I thought it was time I made a contribution to the "Member Reviews" section, so here we go:


Item: Creative Inspire P580 5.1 Speakers
Price: £70 retail, £40 to £48 OEM.
Supplied by: Me



Specifications
* Powered subwoofer and five magnetically-shielded satellite speakers;
* Provides 5.1 surround sound from 4-channel & 6 channel/5.1 inputs;
* Provides 2.1 sound from any stereo input;
* Wired remote with headphone socket & volume/bass controls;
* Satellite power rating: 6W RMS per channel
* Subwoofer power rating: 17W RMS



Power Rating

Let's consider those power ratings for a moment: 6W per satellite channel & 17W for the sub really don't sound very much if you're not used to the RMS (root mean squared) rating. However, it's the power comparison rating of choice for anyone that's serious about their speakers, as the method for calculation is a properly defined scientific and mathematical one.

This would all be fine if all manufacturers used the RMS rating, but they don't. While researching retail prices for this review, I saw another very similar set of speakers Cough cough Labtec cough (same price, same dimensions) rated at 1000W PMPO.
Anyone that knows their onions will tell you that the PMPO ("Peak Music Power Output") rating is undocumented, unscientific, and basically consists of a figure made up by marketing that anyone in the real world would regard as being 10 to 20 times higher than the limit of plausibility for the equipment.

In the real world, the power the Creative P580 setup delivers is more than enough for it's intended use in close proximity to a PC, and it copes admirably well in a small/medium home theatre scenario too.
It won't fill a large space, but then I wouldn't expect it to, given its small scale and price point.



Opening the Box

The picture below shows what you get if you buy the OEM version - a plain brown cardboard box with one small barcode label (that also has the Creative logo on). Grumpy looking cat not included.




Emptying the outer box revealed the sub/amplifier unit taped into a bag, a "quick start guide", and another box containing the 5 satellite speakers & other parts, all individually wrapped.



The final stage of unwrapping revealed that a 240VAC to 12VDC transformer, wired remote control, 6 channel (triple mini jack) line in cable & a small sheet of stickers (which can be applied to the satellite speakers & their cables) were also hiding in the box.

Maybe you're thinking that I could have at least made the bed properly - have you ever tried making a bed with an uncooperative cat on it?





The Speakers

The five satellite speakers that come with the P580 setup are all identical apart from the flying leads (which are terminated in standard RCA plugs): three are approximately 2m long, the other two are around 4m.

The enclosures are fairly weighty plastic, and are 13.5cm (5.5") tall, 9.25cm (3.625") wide by 9cm (4") deep in desktop mode (leaning back at approx 15 degrees). Each are fitted with a fairly modest 9cm (3.5") driver.
The material used for the grilles is semi-transparent so shouldn't affect sound quality, however they are removable: I left them on, as removal just seems to highlight the weenieness of the drivers.

Each of the satellites have two types of screwholes on the back, one for hanging on a protrusion (for wall mounting), the other is an inset brass thread used for fitting lightweight speaker stands.


The sub/amp box is 28.3cm (11") high, 17cm (6.5") wide, 23.4cm (9") deep "wood" (read as plastic-veneered chipboard) enclosure featuring a 15cm (6") side mounted driver and a small (5cm {2"}) forward facing port. The grille is glued in but can be removed fairly easily - not that you'd want to, as not only does the driver look undersized, it's pretty ugly too.

The back panel houses the sockets for 5.1 sound source connection, plus sockets for the mains to 12v adaptor, remote control, and satellite speakers. There is also an additional 3.5mm stereo input for use with regular sound cards and games consoles, etc.



Wiring Up

Plugging the set together was easy enough: all 5 satellite speakers are identical, which the exception that 2 of them have leads on the order of 4 meters long, whereas the other three are closer to two meters (if this was a "full" review, I'd dismantle my installation & measure them to give you precise figures ... but it's not, so I won't )
Creative also include a small sheet of self adhesive labels, allowing you to mark the both each speaker and its terminating plug by function (right front, centre, etc, etc).

The triple-stereo lead is a good length (ditto) and is colour coded to the industry standards, and the remote and power sockets are obviously different from each other, and the other plugs/sockets too.

What all this adds up to is a very easy installation that doesn't even require the "quick start guide" which is all you get in the way of instructions with the OEM version.



The Remote

The wired remote that comes with the p580 setup really lets it down IMO. As I see it, it has three major flaws. Firstly, the combined power/volume dial (turns on with a click as you rotate it, the rest of the dial range is the volume control) makes it feel like a cheap radio.
Secondly, the controls are not graduated in anyway, meaning that the only way to judge the volume and bass level is by what's coming out of the speakers.
The third problem is that the response from making an adjustment is not immediate. The response seems to be damped if you make a rapid adjustment on the remote, there is a perceptible delay as the amp responds as quickly (or slowly) as it wants to. The delay is a small one, but it is noticeable.



Sound Quality

One of the big problems with cheap subs (and powered subs in general) is that if they're turned up too high, all you get is a sustained 200hz or so blurred rumbling.

The P580 sub is no different, anything beyond halfway on the bass level dial should be considered verboten.

