[Starry Night]

Aloha,

I bought a pair of Logitech X-120 ($23) for my 1.25 Ghz G4 PowerMac. Sound was ok, but there were two problems.

1) When the power is turned on, there is a very loud "pop", sounds like a mini explosion.

2) There is a continous low level hum that is very annoying if no music is playing.

These issues persist even if the computer is turned off or the speakers are in a completely different room and not plugged in to any audio device, thus it's nothing to do with my Mac.

So, they're going back to Amazon.

I'm looking at the JBL Creature II's. The Logitech's were a little bass heavy for my tastes anyway. A few questions:

1) Do any Creature II owners experience any of the annoying Logitech symptoms I list above?

2) With the Creature II's, how long is the cable that goes from the Mac to the sub? And how long is the cable that goes from the sub to the satellites (isn't that how it goes)? I want to know so I can make sure they'll fit on my desk in the way I want.

Much Appreciated

[Nivag]

Well the humming could be down to something in your house that is interfering with your speakers/power supply. Have you tried them in someone else's place to see if the humming is still there?

[Starry Night]

Originally posted by Nivag:
Well the humming could be down to something in your house that is interfering with your speakers/power supply. Have you tried them in someone else's place to see if the humming is still there?

Good idea, but I haven't gone that far and they're already boxed for return. The Logitech support website claims that the low level humming is "normal". Their solution is to place the speakers far enough away that you can't hear it. I live in the country with lots of quiet about, thus that would be 12+ feet and would require that a wall be demolished

I went ahead and ordered the Creature II's for $70 at Amazon. They get great user reviews though the few that don't like them, really don't like them. Not as good as Soundsticks, but at half the price, that's ok. And they clearly claim to be "shielded", thus hopefully it will be smoothe sailin'.......... I was tempted to get AirTunes and an Airport card and shoot it through a stereo in the room, but the Creatures were a more economical way to go....

Thanks for your thoughts!

[Macola]

I own the Creature IIs and have been pretty happy with them. I'm too lazy to measure the cables exactly but I'd say about 6-8 feet?

I can reproduce the background hum/noise but only if I crank the volume all the way up on both the speakers and my volume control. I would expect that to happen with most speakers, though. Good luck with your purchase, I think you'll enjoy it.

[Starry Night]

Originally posted by Macola:
I own the Creature IIs and have been pretty happy with them. I'm too lazy to measure the cables exactly but I'd say about 6-8 feet?

I can reproduce the background hum/noise but only if I crank the volume all the way up on both the speakers and my volume control. I would expect that to happen with most speakers, though. Good luck with your purchase, I think you'll enjoy it.

Thanks, I'm looking forward to them. The Logitech's pop at power up and continuously hum even if the volume is turned all the way down on both speaker and computer. I even tried them on a Monster surge protector that yields clean power, same thing. Thus your news is good news!