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Harman Kardon Soundsticks 1???

thegoldenmackid

thegoldenmackid

macrumors 604
Original poster
Dec 29, 2006
7,770
6
dallas, texas
usually i dont have a problem when it comes to speakers, but recently i started to wondered why the Harman Kardon Soundsticks are HK Soundsticks II, i tried to find if there were HK Soundsticks 1s, i know there has been many other Harman Kardon products including HK products for :apple: like the iSub...

thanks,
 
Yes there was a 'first generation' of the HK soundsticks. They are Mac only, and use a USB connection rather than the jack connection of the Soundsticks II. I think this is the only real visible difference between the two models - The actual speakers look pretty much the same.

Ed
 
MisterEd said:
Yes there was a 'first generation' of the HK soundsticks. They are Mac only, and use a USB connection rather than the jack connection of the Soundsticks II. I think this is the only real visible difference between the two models - The actual speakers look pretty much the same.

Ed
Click to expand...

could i use an adapter and still run these through a regular audio out...
 
davidjearly said:
No, I don't think so. And they are not Mac only, they do work with XP.

David
Click to expand...

So ? I've got a macbook (macintel) and use windows XP (bootcamp). When I boot on mac OS X it works, but when I boot on windows, no mean to make it work. So, what's wrong with me ?
 
ya ive got the soundsticks 1 and they are usb and won't work with the pc

still sound great on my mac though!
 
I've got HK soundsticks 1 and mine don't work with anything.

It seemed to be a software problem.
They were fine but they went cranky after an Apple OS update and fizzled altogether after a couple more.
Apple said they were out of warrenty and HK didn't deign to reply to my emails.
Last time I buy HK.
 
I seem to remember reading somewhere that the HK Sound Sticks 1 (USB) work well with PPC macs, but not so much with Intel models.

Don't remember why.
 
EB66 said:
ya ive got the soundsticks 1 and they are usb and won't work with the pc

still sound great on my mac though!
Click to expand...

RHD said:
I've got HK soundsticks 1 and mine don't work with anything.
Click to expand...

dsnort said:
I seem to remember reading somewhere that the HK Sound Sticks 1 (USB) work well with PPC macs, but not so much with Intel models.
Click to expand...

I've had HK soundsticks 1 (with USB) for several years now. They worked extremely well with my PPC macs (G4s and G5s running tiger), and work exactly the same with my intel macs (core duo and core 2 duo running leopard). They also work flawlessly when I'm booted in to XP on my macbook.
 
QCassidy352 said:
I've had HK soundsticks 1 (with USB) for several years now. They worked extremely well with my PPC macs (G4s and G5s running tiger), and work exactly the same with my intel macs (core duo and core 2 duo running leopard). They also work flawlessly when I'm booted in to XP on my macbook.
Click to expand...

Hum. Maybe the problem with mine is hardware related after all.
I figured if sound came out of them they worked. The problem was that no actual music came out for longer than about 30 seconds and then I got static. Re boot and same thing, 30 seconds or less of music then static.
 
Still playing strong

I am a bit out-of-date for this thread, but since many people seem to have experienced different problems with their SoundSticks over time, I wanted to give another story.

I got the “first generation” HK SoundSticks, bought somewhere in 2000, 2001 and they still play great as of today.

They have been connected to many different Apple computers over this decade, each time playing without any glitch:

Power Mac G4 running OS 9.1
Power Mac G4 running OS 10.2.8
iMac 24" 2.16 running OS 10.4.7
iMac 24" 2.16 running OS 10.6.8

And for the last month to a new Mac Pro running OS 10.8.2. Sound is as good as the first day I got them. That is why I'm so surprised about the comments posted here. My HKSS are the best computer speakers I have ever had.

For those who said they couldn't have their HKSS play after an OS upgrade, have you take the basic precaution of selecting the HKSS in the Sound Control Panel after the upgrade?:)
 
Forgot to say...

...that you must plug the SoundSticks directly into the computer's USB port. If you plug them into a USB hub, it won't work. Don't know why, but I have tested it and it does not work this way. Take one USB port of the computer.
 
I've used my first-generation SoundSticks for several years, and my father for several years before that. They work perfectly fine in Mountain Lion; no problems at all. The newer ones have slight design changes and some quality upgrades, but the first generation ones are great.
 
I bought my USB Soundsticks (1) soon after they first came out - I don't know how long ago that is but maybe nearly ten years?

They've worked great since day one. Only the translucent cables have started to yellow slightly.

I've just got a new iMac with Mountain Lion, and was really pleased to see they still work perfectly and were immediately recognised. That's the third generation of computer I've tried them with.

I've thought about replacing them for Airplay speakers, but they sound so good, still look good, use such little space and you can move and point them easily, that I've stuck with them.
 
Yeah, Soundsticks 1st gen work great with Apple and XP in my experience. XP didn't recognize them at first but after awhile it "found" them. Weird...but has worked since.
 
