6. Creative I-Trigue 3500 (3450 In White)

What beauties! In black and silver (3500) or glossy white (3450), depending on your taste, you are bound to like one or the other. Elegance and refinement are the bywords for the finish and for the curves. One inescapable conclusion is that the design is a great success.

With this system, it is obvious that Creative means to compete with brands like Altec Lansing by using very similar techniques. You can easily see this when you look at the satellites equipped with micro drivers - little transducers like inverted titanium domes - and a substantial half-roller suspension. Apart from the micro drivers on the front, the satellites have a lateral loudspeaker said to improve the overall sound picture and the output of male vocals.

Creative stresses that this loudspeaker is amplified separately but that seems odd because there seems to be no good reason for it. The output is stated as 9W per satellite, so that's not a lot per speaker if it is divided between two amplifications. The subwoofer - which also houses the electronics - has a 17 cm boomer with a big foam-rubber half-roller suspension allowing for ample shift. This speaker with a bass-reflex load is set in the side, and the port outlet is on the front. The 3.5 mm modulation jack is at the back of the speaker.

The controls are on a wired remote with two settings: overall volume and subwoofer levels. This is just fine. The remote also has a line-in, a headphone output and an M-Port (USB port for a portable system). I-Trigue speakers are very easy to use, much more so than their rivals. The only trouble is that the micro drivers are not protected, so mind your clumsy fingers! Another thing is the power supply comes through an external transformer so that means more wires hanging about.