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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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Logitech Z-2300 THX-Certified 2.1 Speaker System with Subwoofer
Customer Review: Loud. And. Clear. Period.
Summary: 5 Stars
These things are incredible. They get terribly loud. Like wake the neighbor's-dead-cat-when-the-neighbor's-house-is-a-block-away loud.
I had a pair of M-Audio AV30s that died from heat exhaustion; apparently studiophiles don't do well as computer speakers, being on all the time in a hot room isn't so good for their power supplies. After limping along with the internal speaker on my Mac Pro for a few weeks, I took a deaf leap, and picked up this set, after reading about its many accolades and awards on every tech blog and website i could find.
They do not disappoint. The sound remains impeccably clear, even at almost the highest volume, though the volume does seem to plateau at some point. You do get some distortion at the highest volumes, but only if you're in a warehouse throwing a rave party would you need to take them to those levels. The satellites are smallish, while remaining powerful. The Sub is HUGE. There are some user pics on here that do a good job conveying the size of it. It has a huge heatsink on the back, which means i don't have to worry about this system suffering the same fate as my AV-30s.
The volume is big and easy to locate, the bass knob effective and noticeable, allowing you to dial back the thumping to appease a studious or sleeping roommate without having to crawl among the dustbunnies. That the input goes through the control pod makes wiring both easier and more complicated, its a double edged blade. Some like it, some hate it, i'm indifferent.
That said, with such a prestigious and powerful system, it would have been nice to have multiple inputs, or at least the capability to receive digital audio via optical/toslink like the bigger sibling, the Z-5500. On that front, Logitech disappoints, but only slightly, not enough to even affect my recommendation. If you need a bad ass set of speakers, or if you just want something that sounds fantastic, this is an excellent choice.
Customer Review: Have Power---Will Rock
Summary: 5 Stars
I've had this system for over 2 years now. It's still running strong and I've put it through it's fair share of abuse. The sub was bigger than I anticipated, but that's no problem for my purposes. I have my speakers and my sub all on my desktop hooked up to my computer. Although this isn't the ideal sub-woofer position, it's what I've found that I like.
As far as power, this system has plenty. The bass, in many ways is OVERKILL...which is awesome in my personal opinion. I seldom turn my volume control knob past 1/3 even though it can handle a lot more without distortion. I've used it as the music center for a small college dance party. Simply put, IT ROCKED!! [although at high levels, the satellite speakers max out before the sub does so cranking the volume past a certain point only adds more bass... which, honestly, is all that really matters at a dance party]
The input is a 3.5 mm headphone jack so it connects easily to any .mp3 player, computer or any mobile media player. It's as easy as plug and play. I love the wired volume and base control which also offers an easy sound shut off button and a conveniently placed headphone jack.
Sound quality is more than decent. Every pluck of a guitar string is crisp and clear [if you manage your equalizer settings to keep the bass from covering the rest up]. The mid range is a little lacking, but can, for the most part, be compensated for using an equalizer.
The only major problem I've had has to do with the volume control. Apparently, it has a tendency to build up dust inside and interfere with the contacts. It caused my left speaker to stop working for a couple of weeks, but I finally posted a quick question on Logitech's forum and they told me to tap and twist the control knob and that solved the problem.
Overall, if you are a high end roller in the audio department, this probably won't quite cut it... I consider myself an amateur audiophile, and I find these to be to my standards, especially considering the price tag. Lots of bass, respectable sound quality, and a decent price tag make this a dang good buy for a low budget.
Customer Review: The remote is it's Achilles Heel, and it's irreplaceable
Summary: 1 Stars
I used to love Logitech, and for a long time I was a fan of these speakers. For the price, they sound amazing and for the most part have made me happy.
However I've found a huge flaw in these speakers, and now I can't recommend it at all.
ONE LINER: IF THE CHEAP VOLUME CONTROL / CONNECTION CABLE REMOTE BREAKS, YOU HAVE USELESS SPEAKERS. AND NO, LOGITECH DOES NOT SELL OR REPLACE OR GIVE SOME SORT OF HOPE EXCEPT TO SPEND $130 ON A NEW SET.
Here's why....
Our church has these same speakers for the youth service... I took over a couple months ago. When we started, the speakers worked GREAT!! But then one day, the speakers stopped working- they stopped turning on! I thought they were goners, but before I trashed them, I wanted to troubleshoot it. So I brought in my remote from home, and the remote from the church home. My remote works on the church speakers, and the church's remote does not work on mine. So it's the remote. Hey, just buy a new one, right?
