Home > Consumer Reviews > Creative Gigaworks T40 Series II Multimedia Speakers

I finally upgrade from my T20 which served me well past 3 years with no fault. Now come the bigger, upgraded brother, T40 Series II.

Appearance
Straight out the box, I notice the brilliant gloss black front, gold plated headphone jack and aux in port, beautifully crafted control knobs and of cause the twin yellow fibre glass woofers. But once plugged in, it's a different story... gone the annoying overly bright blue LED, comes a blue halo on the volume control knob, it looks marvellous.

Performance
When I was unboxing this, I was expecting a standard Creative 12V adapter, but I was wrong. The T40 Series II comes with a whopping 20V adapter; I wonder does this unlock the true potential of the drivers. The bass is much better than the T20, highs are precise but not uncomfortable to listen even when pushed, the overall sound is much richer, clearer and overall better than the T20 and the T40 of the previous series.



Pros
Great sound at the right price
Looks really nice

Cons
You will need a high quality audio output (Poorly encoded MP3 won't do it justices)
The adaptor wire length maybe too short for some people
You may get addicted to it


I rate this a 5/5, highly recommended.

UPDATE: The new colour can highlight dust as its really shiny, compare to the Gunmetal Grey of the previous series. Still highly recommended though.

I am fortunate to own both Creative T40 Series 2 and Logitech Z-10 speakers. Both are excellent quality stereo speakers for listening to music from classical to heavy rock and fine for normal gaming. However, if you looking for something to shake the crockery from your neighbours dresser or want to be bombarded from all directions by a wall of sound when fighting the latest space battle, then look elsewhere.
The T40s are slightly narrower and taller than the Z-10s and have an external transformer which can give off a slight hum although you wouldn't notice it as it is quieter than the background noise from your typical PC. The Z-10s transformer is built into one of the speakers which makes that speaker a lot heavier than its counterpart.
Both products produce excellent, crystal clear sound, more than adequate for any avid music listener. The T40s have 3 external control knobs on/volume, treble, and bass that are easily and quickly adjusted unless you have large fingers in which case you may perceive them as a little fiddly. Connection to the PC is by means of the standard stereo speaker port from the PC's sound card. The front headphone socket and front `aux in' socket for an mp3 player are useful additions. There is also a rear socket to connect an mp3 docking station.
The Z-10s controls are by means of a touch sensitive panel on the front of one of the speakers. These can be a little erratic at times particularly if the speakers are warm from being switched on for a while. The Z-10 also has two connectivity options - (1) a USB connection which allows certain information to be displayed above the control panel, such as song title, date & time, etc. (2) the standard stereo speaker connection from the PC's sound card, which doesn't provide any information. The USB connection is a little gimmicky, and you can't use standard PC software for tailoring the sound. So you have a choice, if you want to tailor or play around with the sound you will need to connect them to the standard speaker port and lose the display (which kind of defeats the object of having these speakers); or connect them to a USB port and have the display but sacrifice being able to tailor the sound.
The T40s don't have that choice as there is only a standard speaker connection - so there is no dilemma here.
The Z-10s are slightly more powerful than the T40s although both are adequate for normal room listening conditions. However, I found the T40s to have a slightly crisper sound and perform well even at full volume. The only other minor point with the T40s is an annoying click if the power is turned off at the mains without turning the speaker itself off first, which you don't get with the Z-10s.
If I was to compare them, I would say that the Creative T40s have the edge owing to their marginally better sound quality and less finicky controls. But if you decide to purchase the Logitech Z-10s for the USB connection and novel display features you won't be disappointed.
So overall, I would rate the T40s 5 out of 5, and the Z-10s 4 out of 5.

Thess are a great set of speakers. Very powerful desktops and give a crisp clear sound. They were a little larger than I expected (as tall as a bottle of wine) and the silver knobs are a little slippery to turn. They could do with making these a bit more grippy with maybe a rubber coating. I still recommend them highly.

Well maybe not quite so small - quite tall though slim - but the sound is superb. Not being a lover of thumping bass as opposed to clear bass these speakers do the business. Taut bass not the soggy thump you sometimes get from cheap Sub-woofers. I bought some T20's a while ago and use them in the Kitchen with our DAB Radio - brilliant!! - but these I have hooked up to my TV and iPod dock and after the T20's I am not at all surprised at the quality they produce. Music is excellent - a nice warm sound - and speech very clear without having to "jack up" the volume. They really are a great package for the price. Would recommend them to anyone who wants good sound without a big Sub-woofer cluttering up the floor around your TV. Also, no need to use a Black Felt Pen to mask the glaring blue power light like the T20's, these are much more discrete. First class!!.

Upgraded to these from my old set of Creative speakers - and I am seriously glad I did!

Apart from the obvious advantage of these speakers - ie - no cumbersome bass box - they look fantastic, and sound immense. The controls have a nice, solid feel to them - a bit like shutting a heavy car door - and the look of the speakers is aesthetically pleasing too.

Even at high volume, there is no distortion, and the overall sound is as crystal sharp as you can get for the size.

Coupled together with a decent sound card, I don't think are a better set of speakers on the market for the price. Shop around for them, though - the Amazon price isn't the cheapest.