Hello jesse67,
I understand that your speakers do not sound correct.
You may try to uninstall the audio driver and restart the system.
The next step would be to refresh windows.
Here is a link that will explain and walk you through the steps.
The speakers may have been connected wrong and you may need to send the system in for repair.
Here is a link to a number to call HP and see what repair options they may have.
Let me know how everything goes.