Spec me 2.0 speakers

TNA · 21 Jul 2015 at 21:46

Looking to purchase some speakers for my secondary PC. The speakers need to have a small foot print. I already have Edifier wooden speakers fro my primary PC which are just too big for this setup.

Budget is £60

Creative Gigaworks T20 Series II 2.0 Speaker System seem nearly perfect for the job from what I can see, but the fact that it goes into sleep mode after 10 minutes of inactivity and then takes 3 seconds to wake up after a sound has been played has put me off them

Any suggestions?

Marsman · 21 Jul 2015 at 23:07

That's a pity Creative have had to include that 'feature' (if it can even be called a feature), due to European regulations.

Edifier R19U, look pretty good and are the same width as the T20. They are USB powered though, so only 2W per channel. There's the Logitech Z200, which are mains powered and offer more volume at 10W. Personally, I prefer the look of the Edifier's to be honest, but USB powered speakers are never going to put out as much volume as mains powered speakers. Probably OK for close listening, because 2W is not as quiet as it sounds.

Not sure there is much else to suggest, because the T20 are by far the best 'small footprint' stereo speakers available for £60, and until now, have always the recommendation. Whether that will change now thanks to the EU, remains to be seen.

Marine-RX179 · 22 Jul 2015 at 07:11

Does the T40 II have the same feature (problem)? Cause if it does, I don't think I ever noticed and even know about this on my T40 II, until this was brought up here...so it could well be a non-issue.

TNA · 22 Jul 2015 at 07:50

Marsman said:
That's a pity Creative have had to include that 'feature' (if it can even be called a feature), due to European regulations.

Edifier R19U, look pretty good and are the same width as the T20. They are USB powered though, so only 2W per channel. There's the Logitech Z200, which are mains powered and offer more volume at 10W. Personally, I prefer the look of the Edifier's to be honest, but USB powered speakers are never going to put out as much volume as mains powered speakers. Probably OK for close listening, because 2W is not as quiet as it sounds.

Not sure there is much else to suggest, because the T20 are by far the best 'small footprint' stereo speakers available for £60, and until now, have always the recommendation. Whether that will change now thanks to the EU, remains to be seen.

Thanks for those suggestions Marsman. I already had the Logitech Z200 in my favourites, but never seen the Edifier R19U which looks interesting. I do like the style. Will need to consider if the 2W is enough.

Marine-RX179 said:
Does the T40 II have the same feature (problem)? Cause if it does, I don't think I ever noticed and even know about this on my T40 II, until this was brought up here...so it could well be a non-issue.

How long ago did you buy it? If it is old then that "feature" may have not been introduced yet when you purchased it. Another possibility is that the T40 you have is a non EU sourced unit.

It really is a shame as the T20 really does look nice. Not a big fan of the manufacturer though, so not a huge loss for me in the end.

Marine-RX179 · 22 Jul 2015 at 10:16

TNA said:
How long ago did you buy it? If it is old then that "feature" may have not been introduced yet when you purchased it. Another possibility is that the T40 you have is a non EU sourced unit.

It really is a shame as the T20 really does look nice. Not a big fan of the manufacturer though, so not a huge loss for me in the end.

Well, I did buy it back in January 2012...and it was from the rainforest.

TNA · 22 Jul 2015 at 10:46

Marine-RX179 said:
Well, I did buy it back in January 2012...and it was from the rainforest.

Probably why you don't have the issue. Lucky

I went for the Logitech Z200 in the end, not the best looking speakers, but for £27.99 not bad for 10W.

Thanks again for your help marsman

Marsman · 22 Jul 2015 at 11:22

Marine-RX179 said:
Does the T40 II have the same feature (problem)? Cause if it does, I don't think I ever noticed and even know about this on my T40 II, until this was brought up here...so it could well be a non-issue.

It's a revision of the II series. Possible Creative implemented this so called feature in 2013, going by a discussion I saw on another forum about it. A few thought it was a fault until someone posted this from the blurb on the T20/40 from Creative's site:-

In keeping with EuP regulations, your Creative speaker will go into Standby mode if it doesn't detect audio input after a specific amount of time.

mark43 · 22 Jul 2015 at 19:19

I'm probably alone on this one but the auto standby mode doesn't seem like that bad a thing to me, you save electricity if you're not playing sound and its only a few seconds to come back on. Though I do think you should have the option to disable it.

TNA · 22 Jul 2015 at 20:28

mark43 said:
I'm probably alone on this one but the auto standby mode doesn't seem like that bad a thing to me, you save electricity if you're not playing sound and its only a few seconds to come back on. Though I do think you should have the option to disable it.

They should have had the feature on by default but given the ability to turn it off. Not doing this lost them a sale.

Marine-RX179 · 22 Jul 2015 at 21:23

TNA said:
They should have had the feature on by default but given the ability to turn it off. Not doing this lost them a sale.

I don't mean to be rude...but I am curious...why would 3 seconds to get out of sleep mode be a significant problem?

I mean my Aune T1 MK2 takes 30 seconds after switching on before it become function and I don't think of it as an issue

TNA · 22 Jul 2015 at 21:49

Marine-RX179 said:
I don't mean to be rude...but I am curious...why would 3 seconds to get out of sleep mode be a significant problem?

I mean my Aune T1 MK2 takes 30 seconds after switching on before it become function and I think of it as an issue

Notifications for starters mate