Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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48 of 48 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I Love 'Em, but you might find better speakers out there..., October 23, 2000
This speaker set is an amazing deal for the price. At $200, you get a true home theater system - including a center speaker, 4 satellites, and a subwoofer. The powered amplifier sits on your desk, has multiple knobs for volume, bass, etc, plus the crown jewel - Dobly Digital decoding. If you have a DVD drive in your computer, or a dedicated DVD player, or a Playstation 2, than you can watch movies in full surround sound, just like in the theaters. The sound will engulf you, moving from back to front and side to side and every other possible direction. DVDs these days take full advantage of this feature, and you won't be disappointed in it.Also, if you use this with your computer, and have never had a speaker set with a subwoofer before, you are in for a treat. Games especially take on a whole new life, as guns and explosions will shake your desk. Many 3D First-person games (like Half-Life) have 3D positional sound (with these speakers support) so that you can hear monsters come up on you from behind. Music also sounds crisp and clear, and I am finding myself listen to CDs often while I am surfing. A few things you should consider before buying: to use with your computer, these speakers require a sound card with 4-channel support. Also, you will need a DVD decoder card if you want to watch DVDs on your computer in Dolby Digital - this card pulls the Dolby Digtal signal off the disc and supplies it to the speakers amplifier. If you are not planning on watching DVDs with these speakers, don't buy them! You can get Creative's CSW1500, which are basically the same but without the dobly digtal decoder and thus cheaper, or Klipsch Promedia v2. 400 THX certified system, which are the best set of speakers you can buy for your computer, but do not offer Dolby Digital decoding, and are $50 more expensive. Lastly, these are computer speakers, and are made for an office or bedroom, not really large rooms. If you have a really big room with a large TV screen, this system might not be powerful enough for you.
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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I'm impressed, July 6, 2000
This is the best PC speaker system I've used. There are better-sounding (and more expensive) PC speakers, not one full of features as this one. It allows you to set up a Dolby Digital movie system on your PC while also taking care of your other needs such as computer games. The package includes a Dolby Digital decoder that also serves as amplifier for all six speakers. It has an S/PDIF input for your Dolby Digital source, front and rear analog inputs (RCA plugs) for your four-channel sound card analog outputs, DIN input for your sound card's digital output, and a subwooder pre-out if you choose to use a third-party subwoofer. The subwoofer speaker it includes does sound a bit weak, since the power rating of the amplifer is laughably low compared to standalone receivers: 20W for center, 7W each for the 4 satellites, 22W for the subwoofer. But for a PC user, who sits close to the speakers, the low power is sufficent to give out amazing sound quality. The Dolby Digital sound from DVD movies is also terrific. Despite the subwoofer's weakness, the other 5 speakers give amazingly sharp, clear sounds. This is, I guess, a cheap alternative to an actual home theater system that would cost thousands. And its ability to adapt to both movie-watching and computer gaming is a great feature for some to have.
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11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A bargain, but be careful of DVD compatibility!, December 30, 2000
By A Customer
At this price, the DTT2500 is very difficult to beat, considering you get a Dolby Digital/Prologic decoder included with the package; a full-blown decoder (with more features, of course) would normally set you back ... by itself!However, claims by the Creative website, most product descriptions of the DTT2500, and many consumer reviews (such as one below claiming PS2 compatibility) are *extremely* deceptive regarding its ability to work with set-top DVD players. The consumer rep whom I e-mailed regarding this issue misled me to this regard as well. The fact is, the receiver/decoder contains three sets of inputs: 1) an S/PDIF (also known as a composite audio input to many home theater enthusiasts, though their manual and website fail to note this); 2) a Digital DIN (only good for digital sound cards like the Soundblaster Live!); 3) and standard analog front and rear inputs (aka RCA). To make a long explanation shorter, only the composite (S/PDIF) input is capable of full-blown Dolby Digital 5.1 decoding. Many DVD players have an composite output so you can wire it to this decoder; many also do NOT. Why? Because optical outputs (using fiber optic wire) seem to be the preferred method of transferring the Dolby Digital signal, though the two outputs seem to be comparable in quality. The Playstation2, though one reviewer claims it will work with this setup, uses *only* optical output; no composite included. It does have those universal RCA outputs; but they're analog, not digital, and give you only 2 channels of sound (instead of five). So forget about getting that fantastic movie theater sound using this decoder with the PS2 and other DVD players which have only optical output. There is a composite-to-optical digital decoder which can be found on very esoteric audio equipment sites, but expect that to add an additional ... to your bill. Add the fact that you need an additional optical wire ..., and the possibility that some sound degradation might occur through this convoluted setup, and the DTT2500 suddenly looks a lot less attractive. Creative does market an almost identical product called the Playworks 2500, which has an optical input *and* an included optical wire (no DIN, though)--at a higher cost, of course. So unless you only plan to use this set for your computer (as it was intended to be used), or you're positive that your DVD player has an audio composite out, be careful. Quite frankly, Creative deserves only three stars on account of their shoddy product information and description, but the unbeatable value of the entire set shoves an extra star of approval. Sound-quality wise, the DTT2500 is very good. Its overall power is more than acceptable for most, particularly in confined spaces, though audio purists would probably spend more on a separate powered subwoofer (for those who like their bass *abnormally* powerful and have equally abnormal neighbors that are either deaf, or like such pounding). In any case, DVDs were meant to be heard with this or any Dolby Digital 5.1 system-- it has to be experienced to be believed-- which makes the omission of the optical input all the more unfortunate.
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