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 was initially skeptical of these speakers from Creative when I was making this Amazon purchase. For around $30, they seemed like quite the nifty speaker set-up (w/ subwoofer too!) for a small office and all, but I was concerned about A220's quality for the price. Compared to other units Creative sold, the A220 2.1 system seemed so small in price, and that had be worried. However, when they did arrive, I plugged them in, and boy, were they decent for the price. Plugging in my computer, it produced some nice sounds. High and mid-tones seemed average, not bloody brilliant, but discernible and nice. The bass is often pretty overwhelming at times and isn't crystal clear, but for what it can do for dubstep and house music is pretty nice. As you've probably read 30+ times, one gripe about the bass is that there is no control. The only thing there is is a volume control circular button that functions also as an ON/OFF switch. You won't be disappointed if you're looking for something that'll sound great in a small office or small room. However, with this said, these speakers are not designed for outdoor parties or dance practices or in semi-large environments. The A220 will even be stretched, sadly, in a small living room space. So don't be too surprised about how far you can use it. One more thing. Be very careful with the satellite wires. They're kinda fragile, and everything should be treated with care. Everything. But other than that, solid product for the price. You can't go wrong with $30. Your jimmies will be pleasantly titillated when playing BF3, listening to YouTube videos, or just some decent house music in your office.

To preface this review: I am a young professional classical musician and an amateur audio engineer. I have spent many more dollars on audio equipment than I'd care to recall, and I know what good sound sounds like. With that, I'll briefly tell you about the Creative A220s. These speakers are cheap, very cheap. That being said, they look like they should cost about twice what they do, and sound like they should cost about twice what they do as well. I was looking for a set of speakers for casual listening in my bedroom. Something that wouldn't disturb they neighbors, but would give a full sound. These have fit the bill very well. The sound that these speakers produce is full and warm. It is not distorted either (excepting peak volume levels). The subwoofer extends realistically down to about 80-90 hz, with a lower plane to about 50 Hz (at a significantly reduced volume). These, contrary to other reviews will not "bump" or shake the house. The reason for this is the size of the cones. The subwoofer is only 4.5 inches in diameter. This means that it has a surface area of about 15.9"^2. With a full sized 12 inch subwoofer, the area of the cone is approximately 113.1"^2. This means that this subwoofer has over seven times less area for excursion. You can therefore expect the sub to displace SIGNIFICANTLY less air than a proper sub. This was a plus for me, as I wanted to avoid disturbing the neighbors. The treble is clear, the mids are there, and the bass is a tad weak in summation. If you have a soundcard with an equalizer feature, you can remedy the speakers (within limits) to your individual sonic preference. These have a small footprint and create a nice sound. Don't expect them to rock the house, but do expect them to provide a pleasant listening experience at median volumes. They are well built for the price point, and they look like they should hold up for a long time. If they do not, I will update this posting. If you have questions for me, feel free to post them below. If enough people want me to, I will take the time to run a flat frequency sweep with an audio spectrogram and give the frequencies produced from it in my home studio. Cheers, and happy hunting to you all. Luke

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.

The great reviews on here were why i purchased these speakers. and i'm satisfied. I was surprised that these $30 speakers sounded as good as they did...even after reading the great reviews. i didn't want to spend a lot of money but i wanted good quality. these satisfied both of my wants. there were some reviews on here say that the sub puts out too much bass. i don't think so at all. if anything not enough :) but the bass is fine. i wish the sub would put out a wider range of frequency (if i said that right...) and i wish there was a subwoofer control knob, but no big. its also pretty loud...i had it at about 37% and it was loud and there was no distortion. Also, after about 3 variations, i found that putting the sub under my desk, at my feet off to the right, was the best preference for me. Although, you may prefer a different location. these speakers are used mainly to play music and movies from my mac mini (2011). i like the "rock" setting for the EQ on iTunes if this helps anyone out there. For $30 there really is nothing to complain about here. great clarity and volume. if you're thinking about it, get it. It beats spending $80-$150 on a computer sound system and regretting your purchase. UPDATE: when turned up pretty loud with songs with quite a bit of bass, the sub makes a noise like something is rattling inside of it. it's not super noisy but when the bass hits a certain frequency on at a certain volume level i'm able to hear it. just kind of annoying. other than that everything sounds great

The only reason I bought these speakers was to attach them to my TV. The built-in speakers on the TV fire down-backwards, which makes listening in the room muffled, especially now that I'm running fans and air conditioners for the summer (during the fall, winter and spring without the added background noise, the built-in speakers worked fine on the Sam-sung TV). Set-up was easy, the cords are long enough to attach to the TV and keep it near by on the TV stand, but not to spread across the room (I'll check the lengths and post back). There is 1 power cord that plugs into the sub-woofer, and there are 2 smaller headphone-style cords that are for input, and left speaker, but there is 1 larger cord that goes to the right speaker and sub-woofer that is a little stiffer and does not want to hang freely. The sound improvement has been great! I was running the TV volume at 90, and finding it hard to hear over the background noise, but now with the speakers plugged in, I have the Creative speaker volume knob at about 3/4 and the TV volume is now at 35-40 and I can hear everything very well, actually louder than "necessary." I even have the 2 little speakers behind the TV, angled out toward the room, because of the lack of room on the stand I'm using. I agree with the first review that the bass is enhanced (there is not a tone control built-into the speakers) and I have had to cut down the response in the TV equalizer. I found you have to unplug the speakers from the TV to adjust the equalizer, then plug the speakers back into the output jack. For a comparison, I have also played some recorded music over the speakers, and they work even better than for the TV audio. The crispness of the upper end is incredible, and the overpowering bass is not there (must be the TV feed?). For the money, and with super-saver shipping, this speaker package is well worth it!!!

