I am in the final stages of completing my projector. My HTPC was almost complete when I experienced failure of my sound system.

The culprit is my Creative Labs Inspire P7800 7.1 Sound System. My experience with this product has been less then favorable. With less than two hours of active use, these speakers now fail to power-up. Numerous contacts with customer service have been unsuccessful at arriving at a solution to the problem. (I travel extensively and the speaker warranty expired while they were sitting “Brand New” in the box.)

At my expense, I have replaced the power adapter (approximately $27.00). I have performed all of the knowledge base suggestions. I followed the step-by-step instructions of the customer service department only to find out they were suggesting fixes for a completely different speaker system.

I have experienced nothing but frustration with this product. The sad part is, it is the sound system specifically designed for the Creative 7.1 Audigy2 card I have in my computer. So actually, the monetary waste is near $300.00.

Based on my experience I would suggest that you forgo the grief and use a sound card and speaker system from some other source.

Thanks for info. I too am going that route with a 5.1 sound card.
No clue as to waht speakers to choose yet. But now i now what ones NOT to get