Logitech G51 Surround Sound 5.1 Speaker System (Black)
by Logitech
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List Price: Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Logitech G51 Surround Sound 5.1 Speaker System (Black)
Customer Review: Great value!
Summary: 4 Stars
These speakers are a lot smaller than I thought they would be as shown on the product image. Still, they pack high quality sound and the bass is good, despite the subwoofer being almost half the size of my last one. My one huge complaint though - these are surround sound speakers Logitech - why are the cables so short! I'm unable to mount the rear the satellites anywhere - currently with the sub/amp under my desk, the maximum distance the rear cables will reach is about 6 ft behind me, and the satellites on my desk have no further slack on the cables either. Really, the cables were quite a big disappointment as it severely limits where I can put the speakers. I don't think having the rear satellites sitting on the floor partially obscured is what these speakers were designed for. The cables seem to be some kind of RCA plug and are hardwired into the satellites, so I don't know whether it's possible to try and extend them.
Besides the cables, everything else is great. The default bass level was way too high for my liking, it took a fair bit of playing around to find a good spot where it wasn't too boomy. The matrix mode works somewhat well, although I'll probably be leaving it off since having to adjust it constantly is not really worth it. For those like me who were somewhat worried that matrix mode could only be set to "Gaming" or "Music", the button is a push-button that toggles between None, Gaming and Music, it's not a sliding switch as the pictures may make it seem.
Overall these speakers are excellent value for money - sure they won't go as loud as some of the higher end models, but they are perfectly loud enough for movies, music and games. I would not hesitate to give these 5 stars if it weren't for the issue with the cables. If you're looking for compact 5.1 system, you won't get much better value than the G51.
Update (2007-11-16): I purchased some 25ft RCA F/M cables for the rear satellites and they have much better positioning now. One additional issue I have noticed is whenever the system is powered on and not muted, the subwoofer driver is vibrating and causing a very low but discernible hum that is audible over my system noise. Raising or lowering the volume has no effect on the loudness, and the hum only stops 2-3 seconds after muting or immediately on power off, which leads me to believe it's some internal component causing it and not noisy output from the sound card or interference. We do get slightly higher than usual utility voltage, so it could be something that goes away if you have clean 120v power.
Update (2009-11-21): System died one month after warranty expired. Control pod still gets power but woofer and speakers are lifeless.
Customer Review: Logitech G51 Speaker System
Summary: 5 Stars
I really hope you got this when it had a rebate. WOW, this speakers are awesome. I listen to lots of music from like rap, country, jazz, soul, classical, or just anything that has a groovy sound.
PROS:
1. Took them right out of the "BOXES" sold by amazon. Packaging was tightly secure.
2. No assembly.
3 Level of sound is perfect.
4. Each speaker has direct sound for that individual speaker. Was spead evenly with great range of tweeter, midrange, and the bass was a loud hum with a great bump in the trunk sound.
5. The amp for this system holds true to its sound. Has the right amount of watts for each speaker for max power.
6. Since I was a custom to unplugging my speaker jack for headphone jack in the back of my pc makes it more at ease to plug my headphones and mic right into the volume console.
7. Volume console is easy use. With master volume, Bass Volume, mute for high volume to answer phone or listen to your wife when she is speaking. A power button and also a gaming, music or 5.1 true sound.
8. After bumpin my speakers for a while listening to just about every song in my playlist. I was truely so satisfied that I had to right this review.
9. I wish I had ordered two sets of these speakers not only for my PC but for my living room home theater.
CONS:
1. Not all of the chords are the same length. Two short length chords, Two long length chords, and the center was medium length. If you do not sit these speakers close together then you will have to make your own adjustments plugging your jacks in. I had to use the two longs ones on the left side of me. Then the short chords on the right of me. I was lucky the center channel chord was just long enough. For I tucked the sub box under the right of my desk. What i am saying yellow jack went in red to adjust right front to be left rear. Instead of yellow would of been right rear in the set up on your sound settings.
2. Either way you look at it the chords for all the speakers should of been the same length for the color jack on back of sub box. For setting up the speaker placement on your desk. The sub box really needs to be right under your feet to get the plugs rigth in the back of the sub box.
3. The chord lenght is the only thing. You might have to buy extension plugs for distance of placement of speakers and new RCA cables for those extension plugs.
I'm telling you these were a steal for $[...] with the $[...] dollar rebate. Another store you might find in shopping malls, like C.C. OR B.B. is now selling these speakers for $[...] or $[...].
PREMIUM SOUND FOR THE DOLLAR
Customer Review: For the price, hard to beat.
Summary: 5 Stars
The sound is fantastic, everything that the other reviewers have noted and then some. I was more than satisfied.
Some notes on what others said:
One reviewer stated the speakers were tiny compared to what was expected. So I was waiting to receive some really tiny speakers, but they were pretty standard looking to me. Perhaps that reviewer was waiting for theatre speakers or something, but these are made for a computer. They are a little over 4 inches wide at the widest part and 8.5 inches tall. They were actually bigger than I wanted. But that is not a big complaint.
Another reviewer stated they did not like the volume knob because it skipped volume levels. I agree that the notched feel of the volume knob doesn't allow someone to get the exact volume desired, but it is subtle degrees of loudness and I would not hesitate to purchase these because of that.
