Customer Reviews

JBL Creature II 3-Piece Powered Speaker System

5 star:		(175)
4 star:		(70)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(21)

 

 

I bought these speakers for my 15-year-old son because he wanted some external speakers for his eMac. I have always loved JBL speakers, and these were too neat to pass up...especially at the bargain price. The design of the speakers is very futuristic and cool (or, as my son would say...SWEET!). The color and design compliment the eMac perfectly. Each of the satellite speakers has a green LED on the bottom of it that lights up when they're on...very cool in a darkened room. Best of all, the sound of these speakers is fabulous. They may not be the world's loudest speakers. But the sound is beautiful, whether you're listening to the Red Hot Chili Peppers or Thelonious Monk (which my kid actually does). The subwoofer has easy access bass and treble controls right on the front of it, and the footprint isn't very big (which is great, because this is one subwoofer you won't want to hide on the floor...you'll want it right on your desktop). The right satellite has cool touch sensitive volume controls. And the construction is top-notch. I recently saw these speakers "on sale" in the Marshall Field's weekly flier for $99.99. I took great pleasure in knowing that I only paid $66.49 at Amazon and got them shipped to me for free. You can't beat that deal with a stick! Oh...one more cool thing. My son also has an iPod and these speakers can be hooked up to an iPod (or any external music playing device with a headphone jack) simply by plugging them into the headphone jack. So, not only are these cool computer speakers...but if you have an iPod or portable CD player and don't want to splurge on a stereo for a bedroom, you can just buy these, plug in your music source, and...Voila! Instant stereo system!! I highly recommend these speakers. I'm pretty fussy when it comes to sound equipment, and these pass my test with flying colors.

I bought the Creature speakers to use with my iPod in the office at work. I am very pleased.

Sound quality is very, very good. I find the bass very balanced, not overwhelming as some PC users have reported here. Perhaps that is because I am driving them with the iPod. A big plus for office use is they can be turned down quite low and still provide good sound. And they have decent steps between volume levels. Many digital volume controls have large jumps between levels, but these are pretty good in that regard.

The design is certainly very cool, and the footprint is okay (less than one sqft) if you have room for the sub (sits nicely behind my monitor). The satellites are tiny and fit under my monitor easily.

I did have one problem where the volume control stopped working 15 minutes after installation. That was disconcerting, but was quickly solved by disconnecting and reconnecting the right channel lead, and has not recurred. A knob would be more functionally correct, but this is a design thing and it is cool. The system provides slight clicks to let you know the volume is changing, and you can mute by touching both together.

I rated four stars, down from five only because of the volume adjustment losing its brain. Since another reviewer reported the same problem, this appears to be a design flaw. Other than that, these are perfect for use in the office with the iPod!

Okay. These speakers are THE best speakers you can get for under 100 bucks. They have wonderful bass quality. (I can shake the house). They are about 3" x 3" and have the nice blue light under them. They take litterally no time to set up and they work with my iPod and iBook. They look like apple made them for this computer. If you have a PC they work great too. The heat sensitive volume control is really cool (even though I use the volume control on my computer). Overall these are great speakers for the money and have wonderful soudn quality. They also look great!

I needed some decent speakers for my office that I could plug my laptop into and listen to music with some actual range and decent sound quality.

For 70 bucks these are hard to beat. No drivers are needed, they plug and play in about a minute, and the sound is great for the size.

I don't understand how some people have had trouble with set up, since there isn't any. The controls are sensitive and easy to use. I like being able to adjust the volume on the speaker itself.

And they are definitely a talking point when people see them in my office!

I came across this little ditty at the Mac store in Ginza (and now regret I didn't get it at Amazon who have it for almost half the price!) Still I had to get it. I remember Small computer speakers from that recent age when they were synonmous for cr*ppy listening. These seemed quite juicy !

But how would it hold up on MY tiny i-pod I wondered... especially keeping in mind that the bass response on some i-pods do seem a bit weak at times. The answer... Unbelievable. Turned my i-pod into a home stereo system overnight! I put on some JB as well as Jazz -- the bass was really kicking. Overall range and dynamic great.... And the big treat was with FELA KUTI - - I could really hear Tony Allen's killer work on the kick drums...

And a few added pluses - - aside from the speakers being magnetically shielded (no worry about placing them near the computer screen), you can place the larger bass speaker wherever you want (sound is omnidirectional.) Of course its best sitting in between the two tiny speakers, but even from across the room the sound isn't that bad. Overall power and volume won't shatter windows... but neither do I find myself playing them at top volume either. You can also mute the volume instantly by simultanouesly touching the right and left volume controls.

BOSS proved that BIGGER is not necessariy better...
JBL is proving that you can get a nice computer/i-pod speaker system with really great sound and not putting too much of a dent in the wallet.

SOLD !

I considered the Encounter set before deciding to try these. Something about 2 aliens looking at you all the time just isn't right. Plus the Encounter bass unit is 50cm high! Too big for my tastes.

Other reviews mention lack of midrange and they're right. Of course there is no mid-speaker, so it was no surprise. I'm a musician and audio recording engineer and can hear subtleties pretty well.

The packing box is compact. The bass/base unit is on the top, the satellites & accessories are in the bottom. Everything is wrapped in plastic, so don't expect instant gratification. The power brick is BIG: 6x7x10cm. Each satellite connector has a different shape so be sure you rotate it for a proper fit.