Wrong. Apparently NO ONE sells a replacement remote. So then just live without the remote, right?
Wrong again. The remote is the connection from your computer to the speakers, with the power button and volume control somehow in-between. Not only that, it goes from a standard mini-stereo connector to the remote, but then a VGA connector from the remote to the bass module.
Long story short, we have working speakers at church, but unless we try to McGyver a new remote, they are useless because the (what feels like a) $5 remote no longer works. And so the speakers are useless.
As I said, I loved these speakers. But apparently Logitech has decided to be a bunch of jerks and not fix a known problem. So I cannot suggest these speakers or any other in-line remote speakers system. Check what you buy- make sure that the "gimmicks" don't render good speakers useless. And stay away from Logitech speakers
Our church is now looking for new speakers, and I'm leaning heavily towards the Bose Companion 2 Series II speakers. Small package, great sound, and no proprietary hardware required.
Customer Review: Brilliant speakers (in many senses)
Summary: 5 Stars
I am a professional musician though not an "audiophile" in the strict sense (my main speakers at home are a lovely set of towers from Fluance's mid-range SX-HTB home theater line). I bought these for use at my desk on the strength of reviews here and elsewhere. Initially I was a bit underwhelmed. The bass seemed excessive, even turned way down, and the treble seemed overly bright, with a weak midrange that led to an overly brilliant sound. Admittedly this is the sort of bright and bassy sound that many people will prefer, but I prefer a very flat, naturalistic frequency response for the mix of classical, jazz, folk, and pop I listen to. I resigned myself to a slightly sub-par listening experience, figuring that no other speakers this compact would be much better, certainly not for the price.
Then I started experimenting with placement, and I discovered that these speakers are very sensitive to both horizontal and vertical placement. Just placing the speakers directly on my desk, even with their built-in upward tilt, left my ears slightly above axis. When I raised them by about 1.5 inches (or slouched down in my chair), it was like magic. Suddenly the midrange had tremendous presence and balance. Likewise, moving my chair backwards a bit further than arm's length from the speakers (which are about 24" apart, dictated by the constraints of my desk layout) created a seamless stereo soundstage. I just listened to Bruckner's Seventh Symphony and heard details in the performance I have never heard in years of listening on my stereo speakers. Unfortunately I can't arrange my desk to get that perfect horizontal separation all the time, but the vertical positioning solves 90% of the problems I initially experienced.
In short, these turn out to be, as many people have said, brilliant speakers in the best sense--if you can put them in exactly the right place. And for many listeners, especially those who listen mostly to popular music, they will seem fantastic right out of the box, because they can go to eleven. :) I'm very happy with my purchase . . . now I just have to get some work done!
Customer Review: Close to what I expected
Summary: 5 Stars
I will make this short and quick by listing cons and pros for the product. As for my experience, I am an audiophile and have spent a lot of money on audio equipment:
Pros:
-LOUD. Just as advertised, these can make your neighbors very unhappy
-Really nice control remote/box
-Clear output, no hum or hiss or anything like that when idling
-Clean look with removable grills
-Can be connected to any music player easily
-Cables are long enough, setup is easy
-Price for this system is REALLY attractive considering how much power you get. Just set up an equalizer with it and it will sound comparable to much higher-priced systems
Cons:
-Subwoofer weighs nearly 30 pounds
-Subwoofer is not as powerful as you would expect from a 30 pound unit or an 8' driver. At low volumes it can be magnificent and the system sounds really good. At high volumes the subwoofer gets overdriven really easily and starts distorting sound by just pumping lots and lots of air (you begin hearing air and whistling over the actual music as bass becomes really distorted and bad). This can be remedied by an equalizer and the system then sounds decent, even at high volumes.
-Requires an equalizer. As other reviews have said, by default it is lacking some mid range frequencies. Rather, it is not lacking them but they are quiet. The subwoofer also seems to have highly overdriven 125Hz frequency, which does not sound that good to the human ear for bass....hence why some people have been complaining about "boomy, loud bass". Using an equalizer to boost midrange, reduce the 125Hz, and boosting the 31Hz and 62Hz range some makes the subwoofer SHINE and the system sound balanced, clean, and have a decently high level of fidelity. The drawback of this is that the subwoofer will not be able to handle as loud volumes as before without distorting. Still, it will still be able to go around 75% of the volume with clean output....and it will still shake 2 floors and walls up and down.
-Size....the sub in this system is BIG. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ROOM.