I ordered these speakers so I could have some basic sound for my movies. I was really surprised when I unpackaged these speakers, at how attractive and well made they appear. After installing and testing, I have found that these speakers are really good for their price. After some fine EQ tuning, I can get very loud, clear theater quality sound in 2.1. They really bring my movies and music alive, and perform like more expensive speakers. After six months of use, the speakers have broke in well and are even better sounding than when purchased. No wear at all detectable. Pro's : Excellent, clear sound from high to mid Good, clear bass sound "spreads" well, good sound locus Seems not to carry next door well enough to tick the neighbors off. Cons : Bass distorts sometimes at heavy volume / dramatic movie sequences No bass "feel" (all audio, no rumbly vibration sensations)

pros: cheap! excellent sound quality at low to mid volumes, clear and crisp cons: no bass adjustment at high volumes the sound quality suffers, particularly the subwoofer. hard to manage since you can't adjust bass volume overall, these work well as a replacement for tv/monitor speakers and will offer you a much wider range of sounds than most built in speakers. they also work well for music in a small to medium sized room. if you're looking for performance speakers or something you can crank, you will need to spend the extra money on something of higher quality

I got these for around 30 dollars 3 years ago and I can't believe how good they are considering the low price point. I previously owned an old 5.1 Altec Lansing that finally died after many years of abuse but couldn't afford a similar product at that time so I went for what should have been a cheap and temporary replacement but I never felt the need to replace them. I mainly use them to play music at a reasonable (low, up to 30% of the speaker's max volume) volume and a close distance (2 to 3 feet) and it's always clear. The subwoofer provides a good bass support without being overwheming and I wouldn't want it to make the house crumble anyway. It might not be ideal for bass-driven music (hip-hop or some electronic/dubstep music) but it fulfills my musical needs as a metal/rock/punk lover. For gaming it's also good enough so the overlap of sounds (music + sound FX) doesn't cause any problem and remains well-balanced. Any issue I encountered in terms of sound quality were quickly fixed by using my onboard sound card settings. It sure isn't an high-end product but I've never encountered any better speakers for the price I paid and anyone who uses these in a small room for regular use should be satisfied.

I bought these speakers to go with a new gaming desktop I built, expecting to have to upgrade them later when I had a bit more money. I've had them for nearly six months now and I have no intention whatsoever of upgrading because they're awesome! For the price to quality ratio, this is a steal. They have good bass, clear treble, and I haven't had a reason to make them loud enough to find out if there's any distortion (and they've gotten pretty loud thanks to their appearances at some house parties of mine). I could spend ten times the money and maybe get a fraction better quality, but for what I'm using them for, I just can't find a reason to do that.

PROS: -Cheap (paid $28) -Loud CONS: -No independent bass volume control -Sub woofer sound quality -3.5mm (1/8") jack connectivity I purchased these speakers for my university dorm. I had some nicer speakers when I purchased these, but I wanted something that was loud, and that I did not have to worry about getting damaged. These are loud enough for small gatherings - much louder than sound docks, and since this is what I purchased them for, I am fairly happy. However, before I used them for this, I listened to some quiet music, and these perform poorly here. The problem is the sub woofer. At lower volumes, you can hear it rattling quite a bit. Perhaps I received a defective unit. It also seems to be on and off; momentarily loud, then nothing at all. I feel that if there had been an independent control for bass, you perhaps could have adjusted it in a way to make these sound better. The work around for me is to use an EQ on my devices to adjust the sound coming out. My other complaint is of the 3.5mm connector. I seems to be a tiny bit shorter than most standard ones. You need to take the cases off any phones, and in my Samsung Galaxy SII, if you move the phone while it is connected to the speakers, they will momentarily crackle, or stop. I have not experienced this with any other 3.5mm adapter. Overall, I am satisfied with these speakers, but if you can, I might go for the slightly more expensive Logitech Z313 Speakers that can not only be a bit louder, but in my opinion have far greater overall sound quality at all volumes. Note: Purchased these from Amazon.com.ca, Inc.

Acheté il y a quelques années, je pense qu'il y a beaucoup mieux depuis

I just received my speakers. They look good, sound very good and I feel really happy with them. They shipped in about 3 days. I'm no expert in electronics o music but I can tell if something doesn't sound right and this speakers sound great. I live in an apartment and have neighbors. These are perfect because I didn't need the huge, super expensive surround system but I do want to hear the music loud. I feel pretty content.