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JBL Creature IIs a good buy?

Lord Blackadder

Lord Blackadder

macrumors P6
Original poster
May 7, 2004
15,669
5,499
Sod off
I bought a set of JBL Creature IIs speakers (2 speakers + sub) as a gift. They didn't have a display model to listen to but I was unimpressed with the Creative Labs speakers at the $100 price point. I also considered a set of Altec Lansings for around $80 but the subwoofer was really big and I don't think it will fit in the giftee's dorm.

Any opinions on the Creature IIs? I've never had a JBL product before.
 
X

Xaveman

macrumors newbie
May 29, 2002
14
0
HAWAII
I bought a set of these for 69.98 and love em. Great sound with great base and looks good to. Good choice.
 
Lord Blackadder

Lord Blackadder

macrumors P6
Original poster
May 7, 2004
15,669
5,499
Sod off
Good, I feel better now. :)

I would reaaaaaaaallllllly like to get a set of the soundsticks but at $200 there's no way.

I bought them at the local Microcenter, which has the best selection of computer speakers near where I live. They had mostly cheapo-gamer 5.1 stuff with neon lights and giant subwoofers, but if you walk over into the Apple section they have the Creatures and some Bose and Harman Kardon stuff.
 
neocell

neocell

macrumors 65816
May 23, 2005
1,073
2
Great White North
I have a set of Creature IIs with my G4 iMac. Look good, sound great. I love them. Perfect fit, not a huge audiophile but much better sound than the pro speakers. Very glad I made the purchase. Great present
 
pknz

pknz

macrumors 68020
Mar 22, 2005
2,478
1
NZ
There alright for their price, they give better sound than built in speakers but if you are into music on your computer (or the giftee is in this case) you may want to look into more expensive speakers.
 
Lord Blackadder

Lord Blackadder

macrumors P6
Original poster
May 7, 2004
15,669
5,499
Sod off
pknz said:
There alright for their price, they give better sound than built in speakers but if you are into music on your computer (or the giftee is in this case) you may want to look into more expensive speakers.
Click to expand...

Well, I set a limit of $100 plus tax so unless there is something much better for the same price I am content. Plus, I don't think that I or my brother are enough of an audiophile to justify anything better - he'll be using them on his Powerbook so he needed something other than the built-in speakers.
 
FadeToBlack

FadeToBlack

macrumors 68000
Apr 27, 2005
1,843
5
Accoville, WV
Kernow

Kernow

macrumors 65816
Sep 30, 2005
1,438
0
Kingston-Upon-Thames
I also have the Creature II speakers - they look good and sound great too. My audio engineering lecturer is a bit sniffy about JBL's, but I like them, and they give excellent quality for the price
 
E

emutree

macrumors member
Sep 4, 2005
85
0
Canada
I love the pair I got in Apple's Black Friday sale. The aluminum ones match my iMac stand (and so, the aluminum displays and Powerbook's powerbooks) perfectly. I've seen the black ones but they didn't look as nice as I thought (black aluminum would be an entirely different story though - get on that JBL!), and I didn't like the green light glow (the aluminum one's just have a normal white glow). But the speakers rock! The touch sensitive volume controls, which seemed gimicky, actually work really well. Especially tapping both up and down to mute them. I've been impressed with the sound too - I love pulling the speaker cable out of my audio port and switching back to the built-in iMac speakers because you definitely hear an extreme difference.
 
FocusAndEarnIt

FocusAndEarnIt

macrumors 601
May 29, 2005
4,624
1,063
I've got two pairs of the JBL Creatures II for Christmas (one for my mom's house and one for my dad's house)... they better be good. :eek: :cool:
 
P

PlaceofDis

macrumors Core
Jan 6, 2004
19,241
6
they are a great value for their price. and the size of them and sound that they produce for being so small is amazing. good buy.
 
J

Jestered

macrumors 6502
Oct 13, 2005
426
0
Austin, Texas
They are the best speakers I have ever owned. If you really think they sound bad then something is wrong. Either you got a bad set or you do not have them plugged in right. These speakers are keyed so make sure that they are plugged in correctly. My neighbor loved mine so he bought some and he told me that he did not like the way his sounded. I went over and looked at them and he did not have them plugged in all the way because he did not realize they were keyed. We got them plugged in correctly and he loves them now.
 
mbopy22

mbopy22

macrumors 6502
Nov 8, 2005
344
0
Jestered said:
They are the best speakers I have ever owned. If you really think they sound bad then something is wrong. Either you got a bad set or you do not have them plugged in right. These speakers are keyed so make sure that they are plugged in correctly. My neighbor loved mine so he bought some and he told me that he did not like the way his sounded. I went over and looked at them and he did not have them plugged in all the way because he did not realize they were keyed. We got them plugged in correctly and he loves them now.
Click to expand...


Question?? about pluging do I need anything special besides what it comes with the Creature... to plug it into my iPod Mini or my iBook G4??? :confused:
 
dsharits

dsharits

macrumors 68000
Jun 19, 2004
1,639
1
Plant City, FL
mbopy22 said:
Question?? about pluging do I need anything special besides what it comes with the Creature... to plug it into my iPod Mini or my iBook G4??? :confused:
Click to expand...
Nope, It's a regular 3.5mm plug, just like any minijack headphones.:)
 
mbopy22

mbopy22

macrumors 6502
Nov 8, 2005
344
0
dsharits said:
Nope, It's a regular 3.5mm plug, just like any minijack headphones.:)
Click to expand...

cool so I just plug it into my headphones plug? :p :D :p :D NEET

I'm ordering one N O W :eek: :D ;)
 
MRU

MRU

macrumors Penryn
Aug 23, 2005
25,368
8,948
a better place
Have 3 sets of them. The nice white ones and 2 pair of grey ones. The white ones have a lovely grill shaped like the holes on the powermac case prtecting the speaker. The grey ones and black ones from what I have and seen, do not. Why they took this out is beyond me.

Great speakers allround.
 
N

newmaccanada

macrumors member
Jul 19, 2005
40
0
I'm waiting to see if I can get some on sale after xmas. Should have gone for the black fri. deal. These speakers are regular price $150 Cdn dollars. I want to use them with my ipod mini.
 
adk

adk

macrumors 68000
Nov 11, 2005
1,937
21
Stuck in the middle with you
You said you were going to give them to somebody with a dorm room... I considered the creatures and I also live in a dorm and the odd shape of the subwoofer makes finding a place for it difficult. I would recommend a set with a more box-like subwoofer. Also, I remember than on the creatures some of the control knobs are on the sub, and I can't think of a place in a dorm you could put that sub and be able to reach it.
 
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