The Creature is a little moody
Written: Apr 26 '05
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Product Rating:
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Pros: nice non-rectilinear design, small footprint (the subwoofer can go below)
Cons: Power switch in back, no indication of current settings on controls, connectors a little cranky.
The Bottom Line: A cool looking, imaginative, easy to install PC speaker system that provides good sound and good value for money.
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| platypus55's Full Review: JBL Creature II Computer Speakers |
The preamble: (skip if in a hurry)
I just got back from attending the 2005 MySQL user conference in Santa Clara, CA. Not wanting to spend the $$ for a room at the Westin where the conference was being hosted, I was kipping at a friend's some distance from there, and commuting in each day. I happened to get chatting with one of the badge checkers, a very sweet elderly lady which most of the concert attendees were giving about as much attention as they would to woodwork. Having been a badge checker myself at another conference I remembered how lonely and boring it is when all the important people going in and out don't even acknowledge your presence. Anyway, this sweet little lady was delighted to have someone to talk to, and told me some good stories between sessions.
Now... why am I telling you this? I was at the conference on my own. I'm of a different demographic than the typical conference attendee and if you think that doesn't affect your networking opportunities... think again! You try to talk to people and unless they think you have something they want, they excuse themselves rather quickly. I didn't know anyone there, and I was typically arriving about 9:00 after the daily announcements. On the last day of the conference, the sweet little badge checking lady mentioned to me that my name had been flashed on the big screen during the early announcements. If it hadn't been for her it's highly possible that no else would have looked for me to tell me that I won the door prize: a JBL creature computer speaker setup.
The setup:
It was very easy to hook up to my laptop. All the connectors are color coded. However, we had trouble at first getting any sound out of it until we unplugged and replugged all the connectors. I shrugged that off, thinking that in my haste to hear some tunes I had not quite made a firm connection.
The look:
You know if you like the look of these cone shaped units or not. My personal taste is the less rectilinear elements in it the better, so I found the design rather appealing.
The sound:
I concur completely with the other reviews of this product. It is fine for what it is designed for: listening to decent quality sound while you work on your PC. It is not for overpowering a lot of ambient noise, and it doesn't project into the next room, and if you crank the volume you will get some distortion.
The controls:
You can power down the system entirely from a pushbutton on the back of the subwoofer. The bass and treble controls are stylish silver phallic protruberances on the front of it, but basically they're just old fashioned twiddly knobs. Volume controls are touch sensitive plates on the right satellite. The minus decreases by 2 dB increments; the plus does the opposite. If you touch them both at the same time, it mutes. That is not obvious--you have to read the directions to find out about that feature.
None of the controls give any indication of their current setting. The touch sensitive volume controls are kind of cool, but they give you no tactile feedback, which takes some getting used to.
The moodiness:
One little beef that none of the other reviewers mentioned is the pickiness of the connectors. I experienced some difficulty in getting all connections firm to start with but shrugged it off, figuring oh well once it all works I can just leave it. Not so. A couple times the sound has cut out entirely or the non controller satellite cuts out from just a very slight jar of the desktop. We're not talking earthquake here, we're talking putting a book down beside the PC or barely moving it. Remember it is hooked to a laptop! Now that I know they're picky I know how to fix everything, but it is a minor annoyance.
Value for money:
Well, for me the price was certainly right! But I have found the set online for about $100, which seems fair.
Thanks:
Thanks MySQL AB (http://www.mysql.com) and O'Reilly press (http://www.oreilly.com) for drawing my name, and thanks Harman Kardon for making them a deal and providing this nice door prize. Now I probably better go update my ancient review of MySQL,
http://www.epinions.com/ensw-review-7BC-151CAD2C-39F37132-prod5
because it is way way out of date!!
Recommended:
Yes
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platypus55
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Member: Colleen
Location: Pacific Northwest
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