Reviewed: December 23, 2004
Reviewed by: Mark Smith

Manufacturer
Creative Labs

Type: Speakers
System: PC/Home Audio

Rating: 10.0

Features

Back in the late 90’s Creative Labs introduced EAX technology to go up against the other emerging standard of the time, A3D. The battle didn’t last long and EAX rose from the rubble as the undisputed winner. Over the years the EAX technology has been tweaked and improved upon to give gamers the ultimate in 3D audio immersion. And while there are several variations of sound cards to deliver this new sound technology, you won’t be able to experience any of it without a good set of speakers.

The GigaWorks S750 surround system from Creative Labs represents the ultimate in surround sound speaker technology. This is the flagship of the Creative Labs catalog ringing up at a cool $500 bones. It’s likely to scare off the casual gamer but anyone who takes their gaming as seriously as they take their movie-watching will have no qualms about prying a few Ben Franklins out of their wallet when it means obtaining the ultimate in pure surround sound.

Most of you who are into the DVD scene will already know about 5.1 surround whether it be Dolby Digital or DTS. There are also EX versions of both formats that take the technology to a 6.1 level adding an additional rear-center channel. 7.1 surround is the latest in technology and these speakers are one of two sets available from Creative to literally surround you in sound and put you in the game.

The big attraction for the S750 speakers is the THX certification. THX is a quality-assurance program created by George Lucas back in 1983 to guarantee the ultimate in audio and video quality. While having a THX logo on your equipment is certainly a sign of quality, it’s a trickle-down system that only works when everything from the source to the output is THX certified.

Many DVD’s are THX certified but only recently has THX found its way into the gaming scene. Electronic Arts was the first to adopt the standard and now almost every title they release is THX certified. The next step would be a THX certified sound card like the Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum, and finally a THX certified set of speakers.

Installation - 10

Unpacking the S750 reveals seven identical satellite speakers and a hefty subwoofer. Hooking them up won’t prove nearly as challenging as deciding where to place them in your gaming room. The speakers come with a handy Easy Installation sheet that shows diagrams of how to connect the color-coded wires and even offers some suggestions for placing the speakers.

The 7.1 surround environment differs from the 6.1 in that the rear-center speaker is replaced with a pair of side speakers. The ideal environment is a square room where your computer is centered along one wall. Your main speakers (left and right) can go on either side of the monitor, and the center speaker can either go below or on top of the monitor– they are shielded so they will not harm or distort your monitor. The side speakers would ideally go on the wall to either side of you, positioned in a straight line to your normal seated position while playing a game or watching a movie. The rear speakers go behind you and perhaps slightly elevated in a symmetrical position. The subwoofer can go under the desk, somewhere near the computer.

In my situation I was able to attach the side and rear speakers to the wall. The back of each speaker is slotted so it can slip over the head of a drywall screw. The speakers also come with stylish tilted stands, which I used for the front speakers. The center speaker has rubber feet an an optional tilt stand if you need to place on top of your monitor. If you don’t have the luxury of putting holes in your wall there are optional speaker stands you can purchase to elevate these speakers and place them anywhere in the room.

I must congratulate and give my extreme thanks to Creative for actually including ample speaker wire. Of all the speakers I have tested, Creative Labs is the only company to give you enough wire to place the speakers where I wanted without stretching cables or purchasing and splicing in my own extensions. My game room is 15’x15’ square and the cables fit perfectly. If your environment is larger you may need to splice in some extensions. While the speaker wire has traditional RCA plugs at one end they are open wire on the other making this an easy operation if necessary.

Once you have the speakers mounted and the wires strategically routed through your room it’s just a matter of plugging in all the wires into the color-coded ports on the back of the subwoofer. There are handy labels that you can attach to the wires so you can identify the plugs without tracing the wires back to the speaker if you ever have to disconnect at a later time. Hook up the AC power and run the front and rear channel wires from the sound card to your sub and you are ready to rock…almost.

Depending on your sound card and the software you have installed you will probably want to customize your settings. In the case of the Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum there is a THX configuration program that lets you input the distance and elevation of each speaker so it can adjust the output for optimum sound. This is the same thing a THX technician would do if they were certifying your home theater system.

