Rock my (virtual) world
Written: Nov 18 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Inexpensive, excellent sound
Cons: Cheap tripods and connectors, bad bass adjust knob location
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| skintigh's Full Review: Creative Technology FPS2000 4 Speakers |
Most speakers are adequate for games, these sound excellent with music, too.
I spend alot of time in audio stores and in the electronics sections of large department stores playing with all the new gadgets. I've become familiar with how different speakers sound and the differences between brands. Some sound excellent and cost a fortune, these are easy to find in the stores that don't bother to use price tags. Others are expensive with average to above average sound (Bose...). Very few are above average performers for low price, such as Cambridge Soundworks speakers.
I was eyeing this set of speakers for a while and I listened to other brands, but there wasn't much competition in this price range in spring 1999. I brought it home, set it up, and it blew me away, but it had a few drawbacks. One listen will show you all the advantages, so I'll concentrate out the negatives.
The speakers are excellent, the tripods suck. Two are included for the rear speakers to stand on the floor, and they are the flimsiest, most unstable tripods I have ever seen. One slight bump to these extremely top-heavy tripods and they tip over and the legs pop off. You stick one leg back on and start to stick the second on and the first pops off again. Some silicon glue solved that problem, but they still tip over. My cat knocked one over onto my one-year-olds head. I am unhappy with them to say the least.
Also, what is up with the speaker connections? I didn't pay $250 to have CS cut corners on me. The older models of CS speakers have RCA-type connections for the speaker wires, and every other brand that I've seen has convenient connectors, but these speakers just have stripped wires and little clippy things that come loose when your feet kick the subwoofer.
My final complaint is about the location of the bass adjust knob - on the back of the subwoofer. While this is a logical location for such a knob, it is not nearly as convenient a location as found on other brands that place the knob by one of the satellite speakers.
I do like the portable volume/balance knob that can be velcro'd to your monitor.
The price has been plummeting and you might be able to find them for half what I paid. I recommend them as an excellent investment for music and games.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
skintigh
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Member: Seth Kintigh
Reviews written: 33
Trusted by: 6 members
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