[Mini review] Creative Inspire T6100 5.1 speakers

[RejZoR]

Ok, since there's not many (ok i lied, there isn't any ) reviews about these speakers, i decided to write a mini review so people could get some insight about them...

Creative Inspire T6100 5.1



LINK: http://www.creative.com/products/pro...&product=15774

SEE THIS FPS1600 SPEAKERS SET AS REFERNCE POINT FOR SOME COMPARISONS MENTIONED IN THIS REVIEW:
http://us.creative.com/products/prod...=26&product=47

Basic info

It's a relatively new 5.1 entry level PC speakers set, clearly an upgrade replacement for Inspire T6060 model. Package consists of 2 front speakers with two way speaker mode (tweeter + mid), 2 rear speakers with mid driver, center speaker and wooden subwoofer. There are also 4 desk stands for satelittes, center has it already "integrated". There is also no remote control of any kind as there is volume and on/off control on right front speaker. But i'll talk about that a bit later...

Output power
Speakers are rated as follows:

Center: 18 Watts
Satelittes: 4 x 8 Watts
Subwoofer: 26 Watts
Total: 76 Watts (RMS)

If we compare them to some other speakers they are somewhere in range of Logitech X-540 with ~6W advantage over X-540.
If i compare them to ~6 years old Cambridge SoundWorks FPS1600 4.1 that i had before, i can clearly see that only raw RMS power doesn't really make that much of a difference. However good speakers design and materials do (along with RMS power increase). That especially applies to subwoofer which can output some serious undistorted bass. And it's not really that much bigger compared to FPS1600 cube box.

Output power #2
This part will cover the practical part of output power "test".
I haven't used any specific tests or methods, just stuff that i usually do.
Movies, music and games. Speakers are meant for that after all right?
I hooked up Inspire T6100 speakers to Creative X-Fi Xtreme Music soundcard and tested those 3 things mentioned above.

Movies:
I've tried 3 movies so far, SG-1/SG-A, Equilibrium and Madagascar Penguins In A Christmas Caper. Stargate is just a regular source of sound effects, nothing too punchy or special. Bass was good and voice dialogs played nicely on center. Can't really complain. Equilibrium however was already a decent test for the T6100. Music with lots of striking and repeated cut bass sequences kept subwoofer pretty busy. Yet it never started "fluffing" because of too much bass. Gun kata fights were impressive with lots of action on center speaker, especially in the end including katana fight. I was really impressed here as it felt like i'm sitting in a theather and not in my room. And in the end, Madagascar penguins with lots of funny voices, funny dialogs and of course all sorts of effects. It was very enjoyable with certain effects standing out nicely, making them very realistic (especially metal and glass sounds). Ricco blasting the hotel doors in the end was just a cherry on top of everything with ultra deep and punchful (interesting word ) explosion.

Movies (DivX) played through Windows Media Player 11 using FFdShow Filter using 5.1 speakers preset

Music:
First thing you'll notice after switching to these are much cleaner high freq. sounds, most probably thanks to tweeters on fronts. Piano and acoustic guitar has never felt so real, almost like someone actually plays it right in your room.
Quiet impressive. Bass is very powerful with some serious punch but also with very high tolerance for distortions, much higher than i could ever reach with FPS1600. They can also survive very high volume levels without any kind of distortions, most likely thanks to Bass redirection that keeps low freq. sounds off from reaching satelitte speakers that are generally meant for mid and high freq. and are not doing too well with low freq.

Music (MP3) played through WinAMP 5.32 using 24bit playback and detailed Extreme AudioBurst FX resampling to 96kHz

Games:
First thing and probably the most important in games is 3D positioning. And its very good indeed. First i thought that lack of tweeters on rear speakers will cause sound to be less vibrant, but now i see the purpose of them (or shall we say lack of them). Sounds that happen in front of you are meant to be clean and distinct without any modifications to how they sound. Sounds that happen behind you, however sound different. And T6100 just makes this difference a bit more noticeable, making it perfect for very detailed 3D positioning. You'll hear a clear difference between sounds played on rear and front speakers, making you much more aware of stuff in 3D game environment. CounterStrike Source, FEAR and Prey confirmed that nicely.
NFS:Carbon car engines sounded awesome and when opponents tried to pass me by on canyon i could clearly hear them as they traveled along me.
Gun shots, explosions and engine sounds were always very deep and clean, making them very realistic and powerful. Especially rifles which sound is usually split between subwoofer and center speaker, covering almost full spectrum of frequencies.

