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 Review: Creative GigaWorks T20
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Good old stereoThe Creative's GigaWorks T series speakers go against the traditional 2.1 speaker systems sold for PCs and bring back the older 2.0 style to the desktop. At the time we write this, the T-series comes in 2 flavours: T20 and T40. Both sets are promised to deliver 14 Watts RMS per channel (2 channels) with a frequency response of 50Hz ~ 20kHz. We got our hands on the sub-€100 T20 set and went in to look a bit closer at what you can get in this price category and without a separate bass speaker. DesignGigaWorks T20 is definitely one of the best-looking speaker sets we've seen for desktop computers. The tower-like grey-black look with nice metal finish is eye-catching without becoming an eye-sore over the long run. In addition to looking good, the speakers stand sturdily on the tabletop and will not fall over even if you bump them slightly. The speakers have a mid/low range module and a high range tweeter and the tops of the speakers are adorned with bass reflex port holes, dubbed as BassXPort technology by Creative (the T40 version includes an additional midrange speaker in a midrange-tweeter-midrange set-up - making for a higher tower design). The front panel of the right side speaker holds the knobs for bass, treble and volume, as well as an out jack for headphones and an aux in jack. Behind the same speaker, you have the power in jack, line to the right speaker and the audio in jack. And the soundsThe T20 speakers produce a clear sound, both in high and mid-range. At ”high” volume setting, without a separate bass speaker, the T20 bass reflex doesn't fail to deliver a mellow, full-bodied bass. For 26W (total) speakers, the overall performance is no less than excellent. However, you don't get the same effect with relatively low volumes and the bass almost seems to disappear completely when the volume is set to the low end of the scale, unless you also turn the bass knob to full. We tried out the speakers with music (classical to metal), movies and games and the speakers delivered a great performance for all occasions when you got the settings right (high bass for low volume and medium bass for high volume). Thus, they worked as well as TV speakers as they did as PC speakers. OverallAll in all, the Creative GigaWorks T20 speakers deliver an excellent price-quality ratio and beat many 2.1 systems in the same price category without too much sweat. In addition, they look great and unobtrusive on the desktop – as if they belong there. Our rating: 9/10 |
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