Creative Technology Inspire T2900 2.1 Speakers
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- Max. Power Output: 6 Watt (RMS)
- Number of Speakers: 2 Speakers + Subwoofer
- Connection Type: Cable
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Good looks but poor sound!
Pros
Stylish design, convenient metal stands and nice remote.
Cons
Sound is bad with too punchy, distorted bass and lacking stereo imaging.
Recommended it?
No
The Bottom Line:
Save you money and buy a Klipsch instead. These speakers lack stereo imaging, tweeters are weak and bass is distorted beyond the half-way level.
It was time to replace my Altec Lansing ACS33 and since this was on sale for $40 at Best Buy, I went for it. I simply relied on the Creative name as I had their Nomad MP3 players before and was satisfied with the sound quality.
This one was different. I thought my Altec ACS33 was average sounding but it was a lot better compared to this.
THE GOOD
Creative claims this offers a better separation of musical notes as it has tweeters combined with mid-range woofers for the two satellite speakers. The subwoofer boasts of a wooden cabinet enclosure and a 4"-long throw speaker. The specs says it has a frequency range of 40-20,000 Hz with a musical power output of 29 watts.
Connectivity is easy and most audio wires are RCA-type direct plugging. You can even skip going through the manual if you have done assembly of 2.1-type multimedia speakers before.
The remote is intuitively designed with rotary volume that has a stylish green backlit. Also has a rotary bass level adjustment. There is also what Creative calls an "M-Port" designed for direct connectivity to their portable mp3 players. Unfortunately, I think Creative is the only one that uses that and is not yet a standard with most portable MP3 players.
Style and functionality are well thought out and the connecting wires are all gold plated adding to the classy appeal. However, if style was the only factor to which this will be graded then it is easy 5 stars. Sad to say they left out the most important factor, SOUND QUALITY.
THE BAD
I tested the unit with my portable Panasonic CD player that has a separate audio output. This is specifically designed for connecting speakers other than headphones as it is separate from the headphone jack. In fact the bass boost feature of the CD player has no effect on the "audio output" signal which is desirable because you would want to simply rely on the bass level and volume controls of the multimedia speaker itself.
I tested audio CDs only and the ones I used are Astrud Gilberto's Jazz Round Midnight, 10,000 Maniacs MTV Unplugged Acoustic Version and the Very Best of UB40. Astrud's CD had a lot of string and musical instruments typical of Jazz. 10,000 Maniacs is acoustic and rely heavily on the vocals of Natalie Merchant while UB40 is reggae and delivers a wonderful mix of bass and strings. I believe with these CDs I have covered the whole acoustic range of 40-20,000 Hz mentioned in the specs.
Astrud's vocals were clear and coherent unfortunately the strings and high notes are not present and mostly drowned by the bass and mid-range. I was surprised to hear very weakly the sound from the tweeters. When I tried 10,000 Maniacs, I had similar audio perception as with Astrud. Vocals are present but the stereo imaging was not engaging. Sound seems to be very localised and you have to be in one central sweet spot to appreciate the music. I was getting bored with the staleness and when I tried the 3rd CD, UB40's Best, the bass suddenly became punchy and distorted. My bass level setting was only at the middle and yet the bass thumping was so muddy.
If I have to be honest, you would think that Creative, a company that specializes in multimedia speakers would know these but I was disappointed with the lack of stereo imaging and bass distortion.
If you would use multimedia speakers mostly for music then I don't recommend these. Save your money and but Klipsch instead.
This one was different. I thought my Altec ACS33 was average sounding but it was a lot better compared to this.
THE GOOD
Creative claims this offers a better separation of musical notes as it has tweeters combined with mid-range woofers for the two satellite speakers. The subwoofer boasts of a wooden cabinet enclosure and a 4"-long throw speaker. The specs says it has a frequency range of 40-20,000 Hz with a musical power output of 29 watts.
Connectivity is easy and most audio wires are RCA-type direct plugging. You can even skip going through the manual if you have done assembly of 2.1-type multimedia speakers before.
The remote is intuitively designed with rotary volume that has a stylish green backlit. Also has a rotary bass level adjustment. There is also what Creative calls an "M-Port" designed for direct connectivity to their portable mp3 players. Unfortunately, I think Creative is the only one that uses that and is not yet a standard with most portable MP3 players.
Style and functionality are well thought out and the connecting wires are all gold plated adding to the classy appeal. However, if style was the only factor to which this will be graded then it is easy 5 stars. Sad to say they left out the most important factor, SOUND QUALITY.
THE BAD
I tested the unit with my portable Panasonic CD player that has a separate audio output. This is specifically designed for connecting speakers other than headphones as it is separate from the headphone jack. In fact the bass boost feature of the CD player has no effect on the "audio output" signal which is desirable because you would want to simply rely on the bass level and volume controls of the multimedia speaker itself.
I tested audio CDs only and the ones I used are Astrud Gilberto's Jazz Round Midnight, 10,000 Maniacs MTV Unplugged Acoustic Version and the Very Best of UB40. Astrud's CD had a lot of string and musical instruments typical of Jazz. 10,000 Maniacs is acoustic and rely heavily on the vocals of Natalie Merchant while UB40 is reggae and delivers a wonderful mix of bass and strings. I believe with these CDs I have covered the whole acoustic range of 40-20,000 Hz mentioned in the specs.
Astrud's vocals were clear and coherent unfortunately the strings and high notes are not present and mostly drowned by the bass and mid-range. I was surprised to hear very weakly the sound from the tweeters. When I tried 10,000 Maniacs, I had similar audio perception as with Astrud. Vocals are present but the stereo imaging was not engaging. Sound seems to be very localised and you have to be in one central sweet spot to appreciate the music. I was getting bored with the staleness and when I tried the 3rd CD, UB40's Best, the bass suddenly became punchy and distorted. My bass level setting was only at the middle and yet the bass thumping was so muddy.
If I have to be honest, you would think that Creative, a company that specializes in multimedia speakers would know these but I was disappointed with the lack of stereo imaging and bass distortion.
If you would use multimedia speakers mostly for music then I don't recommend these. Save your money and but Klipsch instead.