Sound preferences were always set to max possible detail with EAX HD enabled if possible.

Speakers positioning
This is quiet important, however you can get used to also other less optimal placements. THX Console usage is quiet important in such cases.
4 satelittes have desktop stands (removable stands) but they can also be placed on wall. They are quiet high and relatively slim but they are very stable. Center speaker has the stand integrated which can't be removed, but you can also mount it on wall just like you can mount satelittes.
LCD users can place center by moving stand all the way back, creating somekind of hook that holds it on top of LCD display.
Center stand (as well as all satelittes) have some kind of rubber buttons under the stands so they don't move around at high volume levels and they also don't produce funny sounds because of vibrations. This very same rubber adds a very good grip to center speaker so you can place it without any worry on very steep sloped CRT displays (like my Philips 107E5 CRT display).

You'll have to keep front pair of speakers relatively close to you in order to make volume control comfortable to use. Placing them to far away will force you to stand up from chair in order to change master volume on speakers.
There is also a headphone plug on front right speaker for easy headphones connection without need for reaching behind your PC.

Subwoofer is quiet slim and high, making it nice for placing in small rooms where you don't have much room for big cubic subwoofer. At least this was the first thing i notice when switching from FPS1600. I could place it almost anywhere i wanted. There is no sacrifice in terms of bass strenght and depth because of this, in fact it's efficiency is qiet high compared to it's relatively small size.

Annyoing things about T6100
Ok, there has been quiet a lot of positive things already mentioned. Now it's time for some bad things too.
Nothing is perfect, and same applies to Inspire T6100 speakers.

- Complete lack of any kind of remote control is one of annyoing things, especially if you're used to control volume with controller placed along your display. It's quiet funny that speakers like these lack such thing, while their older brother, T6060 has it...

- Blue diode that lits when you turn on speakers. It's pretty strong and located on front right speaker (the one with volume control), so you'll have it in your field of view. Also it lightens up the room at night, making it annoying if you like to listen to music when you go to sleep and prefer to keep the room dark. Covering it with nicely cut black isolation tape should do the trick if necessary.

- Last thing worth mentioning is the lenght of front speakers cables.
Donno if it's just my speakers placement or my huge desk, but keeping subwoofer on far right end of my desk (under it of course) and placing front left speaker on far left part of desk, all of the sudden i ran out of cable so i had to move subwoofer more toward the middle of desk. If you ask me they should be as long as rear cables, or at least 2/3 of rear cables lenght.

Final thoughts
Since this is my first review of such kind, i hope i wrote it detailed enough while kept it simple for regualar users. I was very impressed with them even though i was indeed quiet sceptical at first, because most of people always start rolling their eyes when you mention Creative speakers. I said what the heck, i'll buy them anyway as i was quiet happy with Cambridge speakers which are now under Creative Labs "leadership" anyway. For price of around 70 euros, Crative Inspire T6100 offer lots of "firepower" and detailed sound with some nicely done speakers design that fits perfectly on pretty much any desk. There are cons but they aren't that big or annoying, at least not for me. I can only recommend them.

Cons/Pros
+ price
+ output power
+ very powerful and clean bass
+ nice design
- complete lack of remote control, be it wired or IR
- powerful blue diode on front right speaker can be annoying for some
- quiet short front speaker cables

*Note for settings used in this review:

X-Fi Crystalizer ENABLED (100%)
CMSS-3D ENABLED (Stereo Surround @ 50%)
Bass Redirection ENABLED (80Hz @ 50% Subwoofer level / 15db+ bass boost OFF)
Master Volume 75% / Bass 25% / Treble 50%

Hope it helps

[alanm]

Thanks, its got me interested because I heard the t6060 which I liked, so if these are an update to them, I might get them.

