Home > Consumer Reviews > JBL Creature II 3-Piece Powered Speaker System

I bought these speakers for my 15-year-old son because he wanted some external speakers for his eMac. I have always loved JBL speakers, and these were too neat to pass up...especially at the bargain price. The design of the speakers is very futuristic and cool (or, as my son would say...SWEET!). The color and design compliment the eMac perfectly. Each of the satellite speakers has a green LED on the bottom of it that lights up when they're on...very cool in a darkened room. Best of all, the sound of these speakers is fabulous. They may not be the world's loudest speakers. But the sound is beautiful, whether you're listening to the Red Hot Chili Peppers or Thelonious Monk (which my kid actually does). The subwoofer has easy access bass and treble controls right on the front of it, and the footprint isn't very big (which is great, because this is one subwoofer you won't want to hide on the floor...you'll want it right on your desktop). The right satellite has cool touch sensitive volume controls. And the construction is top-notch. I recently saw these speakers "on sale" in the Marshall Field's weekly flier for $99.99. I took great pleasure in knowing that I only paid $66.49 at Amazon and got them shipped to me for free. You can't beat that deal with a stick! Oh...one more cool thing. My son also has an iPod and these speakers can be hooked up to an iPod (or any external music playing device with a headphone jack) simply by plugging them into the headphone jack. So, not only are these cool computer speakers...but if you have an iPod or portable CD player and don't want to splurge on a stereo for a bedroom, you can just buy these, plug in your music source, and...Voila! Instant stereo system!! I highly recommend these speakers. I'm pretty fussy when it comes to sound equipment, and these pass my test with flying colors.

I bought the Creature speakers to use with my iPod in the office at work. I am very pleased.

Sound quality is very, very good. I find the bass very balanced, not overwhelming as some PC users have reported here. Perhaps that is because I am driving them with the iPod. A big plus for office use is they can be turned down quite low and still provide good sound. And they have decent steps between volume levels. Many digital volume controls have large jumps between levels, but these are pretty good in that regard.

The design is certainly very cool, and the footprint is okay (less than one sqft) if you have room for the sub (sits nicely behind my monitor). The satellites are tiny and fit under my monitor easily.

I did have one problem where the volume control stopped working 15 minutes after installation. That was disconcerting, but was quickly solved by disconnecting and reconnecting the right channel lead, and has not recurred. A knob would be more functionally correct, but this is a design thing and it is cool. The system provides slight clicks to let you know the volume is changing, and you can mute by touching both together.

I rated four stars, down from five only because of the volume adjustment losing its brain. Since another reviewer reported the same problem, this appears to be a design flaw. Other than that, these are perfect for use in the office with the iPod!

I needed some decent speakers for my office that I could plug my laptop into and listen to music with some actual range and decent sound quality.

For 70 bucks these are hard to beat. No drivers are needed, they plug and play in about a minute, and the sound is great for the size.

I don't understand how some people have had trouble with set up, since there isn't any. The controls are sensitive and easy to use. I like being able to adjust the volume on the speaker itself.

And they are definitely a talking point when people see them in my office!

Okay. These speakers are THE best speakers you can get for under 100 bucks. They have wonderful bass quality. (I can shake the house). They are about 3" x 3" and have the nice blue light under them. They take litterally no time to set up and they work with my iPod and iBook. They look like apple made them for this computer. If you have a PC they work great too. The heat sensitive volume control is really cool (even though I use the volume control on my computer). Overall these are great speakers for the money and have wonderful soudn quality. They also look great!

I came across this little ditty at the Mac store in Ginza (and now regret I didn't get it at Amazon who have it for almost half the price!) Still I had to get it. I remember Small computer speakers from that recent age when they were synonmous for cr*ppy listening. These seemed quite juicy !

But how would it hold up on MY tiny i-pod I wondered... especially keeping in mind that the bass response on some i-pods do seem a bit weak at times. The answer... Unbelievable. Turned my i-pod into a home stereo system overnight! I put on some JB as well as Jazz -- the bass was really kicking. Overall range and dynamic great.... And the big treat was with FELA KUTI - - I could really hear Tony Allen's killer work on the kick drums...

And a few added pluses - - aside from the speakers being magnetically shielded (no worry about placing them near the computer screen), you can place the larger bass speaker wherever you want (sound is omnidirectional.) Of course its best sitting in between the two tiny speakers, but even from across the room the sound isn't that bad. Overall power and volume won't shatter windows... but neither do I find myself playing them at top volume either. You can also mute the volume instantly by simultanouesly touching the right and left volume controls.

BOSS proved that BIGGER is not necessariy better...
JBL is proving that you can get a nice computer/i-pod speaker system with really great sound and not putting too much of a dent in the wallet.

SOLD !