Home > Consumer Reviews > Creative Labs Inspire T2900 2.1 Speaker System

I shopped around for quite a while looking at different 2.1 speaker systems in the $50 price-range. These were the best sounding (and looking) ones I came across. I had them up and running within 5 minutes and instantly noticed a more deep rich sound on my setup. My system has "Intel Integrated Audio", which is the sound built into the motherboard. Since it's only 16-bits, I decided to take it a step further and purchase a 24-bit Audigy 2 sound card from the same company. After installing that, it made this speaker system sound even better. Either way, you can't go wrong here. If you're on a 16 bit system, it'll sound great. If you've got a 24-bit soundcard with a good mixer, you'll be able to tweak the sound output even more.

Everything (power, satellites) connects to the back of the subwoofer, and there is a little controller with a fairly long wire. You can put this on your desktop to control the power, volume and the how much bass comes out of the subwoofer. It's also got an M-PORT option if you use Creative's portable music player, and there are two jacks on the side; one for headphones and a line-in. Very nice.

Visually, they look really good. The metal stands are optional, and the grills can be removed easily if desired. There are 3 options on how to set up the smaller satellite speakers. The default is with the metal stands on the bottom, as pictured. The speakers can sit on a desktop without them however. The third option is mounting them on a wall which is easy to do because the holes to do so are on the back of the satellites.

With most new speakers, it's a good idea to break them in slowly to reduce the chance of damage. In other words, don't crank them right off the bat to see how loud they can go.

Packaging was good and everything was wrapped up very tight in the box so there was little chance of damage during shipping. The instruction pamphlet was very easy to understand with clear illustrations on how to connect everything.

Overall, I'm very pleased with this sound system. I've tried lots of speakers over the years and usually just settled with the ones that came with any new system I bought. While those are sufficient for most users, they seem to wear out pretty quickly. This is a great 2/2.1 replacement for great sounding music, movies, games and general use.

I took a lot of time in choosing a speaker system for my home computer. As a college student money is tight so I wanted the best sound for the money. I also work with professional sound equipment wich makes me somewhat critical of lower end systems.

I oringinally purchased a set of the Logitech X-220's and while I am a big Logitech fan for most of their products I had to return these because the satellites just didn't produce a clean enough sound. The highs were fuzzy and muted and didn't give me the range of sound that I needed. In all fairness the bass was strong, deep and loud, but it just wasn't enough to compensate for the poor satellites.

I also listened to the Cyber Acoustics A3640s. These have a huge 10" subwoofer which really packs a punch. I might have purchased these had there not been a set of the T2900s right next to them. In a side by side comparison the Creative speakers won out with their clear, full, rich sound. I guess if you're really only concerned with the amount of bass you can squeeze out of your system the Cyber Acoustics might be the better choice but the T2900's also have plenty of bass (I have found a good balance between sats and sub at 15-20% of sub volume).

The only problem I can see (and why I gave it 4 instead of 5 stars - wish there was a 4.5) is that if you turn the sub up very loud and then turn the main system volume way up the sub starts to struggle a little. It gets somewhat distorted and boomy. But this doesn't bother me because the volume has to be VERY loud, in fact it is uncomfortable for me to be in the same room. The bass sounds wonderful if you set the sub to around 20%. This will give you a good balance between the sub and the satellites.

Overall, this is the most balanced system I found in this price range. The bass is tight and rich, the satellites produce beautiful, warm mid-tones and clean, clear, highs. There is plenty of volume especially if you're sitting close to them like I am. I love the control pod, its so nice not to have to reach behind the sub to adjust its volume. I do have to agree with some of the other reviewers that the pod feels a little cheap but I'll just be gentle with it.

If you're looking for a great sounding budget speaker system and have a critical ear look no further, these are the right choice.

This system honestly blows away anything that sells in the same price range (including the Altec 221 and the Logitech Z-340 and X-220). It has lots of power, and the two-way speakers (with tweeters) have much better and more natural high end sound. Creative launched this product - which costs more to make than the competition's products - at $59, but dropped the price late last year to be competitive.

Let's look at the key competition: The Logitech X-220 has just a 2" driver in each satellite, while the T2900 has a 2.5" midrange driver and a tweeter. (Not to mention the fact that the X-220's satellites look like little plastic mushrooms).

The Altec 221 has just a 4" woofer (while the T2900 has a 5.25" woofer), and much lower power.

The T2900 also has a cool wired controller, with power/volume, bass level, a headphone jack, a line-in, and Creative's special port for connecting a MuVu NX MP3 player.

Plus, with the metal stands, they look really good (especially with the grills off).

[...- I talked to Creative's customer support people, and they say that out of the many thousands of these systems that have been sold, they've had a grand total of four defective units returned. Hardly a "plethora" ...]

This is a great set of speakers if you're looking for a cheap and powerful 2.1 system. The powerful subwoofer is the highlight of this package as it's pretty loud even on a seemingly low setting. The satellites sound good as well, even on standard AC97 sound. It sounds even better on the Audigy LS sound card I have just put in. The satellites have a separate tweeter and mid-range driver that allows for greater range.

The audio control pod (wired remote) is also a big plus as you can place it anywhere on your desk where it's convenient. It comes in handy whenever you want to adjust the volume or bass level. It also comes with a headphone port on the pod as well...beats sticking your head in the back of your computer to hook up headphones. You won't regret getting this package, especially at this price.

I like this especially because it has 'magnetic shield'. My previous speaker generated some strange sound with my new T40 IBM notebook, but this one is clean and clear. Well, the switch is somewhat like a toy, but if you pursue the performance/price, then this will be like $500 speakers.

You need to adjust base level at 1/5 of the full range, and volume at 2/3 of the full range. Then this is perfect. It has very good base, and midrange, as well as high range speaker.

(I had a MIR, so I tried this; but you may buy this without MIR, too. The current price is a little lower than what I initially paid)