Creative has rounded off its revamped speaker range with a high-end set of THX-compliant 5.1 speakers.

The Megaworks THX 5.1 550s are bulky, but you'd expect this for £300 of your hard-earned cash.

The 550s have an enormous total output of 500w, the highest capacity ever to be seen in a multimedia speaker set.

150w of this comes from the subwoofer. The sub is enormous, and far too big to sit under most PC desks.

However, sound quality is incredibly powerful without being too overbearing or muffling the output from the satellites. It's truly one of the best PC subwoofers we've heard.

The satellites are impressive too, outputting at a massive 70w. They are similarly styled, yet larger than any of the cheaper cousins in the Creative range, and the stands have to be screwed on.

While this adds an air of professionalism to the product, it feels more like an annoyance and one extra hassle when setting up.

The rest of the set up is simple, as it follows the standard colour coding that comes with so many speakers. There's also an auxiliary mini-jack input for any other sources you care to throw at it.

Frequency response is reasonable, starting at a slightly below par 32Hz on the subwoofer and stretching up to an adequate 18KHz.

As the human ear hears from 20Hz to 20KHz, we'd have preferred to see more from such an expensive set.

Nevertheless, the overall quality is intensely loud without being piercing or dull; just even, clear and thoroughly enjoyable sound.

On the downside the supplied, wired remote is difficult to use, due mainly to the arrangement of the buttons, and it's not the prettiest of beasts either.

If you can afford them, the 550s are an excellent, if slightly oversized, surround set.

DETAILS
Price: £299 (£254.27 ex VAT)
Contact: Creative
http://europe.creative.com

SPECS

• Six-speaker set
• 150w subwoofer, 70w satellites
• Mini-jack connection from soundcard
• RCA from sub to satellites
• 32Hz-18KHz frequency response
• Wired remote control