[TheMafioso]

good review, d00d.....and yeah they seem better than the x-540's

but no remote sux....... i wonder why creative did such a thing

[RejZoR]

Ok, just got another idea where you don't need remote control.
All you need is multimedia keyboard with volume buttons (my cheap Chicony for 10 euros has them). Set the speakers to 3/4 volume (aka 75%) and then control everything with keyboard I even have quick mute button so its even better than turning volume button.

[stormy]

Originally Posted by RejZoR

Ok, just got another idea where you don't need remote control.
All you need is multimedia keyboard with volume buttons (my cheap Chicony for 10 euros has them). Set the speakers to 3/4 volume (aka 75%) and then control everything with keyboard I even have quick mute button so its even better than turning volume button.

Been doing that with both headphones and speakers for as long as I have had a keyboard with a volume control on it.

[TheMafioso]

Originally Posted by RejZoR

Ok, just got another idea where you don't need remote control.
All you need is multimedia keyboard with volume buttons (my cheap Chicony for 10 euros has them). Set the speakers to 3/4 volume (aka 75%) and then control everything with keyboard I even have quick mute button so its even better than turning volume button.

Yeah, they're always workarounds
BTW how did u make a quick mute button, i would luv to do that, i hav three buttons on my k/b which are useless, can i make three buttons for +/- vol and mute out of them...?

[RejZoR]

Donno, i have this cheap Chicony multimedia keyboard that already has integrated keys to control media player (play/pause/stop/rew/forward/vol+/vol-/vol mute).
You could do that if keys on it are programmable, otherwise i doubt it.

[TheMafioso]

how do u program keys....is there some s/w.. i've got MS basic k/b with 3 extra keys for mail, internet & search...

[RejZoR]

If you got any extra software with it, otherwise not. At least not that i'd be aware of such thing...

[Boshman]

Hi I'm a new user on this forum, just signed up to ask a question. I recently purchased some Creative Inspire T6100 5.1 Speakers and i was wondering if anybody knew a website where you can purchase the metal stands (2 of them) apart from on the official Creative website?
Many Thanks,
Boshman

[RejZoR]

Is there any Creative distributor in your area? Maybe it would be a good idea to look for them and ask there. At least thats what i'd do...

[Boshman]

sorry theres no creative distributor near me and i don't want to purchase it off the official creative website because I rang them up earlier and they said that the stands alone were priced at £59.99! For the stand alone! which is like the same price as the speakers themselves but if any1 has a website where they are even slightly cheaper! i would be very greatful. Many Thanks.

[Inquisit0r]

You can't honestly think that this system has "very powerful and clean bass".
I used to own the 7.1 version of this setup, and it was terrible.
"serious undistorted bass" LOL

[RejZoR]

Lol yourself. There is no such thing as T7100... The Inspire T7900 has weaker subwoofer anyway... And if you think you can get great sound just by hooking speakers up your wrong again. Tweaks make all the difference... especially properly set Xover frequency.

Also if you'd actually take time to read it properly you'd notice we're talking about entry level speakers, not high end. So when i say powerful and undistorted bass, this means it has great characteristics for an entry level system...

[Inquisit0r]

Where did i say "I can get good bass by just hooking speakers up"?

I know what a crossover is and i normally run mine at 80Hz for movies and 50Hz for music since my speakers all have a freq. response of at least 40Hz, but I prefer my DIY (2x) dual 15"s each in 15cu. ft.(with dual 6" ports that extend 18" so it is tuned at 15Hz) enclosures to play those frequencies in movies.
Those 1" drivers can't even come close to 80Hz, which means you are missing quite a few frequencies.

And when I say I had the 7.1 version of this, I am talking about the T7700 (discontinued one), I am speaking spec wise, not name or look wise.

[Spezzy]

Originally Posted by RejZoR

Lol yourself. There is no such thing as T7100... The Inspire T7900 has weaker subwoofer anyway... And if you think you can get great sound just by hooking speakers up your wrong again. Tweaks make all the difference... especially properly set Xover frequency.

