speakers and didn’t find any, The speaker cables were already connected to the right computer jack so focus was returned to Microsoft Windows. I removed the sound card from control panel and restarted the computer. The sound card was found again when Windows restarted and the sound still was too low.
I was close to giving up when I checked the speakers again for any controls. This time success was mine when I found volume controls on the top of one of the small speakers. They were flush with the top and easy to miss. Once I slid the volume slider up, the speakers came to life and filled the room with sound. My client was slightly embarrassed to find out it wasn’t the computer, but the speaker controls.