Customer Reviews

Creative Labs Inspire 5200 5.1 Computer Speakers (6-Speaker, Black)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've owned these speakers for 18 months now and have them set up in my home office. I drive them with a SB Audigy card and from the day I set them up, they have produced nothing but sweet sound. The bass is clean and not overpowering. The wired remote not only has volume and bass adjustments, but also a headphone jack that when used, cuts off the audio to the speakers allowing me to work late and not disturb the family.

I have never heard any "popping" noises (other than a small pop when I power down my PC.) I have the AC plugged into the surge protector side of a UPS. I don't know if that makes a difference or not, as I've never tried it any other way.

The only drawback I found was if you want to wire the rear speakers to the back of a standard bedroom, you'll have to buy a set of RCA M-F extension cables, as the existing cables are too short. If you shop around, you can pick them up for a few bucks. I just wish I knew that before, so I could have had them on hand when I first installed these.

There are many junk surround speakers being sold today, but these are not one of them. For the price, it's very hard to beat the quality.

I just purchased these speakers last night and stayed up later than usual testing them out. I found that they are very easy to set up and you get a very nice full sound out of them. I'm not much of a audiofile so some of the finer points of speaker placement and stuff like that are beyond me. However for the price you really can't beat these speakers. My only complaint was that I noticed a slight "popping" or "cracking" noise. It wasn't something that happened all the time, but if the band on the CD I was testing it with would hit a certain note I could pick up that popping noise. I don't know if that has to do with my cheap sound card or if it's the speakers themselves. However, considering the price I paid for these I can live with it.

Hardware: Turtle Beach Santa Cruz

Had I known how much richer my mp3's would sound, I would have bought these speakers long ago. As I write this review, my roomates are sleeping (or trying to), and it's all I can do to not jack the volume up. But now, even at low volume, the music resonates. Such depth. I may never be able to use headphones again.

If you've got a 5.1 sound card, you can't beat these, especially for the price. If you don't have a 5.1 card, make sure to get the an excellent Turtle Beach card.

Initially, I had the same center speaker issue as noted in 2 reviews listed here. I had to select the 'Virtual 5.1' setting in my audio control panel and the center speaker worked just fine. [Plug the center speaker jack into the Turtle Beach 'Versa' plug.]

I couldn't be happier with this sound.

I received these speakers as a Christmas gift, and I must say that the overall sound quality is excellent. The subwoofer packs a big punch, and the five other speakers provide a sound that fantastically envelops the listener. In addition, the remote volume-control (not a wireless remote) is nice because you can sit back several feet from the computer and watch a DVD without having to return to the PC to change the volume, for example.

However, I quickly began to notice that the speakers produced intermittent popping sounds, about every fifteen to sixty minutes. I thought that there might perhaps be a problem with my sound card, but the speakers continue to pop *even when the PC is turned off*. I returned the speakers, but because I liked the sound quality so much and because I hoped that my particular set was defective, I exchanged them for an identical set. The new set of speakers exhibited the same popping defect.

After returning that set also, I purchased a slightly different model by Creative, the Creative Inspire 4.1 set, with which I have since been pleased. It has good sound quality, features a remote volume control, and has no audible defects. As for this 5200 model, if you think you can live with the popping sounds, then take your chances, but I would recommend that you save yourself some frustration and buy something else.