At low volumes, the sound is tinny and distant: the P580 setup is not really suitable if you regularly want to listen to something subtle, quietly (for example if you're working on something that needs a fair bit of concentration) or if you have housemates with delicate ears. In that scenario, you'd be far better off with a £20 2.0 speaker set.

At moderate to loud volumes (assuming you behave yourself with the bass level), the setup is responsive with a fairly broad sound stage, but the sound itself, although fairly crisp and detailed is lacking in the upper frequencies. A really good sound setup will often reveal some facet, detail, or even an instrument that you hadn't heard before in pieces of music you're really familiar with, but with the P580 setup, you can forget that.

With back to back comparisons of my "reference" setup (a Technics class A amp {which was start of the art 13 years ago, takes a week to warm up properly, gets hot enough to make toast on unless you run it near flat out, and regularly destroys other hifi components thanks to the transformer that takes up half of the space in the double height case {the other half is a heatsink}}, a pair of 1978 Leak 2060's, £6 a meter speaker cables, a £30 interconnect & a middle of the range Marantz CD player) and the P580 set (powered by Abit NF-7 onboard sound & a generic 16x DVD drive) with a few specially selected tracks (including NWA's "____ tha Police", The Prodigy's "Firestarter", James' "She's a Star", Malcolm McLaren's "House of the Blue Danube", James Brown's "She's the One", Guns 'n' Roses' "November Rain"& Dreadzone's "Zion Youth/One Way" dub) shows that the P580 set isn't up to hi-fi standards - but then, that was hardly a fair test. Good excuse to make some noise though

Comparing the Creative setup to more modest speakers (a £30 2.0 set and a £25 4.1 set) was quite instructive - the soundstage was broader, low frequencies were more obvious & taut, and the detail level was a fair match, but again the treble was marked by its absence.

After a couple of weeks use though, the speakers seemed to loosen up & become a lot more responsive to high frequencies, which improved the sound quality no end.




Summary

Good Points:
* Excellent value (especially the OEM version);
* Works with all manner of sound sources;
* Fair sound quality at medium sound levels.

Indifferent Points:
* Usual powered sub problem of blurred bass;

Bad Points:
* Lousy remote.


Overall rating: 7 / 10
Good for a 5.1 setup at this price point, but the remote really lets it down.

very nice. crazy looking cat. how much was it?

Ive been looking into a good set of 5.1's lately...

Quote: Originally Posted by Spectrum very nice. crazy looking cat. how much was it?

The cat or the speakers?

sorry, i meant both.

The speakers were £45. The cat was free to start with, but the "running costs" so far have been about £5,500.

Quote: Originally Posted by Jonny English The enclosures are fairly weighty plastic, and are 3.5cm (5.5?) tall, 9.25cm (3.625") wide by 9cm (4") deep in desktop mode (leaning back at approx 15 degrees).

i think thats a typo, should it be 13.5cm? thought 3.5 was 1.5 inches or so

edit: forgot to mention great article btw

Quote: Originally Posted by me_john85 i think thats a typo, should it be 13.5cm? thought 3.5 was 1.5 inches or so

Correct - s/be 13.5cm ...

Who proofread this ?

Nice write up JE.
You can fix a typo in the time it takes to

Quote: Originally Posted by jinx© ... You can fix a typo in the time it takes to

I've made the amendment now ... I'm just waiting for someone to complain that I should have left it to the moderators

So far as I've seen it, as soon as a review is submitted its available for member reading.
I'm unsure of the point of even having moderators at this stage.

As far as your typo goes, if I had read the review and caught it before everyone else here I would've no doubt corrected it.

On the flip side, I'm not going to play human spellcheck when the error was obviously brought to your attention, and you decide to squeeze off a couple shots rather than correct it yourself.

Nice work, and well written. I think this review could be held up as a shining example of a good Member Review......

Could doesn't mean should

Excellent job, JE

Nice review.

I still think that Altec Lansing 251 Game Theaters are the all time budget "bang for the buck" 5.1 speaker solution.

Quote: Originally Posted by jinx© So far as I've seen it, as soon as a review is submitted its available for member reading ...

The article disappeared as soon as I hit the submit button & didn't appear again for several hours - so someone must have "moderated" it ...

Quote: Originally Posted by Jonny English The article disappeared as soon as I hit the submit button & didn't appear again for several hours - so someone must have "moderated" it ...

If it took a several hours then they must have been doing it "in moderation"

Quote: Originally Posted by godfoot If it took a several hours then they must have been doing it "in moderation"

I think there were probably all sleeping ... moderating it couldn't have taken very long, if they didn't proofread it

Quote: Originally Posted by Jonny English I think there were probably all sleeping ... moderating it couldn't have taken very long, if they didn't proofread it

Probably, but you know I couldn't pass up the opportunity.....

Quote: Originally Posted by Jonny English The article disappeared as soon as I hit the submit button & didn't appear again for several hours - so someone must have "moderated" it ...

For each review submitted so far I've received an email notification, but when I come to the members review thread theyve already been posted to by other members.

I havent proofread or ok'd anything as of yet, or even see a way of doing so. As to whether Duplex or PJ have, I have no clue.

Quote: Originally Posted by Jonny English The speakers were £45. The cat was free to start with, but the "running costs" so far have been about £5,500.

Sheesh. that's about 25% more expensive for the speakers in your locale compared to the price in Lafayette, IN.