Shintsu, I got a few sentences into your rant response and realized it's not worth reading in it's entirety. You obviously can't seem to respond maturely to a person's opinions or the mention of easily found specs on gear, nor do you realize how ridiculous you yourself sound when making such comments mocking the specs I mentioned, which are fact. That you can't handle hearing them is your problem, not mine. I have also seen others convey the exact same opinions I did of the Z5500s, they're not perfect by a long shot, and when I say I've compared them by ear I'm not BSing anyone. With the price point they have it's easy to see there's not a lot that goes into them.
As for the Energy subs, stores like Good Guys, Best Buy, Circuit City, etc, are full of subwoofers that are not only not any better than the one in the S700 set, they quite often end up getting blown due to customers believing they are. You need to get a grip on reality, or just let others speak their mind without having a hissy fit. I know all about your reputation at Filefront forums, wearing out your welcome with staff and others whom have offered great insight and grew tired of your indecision and repeated rants in response to facts you can't seem to handle hearing, so don't test me.
You've only been here a short while and you're already up to your old tricks. How many people even respond to you at Filefront anymore? I think you know why. If you keep it up you'll burn some bridges here too.
Because you don't seem capable of understanding they don't rate them the same way. That is why you see monitors like the Acer G24 that say they're 50,000:1 contrast ratio. Sure, it's a fact - based on what testing? They're using a different scale. Creative is the same way, they are using a different scale because in the same way 50,000:1 is not possible in a 24" LCD panel, that kind of wattage is not possible in that size and weight box (50,000:1 we're getting into Plasma territory, no way LCD though). Yet I try to convey this to you, and you insult my knowledge by telling me what MY ears hear in these speakers is wrong. Guess what - YOU don't know what I hear and I know WAY more people who agree that the Z-5500s are excellent and way less who like crappy Creative speakers. I'm sorry, but Creative speakers have always sounded awful to me.
You're bringing up price point? Creative is king of cheap shitty speakers, Logitech at least makes decent lower price point speakers. You know people huh? No you don't, you know websites where some dumbshit made up trash about speakers he probably doesn't own and ends their review with a comment like "Creative FTW!" or some shit. These speakers are high quality, unlike your run of the mill Creative setup. More goes into them than those cheapass lousy S700s. I wouldn't give you a dollar for those speakers.
You're making things up about my speakers, blatant lies. Why would I let you get away with bad mouthing my speakers when the OP was asking what speakers to get between yours and mine? You're giving a very false impression that these speakers are of a different quality than the truth. Christ, you must let people just change your opinion based solely on what someone else says. How sad that you're not strong willed enough to have your own opinion, you've never owned a set so you don't know anything about them. I've had Creative speakers, I know they're bad. You're going on a crappy setup in the store which is the poorest representation of any product save for a laptop or desktop computer.
Circuit City is bankrupt so now an invalid reference, Good Guys I've never heard of, Best Buy carries mediocre equipment. It's all consumer grade trash. If you think Best Buy is the place to buy audio equipment, buy some Bose shit - that's "high quality" too :roll:. Blown subs are 99% the result of dumbasses who don't know when to turn it the hell down. If the sub doesn't have lots of bass, DON'T TURN IT UP MORE. If at full volume and moderate volume on the receiver the subwoofer is not producing much bass, that means it's weak. Trust me, I compared a Polk PSW650 to this Energy AS-180 and the Energy was far superior. My Logitech 10" sub is decent compared to the Polk. Therefore, given the size and TRUE wattage of subwoofers your Creative subwoofer will produce very weak low end bass. I'm sorry, but it's the truth - I've seen cars with one 8" woofer in them and they're just sorry. Anything less than 10" has trouble producing low low bass and that being the point of a subwoofer makes them essentially useless.
Filefront is full of asswipes. I ask simple questions, and those dumbshits don't know anything. It's like DURRR I dunno but I can help compare stupid fucking video cards HUR HUR. I don't know why I even bother asking technical questions when I get people like Pilla who are ENTIRELY incapable of common logic. Too many folks there simply lack the ability to provide unbiased assistance. You're going to think I'm being biased here, but I've heard Creative speakers (and well more than one set and none of them were what I'd call cheap) but you started in on 100% lies about my speakers so obviously truth and honesty aren't very important to you in recommending your speakers. You'll just lie and mud fling whatever someone suggests unless it's your speakers.
Please note, I'd gladly recommend the Klipsch ProMedia Ultra 5.1 setup as well as my Z-5500s. Unlike you, I'm aware there are other nice sounding speakers. Creative doesn't make them though, that much I'm certain of. Again, as far as options on NEW speakers - the Z-5500s are the only choice the OP will have.
Don't lie and make trouble and then blame me for responding to it. Stop slandering my speakers for the sake of your old outdated speakers.