Rating: 
Summary: Great for the price
Review: I'm not an audiophile, but I really like the sound that these speakers put out. The bass is very good and I love having control of the volume & bass settings at my fingertips.
The only complaint I have (and it is a big one) is that the length of the cables for the rear speakres make them almost unusable without AV extenders or splicing in speaker cables. Unless you are planning on putting your rear speakers right in front of you on your desk, buy the neccessary cables needed to extend the length.
Rating: 
Summary: Great sound for the price.
Review: I've owned several computers since 1996 and never had anything other than the speakers that came with the machines.Then I bought the Inspire 5.1 and could'nt believe my ears when I hooked them up!It almost brought tears to my eyes when I listened to a Rolling Stones CD. The aircraft engines in my flight sims have an ominous rumble that was'nt there before, thanks to the sub-woofer. I have'nt noticed any popping noises, but that may be due to the fact my sound card is a Creative Labs Sound Blaster PCI 512.There is plenty of volume when sitting in the midst of the speakers.Almost deafening. But if I were to use my computer as a home stereo,I'd want something with a little more power. This product is definitely worth it's price.
Rating:
Summary: Hard to beat
Review: I've owned these speakers for 18 months now and have them set up in my home office. I drive them with a SB Audigy card and from the day I set them up, they have produced nothing but sweet sound. The bass is clean and not overpowering. The wired remote not only has volume and bass adjustments, but also a headphone jack that when used, cuts off the audio to the speakers allowing me to work late and not disturb the family.I have never heard any "popping" noises (other than a small pop when I power down my PC.) I have the AC plugged into the surge protector side of a UPS. I don't know if that makes a difference or not, as I've never tried it any other way. The only drawback I found was if you want to wire the rear speakers to the back of a standard bedroom, you'll have to buy a set of RCA M-F extension cables, as the existing cables are too short. If you shop around, you can pick them up for a few bucks. I just wish I knew that before, so I could have had them on hand when I first installed these. There are many junk surround speakers being sold today, but these are not one of them. For the price, it's very hard to beat the quality.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent value and performance...
Review: I've recently purchased a new computer, and it didn't come with speakers. Personally, I'm a big fan of all the quality audio technology out there, but I must admit that my experience with audio is relatively limited to home theatre in general. So, my computer came with on-board audio (AC'97, ALC650 software drivers). Most onboard audio to this date use software drivers rather than hardware to accomplish the audio task. The problem this presents is that most computers (notwithstanding the latest and greatest) are depleted of valuable resources when it must rely on internal software drivers, rather than an external hardware device to handle the audio; this is especially true of on-board sound cards that say they are capable of "5.1 surround sound". First off, 5.1 capability does not mean it can produce Dolby Digital or DTS sound. Any hardware you buy, must explicitly say that these features are included in the hardware. 5.1 capability simply means that your speakers can produce sound from all 5 speakers plus woofer. This does not mean that you will experience the distinct channel experience that most home theatre's will produce. Moreover, the channels will be uniform, in that they all perform the same role. The point here is that these Creative 5200 speakers are certainly capable of Dolby Digital or DTS, but to enable that feature you must have a hardware device that is capable of decoding this. While this is all nice, the initial point is that you must have a 5.1 capable sound card in order to get sound from all speakers. If not, get the 2.1 system instead, I understand Amazon has a nice rebate on those. Anyways, I've tested these speakers on my on-board audio (I'm too cheap to spend more on a true hardware sound card) and the results are astounding. First off, I set my computer volume to half, and the speaker volume to half (via the cabled remote), and the sound is simply off the wall. This will depend on your setup, my personal computer room is a small one, about 12x12. The speakers are capable of much more, but yet the sound is incredible at even the half setting. I mean this in comparison to home theatre setups, the computer setup is simply clearer and the highs are higher, and the bass is superb for anything other than a large room. Unless you plan on watching DVD movies on your PC, there really is no need for Dolby Digital. But if you are a music buff, these speakers are sure to impress, provided you have a 5.1 compatible card and strong computer. Plus, they're very cheap (they have the same design and specs as the much more expensively priced Cambridge Soundworks system), but I must warn that they take a while to setup (too much packaging and little documentation). Make an informed decision, and see what else you can find on these speakers.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Speakers for Price
Review: Im running these speakers with an integrated sound card, which is 5.1. It was easy to setup, and great sound. The remote makes it easy to use. The sound goes up to level 8, but you really dont hear much at levels 1-2. Although they are great. Also, if you have a cell phone near by, it makes noises, but thats just a technicality. Highly recommended for the price. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Sound buy
Review: These speakers sound great, the bass is kicking (literally) and very little distortion even at loud volumes. Connection is simple, the remote is convenient, nothing more to say, great speakers, great price.
Rating:
Summary: Great speaker but.....
Review: This is a great speaker if you have 5.1 stuff. If you don't, you won't get anything from the center speaker. Ignore the people who heard popping/cracking sound. Maybe it was because I had a Creative Sound Blaster Audigy sound card. Great speaker if you play games or watch DVD that have 5.1 audio. Otherwise, get a 4.1 speaker. With 47 RMS, this speaker have enough power for home use (even too much for me because my neighbor is knocking on my door everyday). In my opinion this speaker is not as good as the 5300 but it's good enough. Must buy if you don't have a 4.1/5.1 speaker.
Rating:
Summary: Great for the money
Review: This is my fourth or fifth Creative Labs/Cambridge Soundworks speaker set, and they get better each time. This set isn't quite as good as the last one, a 2.1 (stereo with subwoofer) system that cost me $75 or so, but unless you turn it up really loud, it's comparable. What I like about it is the use of leads with attached plugs. Anything under the desk here is liable to accidental kicks, and the spring-loaded wire clips sometimes lose contact. Also the volume control is larger than earlier models (which makes it much easier to keep on the desk) and it holds a headphone socket. Even the satellite speaker stands grip the top of my monitor well. This system looks like an example of someone taking a step back and spending some time to intelligently improve the speakers. Even the plugs are color-coded with the sockets.
Rating: 
Summary: Center Channel Buzzing
Review: Unfortunately, there is a grounding problem with these speakers. The center channel just produces static. I did some research and found this to be a common problem. When I emailed Creative tech support, their answer was to isolate the ground looping problem in my house. I'm sorry, but I shouldn't have to rewire my house to get some speakers to work.
| 
