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Topic: Creative t20 II (Read 5560 times) previous topic - next topic
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Creative t20 II

Hello,

what is your opinion on those speakers?

http://us.creative.com/p/speakers/gigaworks-t20-series-ii

I know they are no studio monitors or other "better" speakers range, but I read some good reviews on them and they have pretty decent size to be placed on desktop and good price.

Jan

Re: Creative t20 II

Reply #1 –
Always listen to speakers before you buy.

That said, Creative quotes a frequency response of 50Hz-20kHz, with no details of whether that's at -3dB, -6dB, -10dB or whatever it is. Those look like 2.5" woofers, I think? Fat chance getting any sort of bass frequencies at any kind of reasonable volume from those.

Sure, they'll work fine for very basic usage, people make do with built-in laptop speakers after all. But really, they're not going to be very good for music or movies or anything like that.

Re: Creative t20 II

Reply #2 –
I have listened to them already and they seem to me having slightly weak "midrange" (voice, harmonica etc.), especially at lower volumes (at normal volume it appears quite OK). The bass can be to some extent regulated by controls and actually I preferred the setting with less bass (about "10 o clock" position of that control).

I know that they do not achieve the quality of studio monitors, but I do not want to have those "small pc speakers" or even "laptop-like" at that PC, either.

Unfortunately I have not found detailed specification of them.

Re: Creative t20 II

Reply #3 –
Do you like how they sound? Do you think the sound quality is acceptable at that price level?

Then buy them, and be happy :-)

Re: Creative t20 II

Reply #4 –
Quote
Unfortunately I have not found detailed specification of them.
Speaker specs are mostly useless anyway.   If you are buying pro speakers/monitors from a reputable manufacturer you might get useful-truthful specifications.

Re: Creative t20 II

Reply #5 –
I had the first version of these. Sounded pretty good to me, for 5-6 years. Now they're noisy as hell.
I was looking at these or the t40 II for a replacement, but the deal breaker for me was the "power saving" feature, which puts them in stand by after some time of no audio and then it takes (according to reviews) several seconds to wake up. And there's no way to disable this.

Re: Creative t20 II

Reply #6 –
Quote from: DVDdoug on
Quote
Unfortunately I have not found detailed specification of them.
Speaker specs are mostly useless anyway.  If you are buying pro speakers/monitors from a reputable manufacturer you might get useful-truthful specifications.

Most speaker specs are generally just marketing tools.  However, text results from a reliable source such as Soundstage can be good guides.

http://www.soundstagenetwork.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=16&Itemid=18

Re: Creative t20 II

Reply #7 –
Quote from: fuflo on
I had the first version of these. Sounded pretty good to me, for 5-6 years. Now they're noisy as hell.
I was looking at these or the t40 II for a replacement, but the deal breaker for me was the "power saving" feature, which puts them in stand by after some time of no audio and then it takes (according to reviews) several seconds to wake up. And there's no way to disable this.

Thank you. As new they are less noisy than usual minitower systems. 5-6 years is not that much but given the price ... and it could be a failure only of some pieces.

Power saving I do not mind since current version wakes up automatically within 1-2 secs on practically any sound.

Thanks for all advices!

Re: Creative t20 II

Reply #8 –
Quote from: jumpingjackflash5 on
Quote from: fuflo on
I had the first version of these. Sounded pretty good to me, for 5-6 years. Now they're noisy as hell.
I was looking at these or the t40 II for a replacement, but the deal breaker for me was the "power saving" feature, which puts them in stand by after some time of no audio and then it takes (according to reviews) several seconds to wake up. And there's no way to disable this.

Thank you. As new they are less noisy than usual minitower systems. 5-6 years is not that much but given the price ... and it could be a failure only of some pieces.

The volume control is the most likely component of active speakers to become noisy over time. Recommended actions: clean or replace.

A potential fix/upgrade would be to replace the internal volume control with jumper wires and use a high quality external passive volume  control.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B001PGMNRG/ref=dp_olp_new_mbc?ie=UTF8&condition=new

https://emotiva.com/products/electronics/control-freak

(possibly) http://www.fullcompass.com/prod/268794-Elite-Core-Audio-EC-WBP-VC?utm_source=googleps&utm_medium=shopping&utm_campaign=googleps&st-t=googleshopping-audio_all_day_long&vt-k=&vt-mt=&vt-pti=268794&gclid=CLLZ_9rEvNACFdQ7gQodWjAMrA

etc.

Re: Creative t20 II

Reply #9 –
Yes it can be noisy I have older minitower where it is so.

In case of those speakers volume control will be seldom used in my scenario since they switch off automatically (even if volume control is also switch off when desired to do manually) and mostly volume adjustment will be done in Windows.

Re: Creative t20 II

Reply #10 –
Hello,

I just want to let you know that I have bought those speakers and after some hours of burn-in, they serve well at my secondary PC, the only weak side for me is the slightly weaker "midrange", e.g. voice/harmonica, but the words/singing is easily understandable.

I replaced the cable that was supplied with them (very thin) by standard philips jack to jack copper cable.

They have power saving but go on automatically within 1-2 secs "on sound" reliably, it does not pose significant problem and actually I like the power saving feature done this way better than havign to shut off them manually.

Thanks for all opinions!

Jan

Re: Creative t20 II

Reply #11 –
Just to add my two cents, I have been using them for more than a year and I have been very satisfied. However, as others say, it very much depends on your expectations. I have bought them only to listen to music when I work from home. I probably wouldn't recommend them to any audiophiles who want to close their eyes and focus on listening to music only....

That said, they have pretty good performance for their size (and portability was another of my main criteria). Bass is a bit weak as you may expect and I agree that the midrange is nothing spectacular.

Re: Creative t20 II

Reply #12 –
Thanks for feedback, your experience is very similar to mine. Bass can be to vast extent adjusted by respective control. I prefer less bass - 9-10 o'clock position.

But given the price and size they work well, and for sure they are much better than ordinary "PC Speakers" or notebook things.