Surround Something
Written: Jan 20 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: S/PDIF input (rca & optical), LED display, remote control, ok subwoofer, blah center/surround speakers
Cons: confusing front panel, doesn't switch inputs automatically, no headphone jack
The Bottom Line: Mediocre. There are more compatible systems with better speakers elsewhere for less $$$.
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| skewld00d's Full Review: Creative Technology DeskTop Theater DTT3500 5 Spea... |
I have had this product for a few years, and I have been somewhat happy with it. I paid about $250 US in 1999. The system comes in a HUGE box.
There are two interchangeable faceplates (horizontal or vertical). There are three small knobs (subwoofer, surround, center) and the big knob is volume. There is a mute button, and five (5) mode select buttons to switch among the various input listening modes.
For inputs, there are two analog 1/8" stereo plugs for quadraphonic "Four-Point" surround sound; a digital "DIN", a proprietary plug for hooking up to a Creative Labs 5.1 card, or an optical or RCA-style SPIDF plug. The nice thing is that you can hook it up to a DVD player or PSX using either the optical or rca SPIDF inputs. The power supply is rather large and sits half way between the power plug and the 15VDC power plug on the back. It's nice that there is no hard-wired wires sticking out of the back, but a separate power supply is a pain.
The outputs are RCA-style 5.1 powered outputs to the speakers, which use bare speaker two-wire terminals. There is a line-level output if you add on your own powered subwoofer.
Note that the system looses its previous settings in power outages. Also, the 5.1 setup only really works with a Creative Labs board using the digital din. I've never been able to get this unit to decode dobly digital from a creative labs live! 5.1 platinum board w/ the Live Drive IR using the SPDIF playing a dvd with a software dvd player such as powerdvd xp or windvd (only two channels seem to work).
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
skewld00d
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Location: San Jose, CA
Reviews written: 5
Trusted by: 0 members
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