10 out of 10 people found this review helpful.
Nice Budget Computer Speakers
Date of Review: Jun 15, 2008
The Bottom Line: For a small and/or budget computer speakers, these can't be beat. Highly Recommended.
I should have a fairly good idea on the quality of these speakers as I've had these speakers for a year. I bought these at Costco when I was looking for a cheap set of computer speakers right after I moved (I left my Dell 5.1 to my family).
Design
I really like the design. The side speakers are very small and out of the way, perfect for a small system. The sub woofer is packed away in a 'goblin' like enclosure that looks nice and receives compliments from others. I have the white edition and it's shiny, making it look nice. I saw the silver version and it looked bad and somewhat cheap. The black version also has the same shine as the white edition and looks nice. The black and white versions remind me of Apple's iPod. Under each speaker is a green led that stays lit when the unit is powered on. Luckily it's not too bright and isn't a distraction.
Inputs & Accessories
It's pretty minimal but everything you would need. It comes with 1 sub woofer/control goblin, 2 speaker goblins, 1 stereo cable and 1 y-adapter.
How it works
Nearly all the options are controlled from the sub woofer goblin itself: Treble and Bass Adjustment, input cables, power switch, and output cables to the left and right speakers. My only reservation with the layout is that I wish they were able to put the power switch somewhere on the front or under the front of the sub woofer, reaching around to turn it off is bothersome.
Changing the volume is neat (and helps to read the manual if you're unfamiliar with how it works). The right speaker has + and - capacitance buttons. This means for the buttons to work, it has to touch some part of your skin. If an adjustment is made, the speakers make a quiet 'tick' sound. Unfortunately, you never know if the system is at 2% or 98% percent. It's hardly a problem but something to note.
Performance
The JBL Creature does a good job with highs. The mids are ok. The lows on the bass side range from poor to good.
If you listen closely, this is what you should expect.
The mids will sound OK, much better than any sub 50$ 3 piece system. But the mids are pretty quiet.
The lows are... OK as well. But if the lows go very low then it's really bad... as in missing. It's not a problem as most music and nearly all games don't go that low but it was noticeable on some of my music.
Final Thoughts
When I bought these, I was looking for cheap computer speakers. I went to Target, Walmart, and the like. Their cheap speakers were ~20$ and really, really bad, didn't include a subwoofer and were LARGE. I found those cheap speakers to be the kind you find at flea markets for 5$. I happened to be browsing Costco and saw these for 45$ It was about double of my original budget and I don't regret it one bit. Since then, I've seen Costco selling these for 35$ making this an even sweeter deal.
In the end, the biggest statement I can make for these speakers is whether or not I would purchase it again. The answer is a solid YES.
