Creative Megaworks 250D 2.1 THX: How can I find a new remote control & spare satellite(s)?

Question

Hi all,
For years, we have owned and used one remarkable speaker set from Creative:
The Creative Megaworks (Cambridge Soundworks) 250D 2.1 THX-certified speakers!
I have no complaints. The sound this small 2.1 set produces is amazing! The 300 watts (RMS) power can shake the whole house - x50W + 2x75W are more than enough! Movies, music, games, everything sounds great - bass is deep and clear, mid-range is good, high frequences are clear! There's no noise and no distortion (I have connected the system to an SPDIF digital connector on my sound card), the Signal-to-Noise ratio is 99 dB, and the frequency response of the set is extremely good, too!
But I have a problem, now. We have broken, by accident, one of the satellites. Now I have only one satellite, and the bass/amplifier with the remote control... Looks like a . system... ;-)
This system was a present for us. Maybe we were lucky, but I am very happy with the build quality of this Creative spaker set. Until we have broken one of the satellites ourselves, yesterday, everything was OK, and the sound it produced was amazing all these years...
I tried to contact a Creative representative, asking if we can maybe order one (or two) spare satellites fot this set, but the only reply (up to now) was:
"You are out of warranty period. Buy a new speaker set."
Well, we could, I guess...
But:
First: Creative does not have (at present) a similar model, 2.1, THX certified, with digital (SPDIF input), 300W+ RMS, 99 dB Signal-to-Noise.
Second, to throw away such an amazing set just because there's one satellite broken? That would be such pity! :-(
I'd like to buy one (or two) new 250D satellites. I was thinking even that, in the worst case, I can maybe try to order 2 satellites from a Creative Gigaworks S750 set. They have very similar characteristics, 70W rms power, 8 ohms, so maybe this'll work. I was trying to check today if two satellites can be ordered, but with no luck up to now... :-(
Does anyone have any similar experience? What do you do if you accidentally have broken up one satellite from a 2./5./7. expensi've speaker set? Should you throw away the whole set? Try to find similar satellites?
I hope Creative support will help, but I don't have much hope, at present...
Does anyone have experience connecting an S750 satellite to a 250D system? Can I expect any problems? Or it'll work?
Finally, just one more question:
The remote control.
Currently, the remote control unit on our 250D model works OK. But I am a bit worried, if anything happens, that the speaker set can become useless. So I'd like to order one spare new remote control for this model, just in case. Can someone help?
Maybe, even if this speaker set is not produced anymore, a new remote control can be ordered from Creative?
I'd really like to make these 250D speakers produce great sound again!? I am a big Creative fan and Creative 250D 2.1 THX is one of the best sound systems I have ever owned (or heard) and I'd like to do everyting to fix things up...
Thanks for all the help!
Cheers! :-)
PS The satellites of the 250D look very much like these. But these Cambridge Soundworks satellites are more powerful (20W RMS); I was even thinking to order a pair of them, but not sure if they'll fit well. Maybe a pair of S750 satellites (70W RMS) is a better idea? But in any case, if I can find a new pair of satellites, what to do with the remote control?... Please, help!

Answer 1

After exchanging several messages with official Creative Support, I feel a bit disappointed... For years, I have believed that Creative is a company that makes amazing audio products. They probably still do, but now that I am a customer who owns an expensive product of theirs, but with expired warranty, they don't want even to suggest a solution that can work for both parties!
Why is Creative Support so un-supportive? :-( I am still a Creative customer, after all, right?
My communication with Support went nowhere. After it was established that our 250D system is out of warranty period (it is only 2 years, btw), they refused to sell me a replacement satellite (even if they still may have some left in stock, for such cases)!
Finally, I found S700 satellites on ebay and I hope that 2 of them will fit well with the 250D system. Impedance of 250D satellites is 8 ohms (S700 satellites are 8 ohms, too), power is almost the same (250D satellites are 75W rms, and S700 are 70W rms), Signal-to-Noise of both systems is 99 dB, and frequency response is similar, too (250D satellites should be around 50Hz - 8 kHz, I think, and S700 should be around 50Hz - 20 kHz).
Well, my final 'point of worry' was that if anything happens with the remote control, we won't be able to switch on/off the system, even if the sub/amplifier works. So, I tried to ask Support just to sell me one new remote control, if they can. To sell, not to give for free, mind this! ;-)
They refused!
My e-mails are either left un-answered, or the only kind of reply I get is 'We can offer you 10% off our new products'. Well, I don't want to buy a whole new expensi've system, if I can just get 1-2 replacement parts for my old one, and have it working for years! :-)
(Imagine you buy an expensive DSLR camera, you break the LCD screen, and imagine how Canon or Nikon refuse to sell you a replacement LCD, because you're out of warranty! I can't imagine that!)
Well, with Creative it looks like this works only this way: Buy a new system. While speaker system is within its warranty period, Creative may replace defecti've and/or broken parts. Once system is out of warranty period, you can simply throw the system away, as Creative will not sell you replacement parts, no matter how politely you ask (and no matter if such parts are available at Creative or not)!
I hope I will be able to use our 250D system for some more time (after the satellites arrive). I don't know how I can find a new remote control, just to be on the safe side.
And I am not sure I will buy Creative product next time. I will carefully look around and maybe will pick up a product from a company which will offer me not only warranty support, but out-of-warranty support, too. That would be wise.
I like how the high-end Creative speaker systems sound. I simply cannot understand how this company can be successful, if they make such great products, but then refuse to help its customers, when they have problems... :-(