Home theathre speakers

[BuRp]

so i tried connecting my old home theatre speakers to my comp last night ..u know the like the ones in which u connect all the sattelite speakers to the subwoofer ...i noticed that the subwoofer was extremely muffled and the sattelite speakers worked ok ...like the bass output of the sub was very low compared to the sattelite speakers (note: the woofer is old and extremely dusty could this be the cause -i cleaned out the cone also) ..i connected it to my realtek onboard audio ..using a cable with headphone jack on one side and the normal component/composite jack on the other side ...i have two questions ...
a) do i need an amp
b) whats wrong with my woofer
EDIT:THANKS IN ADVANCE

 

[criccio]

It would help if you let us know the exact model of this "home theater speaker" setup.

If you are connecting all the satellites to the subwoofer then the amp for them is most likely inside the sub. We have no idea what is wrong with you're woofer until we know what it is.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that this thread is going to end up with us suggesting a new system for you.

 

[Nenu]

Woofers are meant to sound muffled, they dont produce high frequency sounds unless something is wrong with them, no matter what subwoofer you get.
You already have an amp which is how the speakers are being powered.

If you want better sound, get well regarded floor standing front/surround speakers, a good centre and a nice AV amp.
Make sure the speakers are matched for tonal quality.