Creative Inspire T5400 knocked my socks off. (Creative Inspire T5400)

Member Name: Dando83

Product:	Creative Inspire T5400
Date:	21/07/06 (1764 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very Loud. Easy to reach volume and base control. Can be setup from 2.1 to 5.1 setups.

Disadvantages: Fragile cloth coverings, sound cutting out, sporadic volume changes

Most people buy a computer and don't give the sound a second thought. If you're going to be creating spreadsheets and emailing your grandma, then it's probably not your concern. If you have any allusions about playing games or watching movies however, don't be hasty in discounting the sound. You're likely to have (without even knowing it) purchased a PC capable of outputting surround sound.

The aural experience can be greatly improved for an investment of less than £50. And if you're Ebay savvy, spending £25 like I did can get you something along the lines of Creative's T5400. If you know you've got a surround sound capable sound card (or onboard sound) definitely investigate a 5.1 speaker option like this one. 5.1 refers to 5 channels of sound that come from various points in the room (depending on speaker placement). The remaining 0.1 refers to the limited low frequency sounds that the bass speaker puts out. A typical 5.1 setup involves having a left and right front speaker with a centre channel in the middle for dialogue in movies and games. Two rear left and right channels produce way cool behind your head sounds. The bass speaker produces bangs and thuds, and pops that will literally shake your room.

I bought the T5400 set second hand off Ebay. They replaced a quieter set of Creative speakers. While these are used, I have bought several previous versions of Creative's Inspire speakers brand spanking new. They're packed and well documented and very easy to connect. The quality of Creative's products is very good. Compared to the dinky tinny speakers that come with your PC, the T5400 are animals.

Connection is a no brainer. Coloured cables very easily allow you to see where to plug in the LEFT/RIGHT audio, REAR LEFT/REAR RIGHT audio, and CENTRE/BASS audio between the computer and bass speaker unit. Speaker cable is sufficiently long to reach from the bass unit to all four corners of a 12 x 12 foot bedroom. Obviously these dimensions will not reach the ends of a large room, but for these purposes, you're going to be wanting something heftier than the T5400.

Referring to your soundcard manual, it's quite quick to flip your computer into 5.1 sound output. Practically, what does this mean? It means that given a decent copy of PowerDVD or WinDVD you can use your PC to output Dolby Digital or DTS surround sound. Sound effects will emerse you coming out of the four corner speakers, dialogue comes right at you from the centre channel, and booming bangs echo through the room from the bass unit. Games programmed to use 3d effects will produce similar effects. Look for compatibility of your soundcard with popular gaming 3d protocols like EAX and A3D.

In a bedroom the 74 watts of volume is deafening at full. This RMS wattage is the most honest power output setting there is. It takes into account the whole speaker setup and relative strengths of the speakers. Do not get taken in by cheaper speakers advertising 1000 watt outputs. This PMPO wattage means nothing when measuring speaker volume.

The volume control is oh so handy on a separate control knob. Bass can be easily turned up or down depending if anyone downstairs is getting annoyed with the floor shaking. A headphone jack on the volume control knob unit also easily allows you to makes things more personal for yourself.

The downside to this set (and similar Creative Lab speakers) I have is that the cloth coverings for the speakers is easily frayed. You can remove the cloth cover completely if you don't mind looking at naked speakers.

Also, I've recently noticed that the volume level while playing a song will change spontaneously. As I've recently changed sound cards I have to conclude it's the speakers. Lately, sound has been totally cutting out sometimes. I have to move the volume knob to get it back. I have no doubt that the age of the speakers is to blame as they were well-loved when I bought them on Ebay. I have no reservations about buying another set in Creative's Inpire range when these finally give up the ghost.

Summary: Great Ebay bargain speakers have really improved my PC experience.

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