the speakers may be blown, bad soldering connections,
have you tried headphones, what does that sound like?
have you tried other speakers?
have you tried lowering the master computer volume, and raising the speaker volume?
OK I tried the volume thing and it seems to have worked. Thank you very much. Before that suggestion I had uninstalled and reinstalled the audio driver several times. This was so much simpler AND IT WORKED!!! I'm a happy camper now!