JBL Creature II

The unit acted up at the start: the volume buttons were slow to respond, and created noises. A little tapping and patience got things back to normal. (Demo pieces throw tantrums sometimes.) To JBL's credit, we asked them to replace the piece and they did so right away.

The sound is quite good; as such we encountered no distortion or ‘cracking’ at high volumes – and speaking of high volumes, it does get pretty loud. The bass was overpowering the spectrum, a problem often encountered in 2.1 sub-sat systems.

One thing I must mention, however, is that the sub should be kept on the tabletop itself and not on the ground, or at least I find the sound fuller and more connected that way. Otherwise it sounds like two different sources of sound.

The bass and treble knobs on the woofer alter the sound a great deal, but don’t try to improve it – I liked it flat. We were listening to some Tech house podcasts and techno sets, which sounded nice and quite punchy, though ideally I'd have expected more punch and tightness as I’ve heard elsewhere.

With vocal tracks such as Diana Krall and Sting, the sound was okay, though not the best. On the high side the sound is nice and 'shiny'. Sibilance levels are good, as long as you don’t fiddle with the knobs.

Conclusion
To conclude this weird space trip of a review I can only say the looks of this unit exceed the sonic capabilities, though the latter aren't bad at all. For Rs 5,490 this speaker set is a reasonable purchase, considering you can use it as props at a rave. A demo is recommended.