I've recently purchased a new computer, and it didn't come with speakers. Personally, I'm a big fan of all the quality audio technology out there, but I must admit that my experience with audio is relatively limited to home theatre in general. So, my computer came with on-board audio (AC'97, ALC650 software drivers). Most onboard audio to this date use software drivers rather than hardware to accomplish the audio task. The problem this presents is that most computers (notwithstanding the latest and greatest) are depleted of valuable resources when it must rely on internal software drivers, rather than an external hardware device to handle the audio; this is especially true of on-board sound cards that say they are capable of "5.1 surround sound". First off, 5.1 capability does not mean it can produce Dolby Digital or DTS sound. Any hardware you buy, must explicitly say that these features are included in the hardware. 5.1 capability simply means that your speakers can produce sound from all 5 speakers plus woofer. This does not mean that you will experience the distinct channel experience that most home theatre's will produce. Moreover, the channels will be uniform, in that they all perform the same role. The point here is that these Creative 5200 speakers are certainly capable of Dolby Digital or DTS, but to enable that feature you must have a hardware device that is capable of decoding this. While this is all nice, the initial point is that you must have a 5.1 capable sound card in order to get sound from all speakers. If not, get the 2.1 system instead, I understand Amazon has a nice rebate on those. Anyways, I've tested these speakers on my on-board audio (I'm too cheap to spend more on a true hardware sound card) and the results are astounding. First off, I set my computer volume to half, and the speaker volume to half (via the cabled remote), and the sound is simply off the wall. This will depend on your setup, my personal computer room is a small one, about 12x12. The speakers are capable of much more, but yet the sound is incredible at even the half setting. I mean this in comparison to home theatre setups, the computer setup is simply clearer and the highs are higher, and the bass is superb for anything other than a large room. Unless you plan on watching DVD movies on your PC, there really is no need for Dolby Digital. But if you are a music buff, these speakers are sure to impress, provided you have a 5.1 compatible card and strong computer. Plus, they're very cheap (they have the same design and specs as the much more expensively priced Cambridge Soundworks system), but I must warn that they take a while to setup (too much packaging and little documentation). Make an informed decision, and see what else you can find on these speakers.

I also had the problem of the popping sound, but I solved it by moving the main speaker to a different power supply. I could always notice the sound when i turned my fan on and off on the same power supply. Once I moved the speakers power supply, everything worked fine and the popping sound was GONE!

This is a great speaker if you have 5.1 stuff. If you don't, you won't get anything from the center speaker. Ignore the people who heard popping/cracking sound. Maybe it was because I had a Creative Sound Blaster Audigy sound card. Great speaker if you play games or watch DVD that have 5.1 audio. Otherwise, get a 4.1 speaker. With 47 RMS, this speaker have enough power for home use (even too much for me because my neighbor is knocking on my door everyday). In my opinion this speaker is not as good as the 5300 but it's good enough. Must buy if you don't have a 4.1/5.1 speaker.

I've owned several computers since 1996 and never had anything other than the speakers that came with the machines.Then I bought the Inspire 5.1 and could'nt believe my ears when I hooked them up!It almost brought tears to my eyes when I listened to a Rolling Stones CD. The aircraft engines in my flight sims have an ominous rumble that was'nt there before, thanks to the sub-woofer. I have'nt noticed any popping noises, but that may be due to the fact my sound card is a Creative Labs Sound Blaster PCI 512.There is plenty of volume when sitting in the midst of the speakers.Almost deafening. But if I were to use my computer as a home stereo,I'd want something with a little more power. This product is definitely worth it's price.

Got this over a year ago. Teamed them up with a Turtle Beach Sound Card. I cannot play these puppies loud enough, and I have only dialed the volume up to about 40%.
I am not sure about prior reviewers problems as most issues like this alleged popping are a result of an incompatible sound card with the speakers. However, not an issue with the very excellent Santa Cruz card. I just taped the remote volume to the far right of my keyboard tray, and I can easily adjust the volume with my pinky-HOW EASY IS THAT?!
The bass can be heard two floors above me in my daughter's room -and this is when it is at a casual listening level!
All in all, these are exactly as advertised great for music, games (especially with the santa cruz DSP) and visual media sound-if some people expected more than this then perhaps a Klipsch set at [$$$] should have been their choice. This is mnore than a great deal at any price under [$$$].
Get these whenever they drop with a rebate (mine were [$$$] with a [$$$]sticker price last year. DVDs, Games, and MP3s sound marvelous, and I over the past year I have preferred this set-up to my formidable upstairs home theater with its 500+ watts and 51 inch HDTV.
Piece of friendly IT advice which is usually not heeded: Make sure you have updated drivers for your sound card.
happy tunes....

Make sure you're happy with the volume setting on the control, then never touch it again if possible. I've had issues with the volume fading to near silence if I have to turn down the volume with the hardware control. Tapping on the knob brings the volume back.

After looking up solutions to this problem, it turns out that there is a floating ground issue with the volume control. This is a manufacturing flaw that has hit more than a few users.

When they work, they're great. If you're struggling to get your sound back, not so much. If not for the volume issue, I'd keep 'em. Instead, I just bought a set of Logitech X-540 speakers.