Creative Inspire A500

...and is the trend with Creative the Creative Inspire 500A does not deviate from the expectations. Beside the flash and pomp of its look the price tag is absolutely unjustified. Paying £35 (inc VAT) for this system is totally uncalled for. That is paying too much for jazzy and frivolous looks. The performance of the system is abysmal; it is a good show-piece in your drawing room.

I really wonder why Creative, having created a good niche ...
...the store is stuffed with Creative Inspire 500A. Such trendy looks, but that’s all it has to it. The performance is poor and that is to say the least.

===SET UP:===

Good thinking on Creative’s part, no hi fi stuff. It’s simple, just plug in the wires at the right places. You end up with a mess of wires, and there she stands proudly promises you of great music. A solitary volume control knob is situated at the back of the ... more

As has been and is the trend with Creative the Creative Inspire 500A does not deviate from the expectations. Beside the flash and pomp of its look the price tag is absolutely unjustified. Paying £35 (inc VAT) for this system is totally uncalled for. That is paying too much for jazzy and frivolous looks. The performance of the system is abysmal; it is a good show-piece in your drawing room.

I really wonder why Creative, having created a good niche for themselves is denying their fans quality products! With Creative Inspire 500A they become more open to criticism.

CREATIVE DESIGN:

Well, well mind-blowing design, you would not notice if the lady at the reception is Andrian Lima if the store is stuffed with Creative Inspire 500A. Such trendy looks, but that’s all it has to it. The performance is poor and that is to say the least.

SET UP:

Good thinking on Creative’s part, no hi fi stuff. It’s simple, just plug in the wires at the right places. You end up with a mess of wires, and there she stands proudly promises you of great music. A solitary volume control knob is situated at the back of the wired remote. There is no headphone jacket and all other input plugs are on a captive cable that sticks out from the remote.

It is compatible with PC/notebook, CD and mp3 players. It is not affected by wireless devices because Creative Inspire 500A is magnetically shielded. It’s claimed to be a surround system but funny enough more of than all the five speaker don’t work together, I can guarantee you that it’s not because of faulty speaker connection.

NOW JUST LET’S CHECK ITS TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION:

System Components: Subwoofer , 5 speakers
Speaker Type: Active
Nominal Output Power: (Total) 47.0 Watt
Response Bandwidth: -19955.0 Hz
Signal-To-Noise Ratio: 75.0 dB
Type: PC multimedia home theatre speaker system
Dimensions:
Right/Left channel Speaker: 2.9inx2.4inx6.1in
Right/Left rear channel speakers: 2.9in x 2.4im x 6.1in
Central channel speaker: 6.3i x 7.5i x 6.1in
Subwoofer: 2.9in 2.4in x 6.1in (17 watts RMS)

PERFORMANCE:

Look at the response bandwidth, this is the main reason why it does not perform uniformly throughout whole gamut of the audio speaker. It’s very flat, the bass is hardly good and in fact is very subdued meaning thereby it does not have the booming effect. A simple example is in track which has those rolling drums, it is hardly noticeable. The high frequencies are too much accentuated. Although the wattage is 47.0 it tends to distort appreciably and add to that at low volume it sounds like a very cheap radio. But the performance is pretty good with games. But not recommended for those interested in quality audio output. The tonal quality is hardly there. To get a good performance while connected to PC, a sound card is a necessity.

For me it was a bad investment and I do repent it. But for those who want a beauty which plays music too at an affordable price, never mind settle for it.
 

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