Great Googly Moogly! Good sound, good price
Written: Sep 17 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Very cool looking, good sound reproduction, great overall compact speakers.
Cons: Not strong at high volumes or deep bass.
The Bottom Line: For the right situation, these speakers look great and sound good too. Don't expect too much though.
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| ooglek's Full Review: JBL Creature II Computer Speakers |
Speakers are at the soul of our society today. Well, I have no evidence of that really, but think about it: P2P music sharing, RIAA sales are up, and people are spending more and more on audio/video these days (so I believe).
Then there is the cost factor: how much do I have to spend to get decent audio quality along with cool looks? Well folks, this is your utopia. Function + Design = Harmon Karmon JBL Creature Speakers.
First Impressions
The set of Creatures at my local Apple Store (Tysons, VA) were a bit destroyed and the only sound source was their iPod. Not knowing how to find out the bit rate of the source, and the fact that the speaker cone itself had dents, I didn't trust the speakers enough to write a review, so I bought a set (I need some anyway). For being overused and abused at the store, they sounded pretty good with a few exceptions, and I now chart those to the abuse.
Out of the box, the setup was fairly easy with one notable exception. You'd expect you can just plug the satellites in, but NO! The 1/8" plug has a square and triangle molded into the plug casing, and it must line up exactly in the plugs on the sub in order to go in all the way. Luckily, you have handy green (or blue in the blue or white case) LEDs on the satellites which tell you if you didn't do it right.
Once plugged, it worked as it should. The power supply is a 2-prong plug, with no larger paddle for polarity. Attached to it is a 4' cord to a 2"x2"x4" power block to another 2-3' cord which goes into the sub. There is a power button on the back, as well as a Green (blue) LED in the back of the sub.
It still looks cool at this point.
Music Quality
My wife will be using the system at work, so high-volume and deep bass aren't requirements. Nevertheless, being a thorough researcher, I took the set home and plugged it into my computer, fired up my MP3 player and started playing.
Listening to rock, pop, rap, 80's and classical this speaker set was able to handle the gambit. The treble and bass were set in the middle (there is a little "stop" in the middle) and the volume was pretty high, comfortably filling a 12x12 office with music. The speakers were in the middle of the room floor facing a wall to the right of where I sit now, and I've several times considered turning it down because it is too loud! If they were next to my computer, they would be loud enough for most people.
Distortion?
Yes, my friends, 8 watts of little speaker at $130 means that you are going to have distortion at higher volume levels, and they will be unacceptable to the audiophile. However, for most people, and for general listening, they perform well. The satellites are rated at 8 watts each at 10% THD+N. THD+N? Total Harmonic Distortion plus Noise. This means when pushed, the speakers use 8 watts of power at which point 10% of the sound is harmonic distortion and or noise (harmonic/noise amplitude over original pure sine wave signal amplitude = THD+N for you geeks).
Did I hear noise, hiss, etc? Vaguely at high volumes, but not enough to turn me off. And pumping too much bass through the sub will cause problems over the long haul.
The Summary
These speakers will work well for the commonplace PC user, the 1-bedroom apartment dweller, and the average joe who wants to listen to music. These speakers are NOT for people who plan to jam music at loud and populated parties, want powerful and undying bass, or who want to wake up the neighborhood at 4:30am. At low-to-moderate listening volumes these speakers do justice to the audio reproduction. They are great for music listening, good for video and gaming, and very cool looking with a very small footprint. Why not an Excellent (5-star rating)? The system would need a 20-40 watt increase in power, the frequency response range a bit wider (currently 50-20,000Hz), and a lower THD+N rating.
In the end, the only thing that matters is that I bought them, and if they hold up for the next 5 years, I'd buy them again.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
ooglek
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Location: Falls Church, VA
Reviews written: 13
Trusted by: 3 members
About Me:
I'm just a geek. I love electronics and the Internet and my wife.
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