Logitech Z-2300 THX-Certified 2.1 Speaker System with Subwoofer
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 Z-2300 THX-Certified 2.1 Speaker System with Subwoofer
Customer Review: Look no Further !!
Summary: 5 Stars
There has been such thorough reviews of these speakers, I will try not to repeat most of what has been stated.
However, I must tell you that you are NOT limited to the distance of the speaker wires OR the distance of the wired remote!! I have mounted this system and spread the speaker and the Woofer box and the remote contol to the distances that I desired, and the sound is Fantastic!
For the speakers, all you need to do is buy the rca extension cables (that have a male on one end and a female rca plug on the other end, the cheap ones work fine). They can be ordered in 6', 10', or even 25Ft lengths. These are used to extend the satellite speakers AND the inputs, ie DVD player, Tv, etc. to reach the large woofer box.
The secret to extending the remote control is.... You must use an old type.. VGA monitor 15 pin cable... like our old computer monitors came with..it must have a male on one end and a female 15 pin connector on the other end. OR if you can only find the male to male extension cable, then get a gender changer to change one of the ends to female. THE TRICK FOR THIS CABLE IS ... when you are shopping for this vga extension cable.. MAKE SURE.. it has 15 pins! many of these cables are missing one pin (they only have 14 pins). AND You can see this in the picture online if you look at the cable end, in the online pictures of this cable. Both types of cables can be found and ordered here at Amazon. Just search for a vga or svga 15 pin extension cable...and count the pins on the male end. You can get different lengths to suit your purpose. since I could not add a link above. Amazons link adder would not work for me.
go to SF cable and search for this product:
"HD15 SVGA Monitor Extension Cable, Male to Female with Ferrite Bead"
by SFCable DONT FORGET TO COUNT THE PINS ! And get the length you need to extend the remote control for your installation.
I have mine placed exactly the distance I wanted them to be apart. (I was also able to hide my wires with some imagination) and there is NO noticeable difference in performance with them extended far from each other. In fact, the sound is much improved by spreading the sounds out!
As for mounting the two small speakers.. If you pull the grill/cover off the front of the speaker, then with your finger nail, remove the 4 rubber plugs that hold the grill/cover to the speaker then you can remove the 4 (hidden) phillips head screws that hold the speaker half together. Then I drilled two small holes in the back half..and used the holes I made, to securely fasten them to the wall! Then reassemble them on the wall (I removed the bottom flat stand that comes screwed to the bottom of each speaker before starting). That they would normally sit on. So that they would fit flat against the wall...VERY easy to mount these speakers to a wall!!
SUMMING UP :
The ONLY negative remark I have about these, if you would call it that..is what other people have already stated.. the singing type of music is somewhat lacking.. I would have to agree with that. (I won't say better... but different, small speakers, would cure this. However.. for what I am using them for, they could not be better. This system as is... is fantastic for anything else ! DVD movies, Games, Computers etc. They are a full 5 stars for my purpose after extending them from each other.
LOOK NO FURTHER IF YOU WANT Great sounds for movies or games!
Customer Review: Believe me when i say...THESE SPEAKERS ROCK!
Summary: 5 Stars
Ok, first off i've had these for just one day...got them from amazon today (in 5 days with free shipping...great packaging and great delivery) and they are incredible. I am really picky when it comes to good sound, and i looked around for about 2 months before i findally decided these were the ones to get. The design is so sleek and the THX certification really makes a difference. So here i've got something to say about each part of the system, cuz i know that a lot of you out there want a detailed user review.
Sub Woofer- Oh my gosh...this sub rocks. I mean all you bass
lovers out there will be smiling the second you
turn it on. And for all of you who don't like bass
to drown out the music the subwoofer control on the
wired remote does a great job of controlling the
level of the bass, so don't worry about getting a
system like this cuz the bass accompanies the sound
from the satellites very well. The bass is punchy
very responsive and can handle anything you can
throw at it...seriously...trust me i tested it out.
I played NFS Underground 2 with this system and i
can literally feel the engine roaring and the woosh
of cars as they fly by...you will fall in love with
this sub.
Sattelites- I have two words for these speakers...sleek and
strong. The sound is so clear even at high volumes
and not harsh at all...i've tried every type of
music on them from rap to classical to techno to
rock, and they blow every other 2.1 system away!