Also if you'd actually take time to read it properly you'd notice we're talking about entry level speakers, not high end. So when i say powerful and undistorted bass, this means it has great characteristics for an entry level system...

If you were so knowledgeable, as bold-faced, you wouldn't crossover a 1" driver at 80hz. At best, they are capable of 120hz.

... but of course, you were not so knowledgeable and you wouldn't mind missing the 50hz of information that is trying to be reproduced from less than capable "speakers".


The T7900 does have a weaker bass module, however. You are correct (for once).
The T6100 has a 26w bass module while the T7900 has a 24w bass module.
Now, every doubling in wattage equals a 3db increase.
ex. A speaker with a 89db sensitivity power with 1w will yield 89~db.
The same speaker with 2w will yield 93db. 4w will equal 96db, 8 will equal 99db.

26w and 24w are not something to compare. At best the T6100 is .3db louder.


I believe that

[Inquisit0r]

Originally Posted by Spezzy

If you were so knowledgeable, as bold-faced, you wouldn't crossover a 1" driver at 80hz. At best, they are capable of 120hz.

... but of course, you were not so knowledgeable and you wouldn't mind missing the 50hz of information that is trying to be reproduced from less than capable "speakers".


The T7900 does have a weaker bass module, however. You are correct (for once).
The T6100 has a 26w bass module while the T7900 has a 24w bass module.
Now, every doubling in wattage equals a 3db increase.
ex. A speaker with a 89db sensitivity power with 1w will yield 89~db.
The same speaker with 2w will yield 93db. 4w will equal 96db, 8 will equal 99db.

26w and 24w are not something to compare. At best the T6100 is .3db louder.


I believe that

Exactly my point Spezzy, well put. You can always count on spezzy's knowledge on audio.

[RejZoR]

It was a freakin noob-how review, not a geek it to the max one.

But obviously ppl have IQ lower than average temperature in my country and simply don't get it... read my words:
ENTRY LEVEL + POWERFUL AND CLEAN BASS (for this class if you still don't get it) + PRICE + i even mentioned cons = T6100 mentioned above

But i still have the feeling you just won't get it...

[deathvirus]

Originally Posted by RejZoR

Cons/Pros
+ price
+ output power
+ very powerful and clean bass
+ nice design
- complete lack of remote control, be it wired or IR
- powerful blue diode on front right speaker can be annoying for some
- quiet short front speaker cables

U tried the T6060 ?? Specs wise its almost the same , about 4W less on the subwoofer , but its does have a wired volume/bass controller with a headphone jack + aux in ... no distracting lights , and the wires are quite long ...

http://in.creative.com/products/prod...0&listby=usage

Plus , i find the T6060 looks a bit better than the T6100 ..

[Spezzy]

Originally Posted by RejZoR

It was a freakin noob-how review, not a geek it to the max one.

But obviously ppl have IQ lower than average temperature in my country and simply don't get it... read my words:
ENTRY LEVEL + POWERFUL AND CLEAN BASS (for this class if you still don't get it) + PRICE + i even mentioned cons = T6100 mentioned above

But i still have the feeling you just won't get it...

Oh believe me, I understand your points. I'm just not sure that you understand the fact that you have set a horrible crossover.


I don't know what country you live in, but it must be extremely cold.. the temperature has had an adverse effect on your IQ.


My IQ is alot higher than your country's temperature, especially if you live in the Sahara.

[albag]

Is the creative t6100 compatiable with a ACER 9300 NOTEBOOK ?
thanks

[RejZoR]

If you have 3 outputs, then yes. Otherwise not... (take T3100 instead).

[|sawo|]

...
BTW this system is great for the price, i dont see any reason to compare it with yours.Im pretty sure that your systems suck compared to others from higher class so your posts are pretty much useless.

RejZoR have you tested the crossover? Im testing somewhere around 100hz, but im not sure what are the best values for this system...

[RejZoR]

I did mentioned that i used 80Hz but thats when i was testing.
In general 80-120Hz works pretty well depending on source.

[|sawo|]

Then accept my apologize!
Bout the crossover, i use somewhere around 100-140, otherwise the subwoofer is too noticable which ruins the sound.