Another reviewer stated the wires for the back speakers aren't long enough. I measured them a while ago when I first set them up and my vague memory says they are 14 ft. long. This wasn't an issue for me as I have an L shaped desk and was not concerned about getting perfect surround sound. They would be way more than enough length if a small speaker table was set up behind the chair, but if these need to be mounted on a wall, there might be an issue with cable length.
And there was a reviewer who said the sound improves without the speaker covers. I agree with this assessment. They sound a little more clear with the covers off. So I keep the covers on for protection when I am not listening to music, but pull them off when I am planning on extended listening time. I probably could leave them off, but I don't want to worry about the dust collecting on them.
The subwoofer is gorgeous looking and very powerful.
The table top volume control is cool because you can push a button to select the total volume, subwoofer, back speakers, and center speakers and changed the volume for each of these. There is a mute button and a place to plug in headphones and a microphone.
I didn't like how the speakers are at one set angle and can't be adjusted. And I also can't see how they could be wall mounted unless someone puts a shelf on the wall to set them on. They don't appear to have the ability to just screw into a wall.
All in all, the price is hard to beat for the kind of sound these speakers produce. Exceptional value!
Customer Review: Excellent PC speaker upgrade
Summary: 5 Stars
I was a little reluctant to purchase another set of Logitech speakers. My first set, the Z-560, worked well, but one of the channels burned out about 16 months after I purchased them.
My second set, the Z-680, sounded great but had a fatal flaw: HISSSSSS. I had to have a box fan going in the room to drown out the constant hissing. It finally drove me to seeking another set, and I desperately sought out a non-Logitech set of speakers. Sadly, in my narrow price range, there were no alternatives that I can find.
With some relucatance I ordered the G51. I set them up yesterday, and so far I'm very pleased with them. The soul-searing hiss present on the z-680 is mercifully gone, and the system sounds excellent. The bass is sufficient without being overpowering (provided you turn it down a notch or two from the default setting), and the control pod is sensibly sized and sports a great, logically laid out interface. Mids and highs are perfectly acceptable for a relatively cheap computer speaker set.
The matrix mode works surprisingly well (though I think it's likely nothing that revolutionary, just a re-imaging if their existing stero x2 mode) for both games and music.
I don't have plans to use the silly 'patent pending mod system' (pretty much just a piece of transparent plastic to slip printed designs into), but if you do want to 'pimp your rig' then I suppose the option is there.
Here's a couple of tips for the new G51 users:
1) Take off those grills on the speakers! They are *not* acoustically transparent, and in my ears the highs opened up a bit after removing them. Just be careful not to poke anything into the exposed speaker drivers!
2) BE CAREFUL if you mount the center channel on your LCD screen; I cringed when I read the instructions to 'tighten the hinge screw' - this is applying pressure to your LCD monitor. If you over tighten you might experience the pleasure of cracking your LCD screen in half. I simply placed mine on top and used a little double sided tape on the base - I'd rather have a slightly loose center channel than a pair of non-functioning 11" flat screen monitors.
PROS:
+ great sound
+ easy installation
+ excellent control pod
+ simple center-channel LCD mounting option
CONS:
- front speaker wires a bit too short
- hard-wired speaker cables
Customer Review: Easy setup, great sound, matrix is iffy
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this off Amazon and it was on my doorstep in 2 days. This is insanely fast shipping considering that I only paid for standard shipping.
Setup was a breeze since all the jacks are color coded. I didn't even need the instructions. I plugged everything straight onto my onboard surround sound and everything worked like magic. I had to setup my sound configuration to support 5.1 surround sound but that was no hassle at all.
These speakers are plenty loud even when the volume is set to 2 or 3. I love the way the control pod can control almost every aspect separately. Master controls all the speakers and subwoofer. Subwoofer obviously controls just the subwoofer. Surround controls the rear speakers. Center controls the center, which is great for making dialogue louder in 5.1 movies and games. The pod also has power, speaker mute, mic mute and matrix buttons. It also has jacks for headphones and a mic for easy access.
The only big con I can think of is the Matrix mode. It is supposed convert regular stereo sound into 5.1 sound. Gaming mode makes the rear speakers much louder than the front so you can hear footsteps coming from behind. Music mode makes all the speakers the same volume. Matrix mode is really hit or miss. Overall it did a good job in converting some of my 2.0 stereo DVDs with the gaming matrix mode on.I can distinctly hear off-screen voices coming from my rear speakers and on-screen voices come from my front speakers.
However, if I put in a DVD that supports 5.1 and turn on either Matrix mode, then absolutely no dialogue can be heard. It is like it completely erased the center channel. If I play a game with 5.1 with Matrix mode on, then dialogue is still audible but it is much more faint especially in online games that support voice chat.If my movie or game supports 5.1 then I always leave Matrix mode off as it sounds the most natural and have the least amount of issues.
Other than the hit or miss Matrix mode, this is a great sounding set of PC speakers. It has got some thunderous bass, great mids, and decent highs even though these speakers don't have tweeters. For $129.99 shipped, this was a bargain. Include a $40 MIR, then it is a steal. Get in shipped to my door in 2 days makes this one of best purchases I've ever made