There are two cloth dust covers which can cover the
sattelites if you wish and they make it look even
better...if that's possible. These speakers are high
quality.
Wired remote- This thing is soooo cool. The volume knob slides
so smoothly and is so accurate. So is the bass
control it's so nice having the bass level
control right at your finger tips.
The Setup- It's so easy it's not even worth talking about. All
you have to do is plug in the sattelites into the
obviously color coded plugs and hook up the
remote to your sub and computer (or game console or
tv...that's right they send you an adapter for
rca audio setups). Plug it in and your done.
I bought these speakers with out ever having heard them b4 and then i went to a circuit city and got to hear them on display b4 mine arrived and i was so glad i bought them. I compared it to the sound of a $250 dollar system from BOSE there as well, and they blew it way with bass and clarity. Logitech is pure quality this is an awesome deal people. If you don't believe how good they could sound, go hear them for your self at some store...but trust me you won't regret buying them right now either...cuz you'll decide to later ne way...lol. But seriously they are the best deal you will get...don't think a system for that price can shake the floorboards? Trust me it thumps!
Customer Review: Amazing bass but lacking in everything else...
Summary: 4 Stars
This review is based solely on using the Z-2300 for PC multimedia speakers. That means the listening position is 3-4 feet at most from where I sit in front of my monitor. I am well aware that there are far better sounding speakers available, especially home theater speakers.
Specs: Running Windows 7 Home Premium x64, using an Audigy2 ZS sound card with latest 2.18.0017 drivers (dated 9 Apr 2010). Windows audio is set to 100%. The subwoofer has been placed under my glass desk at the far left corner, about 6 inches from a wall. The satellites are at a 15 degree angle on either side of my monitor for better positioning. They are approximately 36-inches from my head during use.
I got the Z-2300 speakers because I wanted a 2.1 PC speaker setup that had ample bass for a $100 price range. That this does have. I have seen video reviews of the Z-2300 subwoofer with some serious excursion but most likely nobody will be cranking at that level from normal listening positions. I Have the bass set to 50% (12 o'clock position) and even with the volume at the 9 o'clock position the bass can be felt. The subwoofer has slight movement at that volume but is deep and responsive. So it is quite an able subwoofer. I was pleased to see a nice sized heatsink on the back of the subwoofer for the amplifier. It does get slightly warm during use.
The satellites are respectable as PC multimedia speakers at normal volume levels. They start to show their limitations if you really start to crank the volume. Small 2.5-inch single driver satellites cannot reproduce all midrange and higher octaves at high volume levels. A tweeter would have helped improve higher frequency response and Logitech is depending upon the subwoofer to reproduce some of the lower frequencies that 2.5-inch drivers cannot. I suspect that is why a lot of people tend to blow the satellites on the Z-2300. THX certification causes confusion into the limits of the product. THX certification does not mean sound quality. It means clear loud volume.
One thing I find mock-worthy of the satellites is the false bass port at the top. It is sealed shut. Logitech should have used that space for a 0.75-inch tweeter instead. That wouldn't have increased cost very much. I would have paid the difference for better sounding satellites.
I also wasn't pleased with Logitech for using RCA plugs for the satellites. It makes it impossible to use better quality (ie lower gauge) cable for the satellites. It also makes it difficult to use alternative satellite speakers. I assume that Logitech wanted to make it easier to connect for those that are completely clueless on speakers.
Note that my previous PC multimedia speakers were Klipsch ProMedia Ultra 5.1 so perhaps I was spoiled. Those cost me $399 back in the day though. The Klipsch subwoofer also acted as a space heater and would warm the entire room - not good during the summer months but great in the winter.
Overall, the Logitech Z-2300 2.1 speakers are a good buy at their price. I give a solid 4/5 stars. It would have received 5/5 had it used better satellites with tweeters and not used RCA plugs for the satellite speaker wire.
Customer Review: Rocky Start, but customer supports seems on the ball.
Summary: 4 Stars
When shopping for a replacement speaker system, I ultimately selected this one based mainly on reviews. I wasn't too pleased with the wired volume control unit (I was used to the controls being on one of the speakers). But once I had the thing installed, I found that I actually quite liked the concept of a volume control that could be closer to me than the speakers.
