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JBL creature II: worst sound I've ever heard?

Dr_Maybe

Dr_Maybe

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 17, 2003
277
0
South America
I just got a box in the mail with the JBL Creature II speakers.

Wow. I can't believe they are so bad.

Distorted, tinny. Vocals sound like someone is trapped inside a giant flimsy tin can and the listener is standing outside.

My PowerBooks built in speakers are much, much better. And the iBook speakers are probably better too as far as I remember, although I can't compare the two right now.

I just wanted a set of speakers that were a better than the built in powerbook speakers, and with more bass. Now I have more bass, and extremely bad sound.

Ouch. Horrible.

Are my speakers defective or are some people just too kind in their reviews?

P.S. Listening to music on the built in speakers now. Cannot tolerate the creatures. It's that bad.
 
JBL Creature speakers are definitly meant to be better than laptop/iMac speakers, but they aren't that great either.

I'd assume yours are defective.
 
my girlfriends creature II's are way better than her iBook speakers, got to make sure they are connected to the sub woofer/amp properly. the cables are coulor and shap coded to fit in left and right... worth checking...

Sounding faulty to me at the moment my GF's first II's were also faulty (volume controle).

:)
 
amiga said:
my girlfriends creature II's are way better than her iBook speakers, got to make sure they are connected to the sub woofer/amp properly. the cables are coulor and shap coded to fit in left and right... worth checking...

Sounding faulty to me at the moment my GF's first II's were also faulty (volume controle).

:)
Click to expand...

Both satellite speakers have a green light under them, so they are connected. At first, the satellite were not connected, but now they definately are.

I do hear the treble. But only the high range treble. There's no mid range. And I did try to adjust the bass and treble knobs. But it doesn't really help. You can just adjust to different kinds of bad sound ;)

I'm not sure about the iBook speakers, but my powerbook speakers kill the Creatures in sound quality, even though the low end bass isn't there in the powerbook.
 
'Sounds' funny to me... I'd send 'em back. My gf loves her's and I think they're not bad for the money. I'd give them a possative review but I'll stick with my opitical out to DTS 5.1 amp :)
 
I've got some and they sound great. Must be defective or something as my PowerBook speakers aren't in the same league as the Creature's.
 
Again, have another look at the satellite connectors at the back. The light will still come on even when they aren't quite properly connected. You shouldn't be able to see any of the shaped insert on the connectors when they're properly inserted.
 
telecomm said:
Again, have another look at the satellite connectors at the back. The light will still come on even when they aren't quite properly connected. You shouldn't be able to see any of the shaped insert on the connectors when they're properly inserted.
Click to expand...

The satellites definately were connected and sound came out through them. I noticed how they were angled, and connected them firmly.

Now they are packed up again, so they can be shipped back.

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions.

Either the other reviews I've found online were with defective speakers - in a way that was defective in the same way as mine, or the speakers all sound like that when they are not defective. I think the latter is the case. Now I know that the JBL brand definately doesn't warrant an acceptable sound quality.

These are quotes from other reviews I find online:
"there is *NO* midrange", "Mid-range? These speakers kill any voice, even bad voices - it hurts your ears. ", "These were attrocious. "

I can recognize that. I think that a lot of people just don't expect too much from computer speakers or are simply doesn't notice the difference between bad and good speakers.

When at my desk, I'm just going to use the built in speakers or headphones for now.

At least they look pretty cool.
 
Killing mid range, especially lower mid range is a bi product of sub/sat packages. If you want to get really good sound from speakers, get a proper pair of hifi speakers, like B&W DM303s. I keep on recommending them, as I think they are the most superb little speakers!

If you REALLY do want to get sub/sat speakers, then get some Creative Inspire 5400 or something. Quite large satellites, but that's why they sound so good.
 
I guess you should try to hear what speakers sound like before you buy them if you can.... no Apple store neary by?

Even if you buy them online from somewhere else for price.

;)
 
I'd put the creatures over the creatives anyday.

JBL encounter is a really nice speaker set too, have both.
 
Killyp said:
If you want to get really good sound from speakers, get a proper pair of hifi speakers, like B&W DM303s. I keep on recommending them, as I think they are the most superb little speakers!
Click to expand...

You mean, I shouldn't have moved my B&W DM600S3s into my living room :D
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/75540/
106847708_ef17ebe85b.jpg


Well, yeah. But it would be more expensive to buy an extra pair of those and another amp. Plus they take up more space on my desk. Now I also got a scanner and external FW HDD on my desk. And I'm not sure how close I would want a HDD to a hifi speaker that's not magnetically shielded.

amiga, yes, I probably should have found them in a store an listened to them. But it was kind of an impulse buy, I guess you could call it.

I just bought the JBLs because they were very cheap and on sale. I thought they would be at least as good as the built in pbook speakers, but with better bass. I was terribly wrong. I knew the JBLs weren't hifi, but I didn't think it would be that bad.

Well, the sound is going to come from the built in speakers and headphones at my desk for now. Probably until I'll get some replacements for the DM600s3's in the far future and they will come back to the desk.
 
It's true though, with those tiny little sattelites and subwoofer, the mid-range is almost completely lost. IMO the satellites just aren't good enough. people just seem to care about how loud they can push the bass these days :(
 
MisterEd said:
It's true though, with those tiny little sattelites and subwoofer, the mid-range is almost completely lost. IMO the satellites just aren't good enough. people just seem to care about how loud they can push the bass these days :(
Click to expand...

Well what's an acceptable substitute at that price point then?
 
You definitely have defective speakers if they sound that bad. JBL Creatures sound good; there are no better speakers for the price. My dad's Creature Speakers are way better than the Altec Lansing VS2121's I used to have. They are also one of just 3 speaker systems to get a solid "A" on ilounge.com. All of the Apple stores and Targets around me have Creature Speakers demoed with various Macs and iPods; you should head to one of these stores to check out how the speakers are supposed to sound.
 
I've just picked some Creatures up from PC World. They are appallingly bad. It sounds as if there is absolutely no mid-range. Just a tinny rattle at the top and an occasional thump from the woofer. They sounded OK when I heard them at the Apple Store. Unfortunately, I picked them up, thereby making a return almost impossible. Crap. eBay beckons, as the more I listen to them, the worse they sound.

I almost prefer the iMac 24" built-in speakers, awful as they are. Are there any decent alternatives around the £60 mark?

Xeem said:
You definitely have defective speakers if they sound that bad.
Click to expand...
I disagree. Mine are actually distressing to listen to. So bad, I've just turned my music off. :mad:
 
I'm no audiophile, but my creatures sound great. They only sounded "good" out of the box, but after a little tweaking, they're excellent. Perhaps someone more picky might disagree, but to say that your laptop's speakers are better is extreme and misguiding, unless yours are defective.
 
I've heard these things before and they are horrible. Avoid them at all costs.

Makes me so glad I purchased the Klipsch Pro Media 4.1s for $230 about 5 years ago... They're still kicking butt and taking names.
 
Xeem said:
You definitely have defective speakers if they sound that bad. JBL Creatures sound good; there are no better speakers for the price.
Click to expand...
For around $60? I've heard plenty of speakers that sound better. Even Logitech's awful, awful low end speakers are probably better. The Creature II's suck pretty bad.......... but worse than PowerBook speakers? Maybe PB speakers got better in the later models; the ones on my TiBook are pretty dinky. Or maybe I haven't heard what the Creature II's sound like recently enough.
 
Mine aren't the best but they are more than tolerable ... I have been looking to upgrade since my 24incher arrived in sept.
 
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