Aesthetics - 10

The GigaWorks S750 are simple and sylish. They are definitely more about performance and function than style, but don’t get me wrong – these speakers are far from ugly. In fact, they look like just about every other speaker set available, and within the line of Creative Labs products really haven’t changed from others in the series. They look perfectly fine sitting on my desktop or hanging on my walls and they are still small enough that you can hide them in a bookcase. I really like the design of the tilted stands that are a flat-black finish that match the speaker casing. If I could make only one suggestion for future speaker products it would be clear shielding for the satellite speaker wires. While the speakers look cool enough hanging on the walls the thin black wire stretching to the floor is quite obvious and unattractive.

The wireless remote gives you convenient desktop control over volume for each channel and a button to cycle through the various upmixes. The new Audio Control Pod is a small 5”x3”x1” black box that sits on your desk. It give you buttons for directly controlling volume, upmix, and source input select. It also has lit displays showing volume level, speaker channel, and upmix type. There are even inputs for a microphone and headphones not to mention an M-PORT so you can jack-in your Creative NOMAD MP3 player. – You do own one, don’t you?

Durability - 10

The satellite speakers are fairly lightweight so if they should happen to get knocked over or fall they will probably survive unscathed. The large and heavy subwoofer is a solid piece of equipment that is resistant to casual damage. The optional metal stands provide a substantial weight to the bottom of each speaker making them very stable on any flat surface.

The speaker cable is thicker than you get with most PC speaker sets. This makes it slightly harder to conceal, but you won’t have to worry about wearing down the shielding or breaking any of the wires inside. There is also added support where the speaker wire hooks into the plugs.

Performance - 10

As you can guess, the performance of any speaker system is going to be directly related to the sound card and the source material driving it. For the purposes of this review we tested the speakers using the aforementioned the Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum and some of the latest game and movie titles that make use of 7.1 technology.

The first thing we fired up was EA’s Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault, arguably the best sound gaming currently available and one with THX certification. We also put Painkiller: Battle of of Hell and Shade: Wrath of Angels to the test; both games featuring full 7.1 EAX surround support. Prior to the GigaWorks S750 I had the T7700 speakers, so while I probably wasn't impressed as anyone coming off a 2.1 or 5.1 system would have been I did have the rare opportunity to hear just how much better these speakers really are over the "budget" 7.1 system.

The difference in quality literally blew me out of my chair. I was hearing subtleties in the audio that I had never heard before, mainly in the high range, and the bass was thunderous. I popped in a few music CD's that I frequently listen to just to test my theory and sure enough, I started hearing parts of the music that I had never heard before. The range on these speakers is just amazing.

Just to be thorough I popped in a few DVD’s including I, Robot, King Arthur, and Collateral. These movies sounded phenomenal and proved conclusively that a well-equipped PC can rival the most expensive home theater rig. I am forced to admit that these speakers sound every bit as good as the $2,000 worth of THX speakers in my living room.

Value - 10

Gamers on a budget will likely find the $150 T7700 7.1 Speakers a bit easier to justify, but true audiophiles should accept nothing less than the GigaWorks THX S750. If you’ve already got one of the new ZS sound cards then you owe it to yourself to get these speakers. Considering the rich and amazing sound quality and full support for previous versions of EAX and 5.1 and 6.1 upmixing this will be the last set of speakers you need until somebody comes up with a new sound format.

Overall – 10

Whether you are looking for the ultimate in audio immersion in your games or just want to enjoy DVD’s in all their glory on your PC you won’t find a better set of speakers than the GigaWorks THX S750. This is the perfect complement to the new line of ZS sound cards from Creative Labs, and once you hear these two pieces of hardware working together you won't believe what you've been missing.

Some of you might not think 7.1 surround is that big of a deal but until you actually hear the difference you can’t possibly understand how much this extra dimension really adds to the immersion in a game or movie. Grab a set today and start listening to your multimedia entertainment the way it was meant to be heard.