Speakers

[Serephino]

What causes them to make static noises, and how do I make it stop?  This is seriously driving me crazy!  It's a little high-pitched squeak every few seconds, and it does it mostly in the morning whenever  I first turn it on.  It stops usually whenever I play a game or music or something, but is there a way I can make it not do it at all?

[Soran]

I found my speakers could be very sensitive to certain electrical devices, like a powerful light that created an annoying buzz. I would just check to ensure the wires (if you are using wired speakers) aren't touching any others which will solve some problems from static.

Unfortunately speaker wires are not shielded very well from the various electrical devices and the only way I could cure those issues was simply by changing the wire to a better shielded one. It's a real pain in the ass to do and some soldering is involved and I can only really recommend it if it is annoying you in the extreme. I only changed mine as one of the wires had broken which left me without sound in one of the speakers. Sorry I can't be of any further help.

[Oniya]

You might see if a little aluminum foil helps reduce the noise.  There's an aluminum tape available in hardware stores that I've seen guitarists use to re-shield amplifiers that they've replaced the outer covering on, but household aluminum foil should give you an idea of whether there's an interfering signal coming from somewhere.

[Pandoras Kitten]

Some speakers are just annoying and generate funny noises at certain points of their operation.

Usually these are the cheaper Made in China ones I find at flea markets.

If you're dealing with sound issues on a premium sound system I suggest checking out the connections, dealing with interference, trying if gold connectors work, etc, but I'd rather just replace the speakers or soundcards most of the time.

Some of the cheap stuff can sound surprisingly good - I usually stick to reliable brands like Altec Lansing and Logitech.

[Serephino]

Yeah, my boyfriend replaced them for me one morning, and I haven't had an issue since.  They were cheap Dell pieces of crap.