Speakers unboxed

With the dawn of DVD movies more and more people are watching DVD movies on there pc's and although they may get a perfect picture the sound can sometimes be off putting. When looking for surround sound systems in specialist stores prices can mount into the hundreds of pounds just for a pc sound system. Luckily though we have this fine product from creative labs which not only produces crystal clear sound and bass but comes with a lovely price tag under £100!

When you receive the speakers you are supplied with 5 satellites, 1 subwoofer, 1 wired remote, 1 power lead and the appropriate audio cables. There are simple instructions in the manual and if like me you have a SB Live! 5.1 or Audigy sound card then you benefit from the colour coding on both the speakers and the sound card making it even simpler to setup the system. The audio cables are also nicely bundled together so you do not have lots of separate wires all over the place.

The Subwoofer

Subwoofer	A naked subwoofer !

The subwoofer (shown above) has a nice sturdy wooden covering with a plastic air hole, which doubles as a hair dryer when your bass is nice and high. The front cone is covered by a nice material mesh sporting the creative logo on a small metal sheet at the bottom. With the cover off you can soon be amused by the mesmerizing cone as it produces clear undistorted bass.

The sound coming out of the sub woofer is phenomenal and will easily vibrate throughout your floor at the right level giving you the true musical experience, lovely for some banging drum 'n' bass tracks.

Connectors on the back of the sub

As you can see above the back plate of the subwoofer is nicely laid out with colour coding and clear labels to tell you what goes where. There are the ports for center, rear and front speakers as well as the inputs and wired remote socket. The only downside of the sub being the bass control is on the back and so is hard to reach if your subwoofer is on the floor like mine.

The Satellites

Satellite with cover	Satellite without cover

As with the subwoofer these are great quality and produce a lot of sound for their compact size. They are made of strong plastic all around with no bad joints or scratches. They are supplied with stands that feel a bit weak but would only really break if you wanted them too. The covers can be removed revealing its ugly nakedness but they look beautiful with their covers on and would make any work environment look better. The covers can also be changed to different covers bought from creative which will be talked about later in the review. On the downside of the speakers, the cables which connect them to the sub are permanently connected so It takes a little while longer to put them onto their stands and also you have the cables dragging everywhere when sorting them out.

The center speaker was a bit of a disappointment, being exactly the same as the other satellites as opposed the round center speaker used in the 5700's. This however does not have an impact on performance and so it isn't a bother at all.

The Wired Remote

Remote thingy

Something that is not seen in a lot of speaker sets is a wired remote and so it is a real bonus to see one feature in the 5300's. Made of sturdy plastic with feet that stick to any surface like super glue (that's why it's on my desk) it may well be the most useful bit of kit ever made. It features a volume control and balance control to alter those factors on your speakers without having to reach down to the sub to change either. The volume also doubles as a power switch by simply going down to the lowest volume and it clicks into place turning the power led on and off.

The lack of a bass control is a bit annoying but once you have the bass set you are not likely to really be changing it that often. The only thing better than this would be too have it wireless via radio waves.

The Optional Extras

As with a lot of products there are usually optional extras which can be purchased separately for an extra cost. The creative inspire 5300's are no different. The optional extras in this case being a couple of stands for the rear speakers, bringing them up to ear height if you do not want to wall mount them or put them on a desk behind and of course the different colour grills for the subwoofer and all of the satellites.

The first extra is this, the "Creative Surround Station". Since these are only available in the USA I cannot give a review on them but on the creative website they are said to enhance your surround sound experience by placing the rear speakers directly behind your head, thus making gaming more enjoyable and removing the cables from trailing all around your room. These weigh in at $79.99 on the Creative America site.

www.americas.creative.com

Stands

The second set of stands that are available for the speakers are these, they are simple rear stands designed to specifically fit the rear speakers up to head height to immerse you in the surround sound experience a lot more. These are available in the USA and are also available for pre-order on the Creative Europe website. They are due for release in the UK on the 8th of April at a price of £29 and I am going to be getting a pair so look back in the near future for an in depth review of them once they have been purchased and tested.

uk.europe.creative.com/estore

Coloured covers

The final extra's are these coloured grills made to fit all of the inspire's satellites and subwoofer replacing their grills to give the room their in an instant face lift. They come in two colours, maroon and blue, and are available now in the UK from the UK Creative website again. They are priced at £23 and I may well get the blue ones if I end up decorating my room blue like I want to. Be sure to look out for a review if I do get some.

Conclusion

If you are looking for a good set of speakers for your surround setup then you have come to the right place with these. Not only cheap but give a great sound quality without distortion, even at the higher volume settings. If you have £90 to spare and are looking for an excellent pair of speakers then these are a definite buy and you should get some right this second. If you have a little more money available to you, well quite a bit more, then you could opt for the Creative Inspire 5700's which are the top end version of these.

5700 speakers

As you can see, with this set you get a separate decoder as well as a rounded center speaker which looks a lot better than the 5300's center speaker. These will however set you back £225.94 from Tekheads. So depending on your financial position either of these great systems should cater for your needs.

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