Creative A220 2.1 Multimedia Speaker System

I don't usually review.......but I wanted to this time. I put a lot of time reading up on these speakers (other reviews). I decided on them because they were cheap, seemed to have decent enough lows/mid/highs, for this price range. My last pair of speakers were klipsh promedia 2.1. I loved those speakers. I just moved and couldn't bring them with me. My budget is tighter than before, so had to go for these. Ok so here are my initial thoughts........the speakers are light. I might have to tape them down. I have one on one side of my bed, and the other on the other side. The speaker that plugs into the subwooder was my only challenge, as the wire is only like 5 feet long (estimate). I had to put the subwoofer under my bed, sort of in bewtween both speakers. Both speakers are just below ear height when I'm laying in bed. I plug the cord from the other speaker to my laptop, which I usually keep in my bed too. The set up was easy and intuitive. The power buttown/volume control is on the one speaker. No subwoofer control. I've had to adjust my eq settings in itunes. I've found a decent balance, so I'm not complaining, esp for this price range.So compared to the klipsh, and some altec lansing brand prior to that: the speakers are what I expected. Actually even better. The satelittes sound clear, good mid and highs. The subwoofer has more punch than I expected from such a small speaker. You can't turn it that loud before it starts to lose sound quality. I think the major difference between this and a higher priced speaker system, is that the volume just simply can't be put as high. At lower volumes this system sounds surprisingly good. Even still, I think the klipsh one upped it. But that was also 5 times more expensive, and quite a bit more bulky (subwoofer esp). For this to come close at lower volumes is remarkable. A testament to managing more with less (for the consumer, and the product manufacturer.For 30 bucks and free shipping via amazon, I'm thrilled. I was using my macbook pro speakers for 2 weeks, and these speakers are light years better (of course).I didn't hear other speakers in this range, but these seemed to have what I was looking for (based on all the reviews, good and bad). They have exceeded my expectations so far. In fact, the longer I listen to a wide range of music through them, the more I like them.

I bought this system for my desk at my new job. I generally work late when no one else is around, so I like to turn up the music while working. My budget was $30. I didn't necessarily need a 2.1 system with a subwoofer, but for the price I decided to try these out. I'll just start off by saying my boss walked over to my desk one evening when he heard me playing some Rush and said that he needs to get a set for his desk. They're good.Setup:Easy! The left and right speaker cables have different physical connectors, so there was no confusion when connecting them while I was under the desk. The cables are long enough to space the speakers out significantly and neatly place them through the wire holes in the desk. The power for the unit is actually controlled from the right speaker, so there's no climbing under the desk to turn the unit on/off at the end of the day.Sound:I consider myself hard-to-please with sound quality (I use $80 earbuds and a very significant sound system at my home). These things really sound great for the price point. I was expecting decent quality, but these things are notably better than I expected. As other reviewers mention, YES, the bass can be heavy (which can be a good thing!). Many computers have sound mixing properties available right in Windows, and others have sound cards that have a full equalizer. After I dropped the bass level a little bit, the sound was perfect for me. A physical control on the unit to control bass level would be a great added feature, but it's not a big deal to mess with the software EQ.At low volume music can be a little tinny, but again, you can tweak the sound with an equalizer.Look:These things look great on the desk. They are subtle yet powerful-looking.Bottom Line:If your budget is around $30 and you're looking for a sound system that's easy to set up and operate, and you want better than "just ok" sound quality, go for these speakers.Oh yeah -- Amazon Prime, 2-day shipping is the best.