These originally came out with the G4s and multi-coloured iMac G3s, I'm surprised they're still making them actually. I had the white/aluminium coned ones which came with my iMac G4, I don't remember them being all that spectacular.
 
JeffT said:
Still playing strong

I am a bit out-of-date for this thread, but since many people seem to have experienced different problems with their SoundSticks over time, I wanted to give another story.

I got the “first generation” HK SoundSticks, bought somewhere in 2000, 2001 and they still play great as of today.

They have been connected to many different Apple computers over this decade, each time playing without any glitch:

Power Mac G4 running OS 9.1
Power Mac G4 running OS 10.2.8
iMac 24" 2.16 running OS 10.4.7
iMac 24" 2.16 running OS 10.6.8

And for the last month to a new Mac Pro running OS 10.8.2. Sound is as good as the first day I got them. That is why I'm so surprised about the comments posted here. My HKSS are the best computer speakers I have ever had.

For those who said they couldn't have their HKSS play after an OS upgrade, have you take the basic precaution of selecting the HKSS in the Sound Control Panel after the upgrade?:)
Click to expand...

Sadly my late 2012 27" iMac running os 10.10.5 doesn't recognize the sound sticks 1 as an option. HKSS does not appear in the sound output window even when they are plugged directly into a USB port. An upgrade path would be nice...
 
Can I get an opinion on HKSS vs Apple pro speakers? This is for a20" iMac G4 10.4.11
Thanks
 
Jim G. said:
Sadly my late 2012 27" iMac running os 10.10.5 doesn't recognize the sound sticks 1 as an option. HKSS does not appear in the sound output window even when they are plugged directly into a USB port. An upgrade path would be nice...
Click to expand...

Also discovered the HKSS 1 wouldn't work on my iMac 5k (Yosemite). But when I connected to my MacBook Pro 2014 Retina 15"(El Capitan), it came to life! It may just be the OS... I'll try it on my Mac Pro trashcan at work...

UPDATE: I decided to reconnect the the Soundsticks to the iMac 5K. and it worked! Strange it didn't work on the first attempt...
 
Last edited:
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Dec 2022 and I'm still able to use these (HKSS 1's with USB plug, no volume control, etc) speakers on my Macbook Air M1. I just have to plug them in and they show up as an output option on the audio device selector menu. They sound great, although audio clips in some genres (vocal, jazz, classical, etc) at high volumes.
screenshot 2022-11-28 at 6.36.50 PM.png


JeffT said:
Forgot to say...

...that you must plug the SoundSticks directly into the computer's USB port. If you plug them into a USB hub, it won't work. Don't know why, but I have tested it and it does not work this way. Take one USB port of the computer.
Click to expand...
Mine work just fine in a USB hub. I have my soundsticks plugged into a powered USB 2.0 hub which is plugged into a thunderbolt 3 dock which is hooked up to my mac. I haven't had any issues! Haven't tried them with Windows though.

kge420 said:
Can I get an opinion on HKSS vs Apple pro speakers? This is for a20" iMac G4 10.4.11
Thanks
Click to expand...
I've never listened to Apple Pro speakers, but considering that they lack a subwoofer, I'd recommend the HKSS's if you can find some. The HKSS's seem to be a lot less proprietary than the Apple Pro Speakers, even though the HKSS's do seem to have some driver inconsistencies across different OS's.
 
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I have a set of Harmon Kardon USB Soundsticks I dated June 2000 that work flawlessly...well now they do. At one point they quit working and they were no longer visible under USB in my Mac systems report. I'll detail the repair. I looked at the USB cable that entered the subwoofer and it terminated with a white plug in a socket in the Soundsticks motherboard, being transparent you could easily see this. Mine was partially plugged in and not straight. Using a pair of pliers and twisting/ pulling the 4 feet the feet and plugs all easily came out. No need to remove the soft end. Then I removed the 4 screws with a driver and separated the woofer housing, good time to clean the inside too after 20+ years of dust. Then with my fingers I pushed the USB plug back into the Soundsticks I motherboard socket. That did it ! P.S. during re-assembly the big translucent ring gasket is replaced by putting the half's together with the screws loosely attached, insert the gasket and then tighten...replacing the feet using a finger too. Now my USB Soundsticks I speakers are recognized by my Mac and work great. Oh yes, Amazon sells a set of the individual speakers for replacement in the satellites, use a spluger to carefully separate the satellite speaker half's. Just press them back together using no glue. Hope this helps you.

www.amazon.com

2Pcs 8Ohm 3W Full Range Audio Speaker Replacement Stereo Loudspeaker Magnet Electronic Speaker Repair Compatible with Harman/kardon Soundsticks I~III Speaker/JBL BT-Speaker

DIY Magnetic Speaker Round Shape Replacement Loudspeaker. This Replacement full-range loudspeaker unit also can compatible with HarmanKardon-soundsticks I, II, III/JBL On stage crystal speaker/BT-Speaker. Note: Please confirm the speaker size and speaker impedance of the sub-speaker before purcha...
www.amazon.com
 
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