SPEAKER SYSTEMS - Creative Inpiron 5300

[dhomeworld]

I have been looking for new speakers, and I have access to a few systems to test. I found it hard to find reviews, so I plan to try to do some myself. The current speaker systems I have available for review are the Creative Inspire 5300, Creative PC Works, Altec Lansing AVS500, Altec Lansing AVS300, and and my Cyber Acoustics CA-50. I may be able to test the Creative Inspire 5700, but that is a big maybe. I will be able to test all speakers on a Sound Blaster 128 OEM and Sound Blaster Audigy OEM. I planned to buy some Logitech Z-560s, but I do not need to blow the roof off. I just want to give my computer good sound from 10 feet back. Anyone who wants the Logitech Z-560s should go to EMSComputing.com. They are selling them for $135 plus shipping.

I will try to get the reviews done next week after my exams are over (12/15/01). I really have little idea how to test these speakers other than to use games and DVDs. Right now on my computer I have The Matrix DVD and Tribes 2 for testing the sound. I will see what good CDs I can find. If you do not have time to wait for my reviews, then let me just let you know that the Creative Inspire 5300s make awesome sound with a Sound Blaster 128, but they do not get loud with DVDs. I am using PowerDVD 3.0 and WinDVD 2000. I have tried turning Dolby Prologic on and off, and I have moved all volume controls to max on my PC. The speakers have to be at their minimum (3rd notch from off) regularly, but the DVDs need them at max to get reasonably loud (10th notch). Anyone got an idea? I will try the Audigy card tomorrow.

-- dh -- Jay -- Assistant Manager -- Cobb FCS Location --
www.buyfcs.com - Atlanta, GA's Custom PC Specialists

 

[dhomeworld]

The whole volume problem seems to be fixed. I don't know what I did, but I must have had something turned down yesterday.

 

[dhomeworld]

Get a SB Inspire 5300 system. Do not waist your money on anything more expensive than the Sound Blaster Inspire 5300 if you are just trying to fill a room with sound. One thing I have noticed is that while you get some base with a 4 four speaker card (an example being my Sound Blaster 128), you really need a 5.1 card. If you don't have one and want firewire, I recommend you get the SB Audigy OEM w/Firewire.

A little more about the SB Inspire 5300:
Street Price: $78 + shipping
Pros:
The sound controls are superb, and its programs look nice. Once nice thing is that the center speaker comes with two stands; One stand is to make it point down and the other is to make it point up. The volume control dial is far superior to the one used with the PC Works speakers. It causes little to no distortion. Also the cables actually work when pushed all the way into the sound card. Maybe my PC Works speakers are just defective, but they turned me off of SB for a while. The cables are of reasonable length, and easily extendable with some composite cables from Radio Shack or Best Buy. The cables for the front speakers are 3 meters, and the ones for the rear speakers are 5 meters. I will look into seeing if you can get a volume control cable extension tomorrow and check how long it is.
Cons:
The bass control is on the back of the bass.

I will be doing some more testing tommorrow when I can turn the volume up louder and work in a larger room. I hope this helps.