The subwoofer is truly enormous though. The reviewers kept pointing this out, but I didn't believe them. It is gargantuan and came within an inch of not fitting in what I expected to be ample space beneath my desk.
It isn't my goal to vibrate the neighbor's windows, I just wanted reasonably nice sound when playing music or games. When I finally turned it on (did I mention it also weighs two zillion pounds?) it sounded OK.
But it did feel like something was missing. At first I thought it was lacking in the mid-ranges (it might be), but eventually I noticed I just had no left channel at all. Some cable swapping experiments eventually led me to the conclusion that the wired remote control had a bad/intermitting connection in the thin audio cable, or possibly a solder point inside the unit.
At this point, I felt a little desperate, since I knew there was no way I was going to actually life the two billion bound subwoofer back out of its hole. And that, knowing myself, I was just going to live with it, and feel like an idiot (it wasn't the world's cheapest speaker system).
So I wrote customer support a truly pathetic email, begging to get a replacement just-volume-control unit, feeling certain ahead of time that it would not be possible to do so and they would insist my mailing the whole thing back (and,of course, I don't keep the original packaging because it didn't even occur to me the unit would be defective)
Anyway, after some initial interactions that sounded like the expected boiler plate "Have you turned it on?" "is it plugged into your computer" comments, they surprised me by offering a replacement volume control. I only had to crawl around enough to disconnect the volume control. They provided a ups mailing label and I have lots of little boxes.
So it's back to them now, and I think they really are going to send me a replacement volume control!
So it's probably premature to celebrate, but I just wanted to illuminate the turn-around in my mood from bleak to optimistic :)
So, as to the speaker sound, I am satisfied, if not actually blown away. but as to the customer support, I am more than pleased.
I do wish, as I think I have seen others comment, that they had spent the extra nickel to have the cables have connectors at both ends, instead of just disappearing into the block of plastic.
But again, the subwoofer is monstrous, and the specifications I read didn't do that justice.
Mine is: 16x12x12
PLus one side is the huge speaker which you presumably want to not be driving right into a wall, and I am sure you need lots of thermal clearance as well.
Customer Review: The best 2.1 Speaker system!
Summary: 5 Stars
I have always wanted this Logitech z-2300 speaker system. I had some old small speakers for one of my PCs, which had no subwoofer and the sound was so week I couldn't hear it outside the room.
I was looking for a 2.1 system - 2 speakers and 1 subwoofer. I did not want to buy any surround sound 4.1 or 5.1 or any other, as I do not watch movies on my PC. You really need surround sound only for movies. Even if you play the latest game a good 2.1 speaker system is more than enough.
So I bought it online.
It was very easy to install. This system comes with a volume knob which had a power button and a bass control next to the volume control which is extremely convenient. This knob is in a separate enclosure, not on one of the speakers, which means you can put the speakers away from you and have only the knob on the desk which is what I did. Putting the speakers away from the desk will lead to a better quality of sound, same for the subwoofer. And, personally, I don't like the subwoofer to be under the desk like most people do, I don't like the bass waves next to my legs:)
The subwoofer has somewhat short cable, but I extended it. You may have to do that. But that is the case with every speaker system.
The power is so strong I never even used the volume more than half. This system possesses Total RMS : 200 watts RMS - you won't find stronger for this price. It also has Peak power of 400 Watts, but the RMS is what counts. You can compare it with other systems.
I can hear the sound of my music on a half volume on the knob from outside my house, which is through 2 walls and over 20 feet away! this thing is powerful.
The power and the sound quality may vary by the sound card you have, though.
The bass control is very useful because some of the songs I listen to have more bass and others less, and I can easily adjust to my listening preferences.
Some people in other reviews suggest the sound quality is not very good, but it is actually one of the best. Don't forget that depending on the music you are listening to you will have to adjust the sound EQUALIZER of the music player you are using which I know most people are lazy to do. If you adjust the equalizer that itself leads to a great quality of what you are listening. The speakers don't have any surround, and may be that's why they get poor reviews sometimes, but if you need surround sound (mostly for movies) why you bought this system in the first place? Don't listen to those comments.
This is so far the Best 2.1 speaker system I have found, which is perfect for listening to music and everyday computer use. And I have used more than 12 different speaker systems, I am from a musician family (my father is bass guitarist), so I am pretty familiar with sound quality and speaker power.
Overall great product. I would highly recommend it to anyone!