The right satellite has the volume controls. I was able to detect 30 discrete steps between max volume and completely muted using the satellite controls. The up button makes a TAP sound when you click it, the down button makes a TICK. Hitting both at once mutes or restores the sound, and works reliably. I set it to max minus 3 clicks, then ran the volume from the Mac.

The bass/base unit controls seem a bit consumer-ish: not flimsy but not entirely smooth and solid. The power button is on the back. The volume controls for both bass (left side) and treble (right) have a detent at the middle (5) point. I set each to about (6), then fired up iTunes.

I used 4 types of music to test: a cappella, pipe organ, industrial/electronic, and jazz. Each genre has highs, lows, dynamic range, and overtone interaction for evaluation of harmonics. I set flat equalizer at -12 to see where the bass crossed over to midrange by pushing each slide *one at a time* to +12. You get the bass unit *only* at 32, 64, 125, and 250hz. You get treble *only* at 1k, 2k, 4k, 8k, and 16khz. The 500hz slider is the only crossover point! Normally there's a bit more EQ range for the mids, but the isolation between satellites and bass is almost total.

Normally my EQ settings are set like the Amazon swoosh - looks like a smile (try Classical or Rock in iTunes to see what I mean). Based on my testing, I pushed up at 500 and 1khz and got a really nice overall setting. Here's my new "Creature" preset: 32=+6, 64=+3, 125=+1.5, 250=0, 500=+7.5, 1k=+3, 2k=0, 4k=+1.5, 8k=+3, 16k=+4.5.

I will never play these speakers even at half volume while sitting in front of them. So I set iTunes volume to 50% and control the Mac's volume directly. About 3 blocks out of the Mac's 16 is perfect for just sitting here. I bump it up to about 7 blocks for working around the office. Anything louder my wife insists needs to go on the home stereo. So points for volume impact.

The cats don't mind the new bass or enhanced treble. The green LEDs on the satellites are a lot less intrusive than I expected, but I'm still going to hack them and solder in blue ones eventually to match everything else. Overall they're a keeper with a point each for looks, price, sound (bass/volume), and simplicity, and 1/3 point off each for midrange, consumerish controls, and power brick.

Harmon Audio (which owns the JBL brand) has to be one of the worst companies ever for customer service. I bought a set of these Creature II speakers directly from them and they arrived DOA. OK -- I know this happens from time to time, and I shouldn't get too upset at having waited for the speakers to arrive by UPS, unpacked them, and set them up only to find that they don't work. Disconnecting everything, repacking everything, and taking it all down to UPS for return would be a tolerable inconvenience except for this:

Harmon Audio/JBL requires that the customer get a return authorization from them before returning defective merchandise. At the same time, Harmon/JBL makes it virtually impossible to connect with someone at their company to get that RA. Their telephone service system is so bad that it makes calling AOL to cancel seem like a pleasant experience. The number you have to call is a long distance toll call. You have to navigate multiple menus and then speak to various representatives who route your call elsewhere, and ultimately you are put on infinite hold and given the opporunity to leave a recorded message which nobody ever responds to.

If you go to their web site and are clever enough to find where you can leave them a written message, that will be an excercise in futility -- for they don't bother to respond there either.

Consumers -- this kind of service speaks of nothing but contempt for us. Let us all stop patronizing companies that display this kind of attitude.

I am very pleased with my purchase. The sound quality is perfect. The sound fills the entire room--and occasionally the rest of the house. They compliment the eMac design very well.

Initially, I had a problem similar to the person who ranked the speakers with one star and then I realized that I hadn't plugged the speakers in completely.

I think a lot of the trouble people have had with these speakers can be traced back to their sound cards. If you have Bass or Treble set on your sound card, turn it off. These speakers will sound like shrill muddy beasts if you leave them on, and you don't need those settings anymore while using these speakers. The sound is incredible for such a small package, and the speakers look great. The high range is crisp, and the bass is just right. Plus these speakers have a presence that most low-end speakers can't compare with. Sure, they're not professional monitors, and they won't replace your main stereo, but they are great computer speakers. So turn down your Bass and Treble adjustments, and give these speakers a whirl. You won't be disappointed.

Well, you know that saying that you get what you pay for? Don't expect miracles with these speakers - they're under $100, which means that they will not sound as full as many other brands. As an audiophile, I admit that this bothers me somewhat, especially since the middle ranges are lacking, and the bass can easily be overwhelming.

But on that note, it is under $100, and for that price, these are a great deal. They sound quite decent, are easy to set up (you just plug it into your laptop/iPod. No drivers needed. Nothing fancy) and are aesthetically pleasing with my iBook and iPod.

I keep my iPod 40GB on its dock, and then I plug in the green speaker cord to the little jack on the back of the dock. When I want to listen from my laptop, I easily take that same green cord out of the dock jack, and stick it into my iBook headphone jack. Easy as pie, and since the cord is long, there is a lot of flexibility.

Looks wise, it matches very well with my Apple gear, plus the two small speakers have an other-wordly green light that emanates from the bottom. I hate to sound shallow and stupid, but stuff like that amuses me to no end!

FInal verdict: if you live in a small apartment or have a small room or a small bank account, these are the speakers for you.