Logitech Z-5500 THX-Certified 5.1 Digital Surround Sound Speaker System
by Logitech
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Our Price: $962.00 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $260.00 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Logitech Z-5500 THX-Certified 5.1 Digital Surround Sound Speaker System
Customer Review: More than I expected!
Summary: 5 Stars
Being an owner of the Z-560's (4.1) I had been wanting to upgrade to the Z-680's for the center channel capability and the option of going digital. I have beeen watching the Z-5500 reviews and prices since this products introduction.
The only drawback was that I saw some reviews that indicated that the speaker connectors were using the RCA type connectors. That was the only thing that had been a bone of contention for me. My splicing and mechanical skills are good so I could deal with it.
Well, I went ahead and took the plunge and found them on Amazon for a better price than other places I had been considering. I recieved the package in 24 hours with standard UPS ground! Mostly because the wherehouse was only 40 minutes from my location. It came as an unmarked box, but the real retail box was inside. (good idea)
Once I got it to my home, I began the transition and noticed the speakers had the better pushlock type connector as opposed to the RCA jack type I had seen in the reviews! :happynod: I immediately stopped and went to my local electronics store and got some monster cable!
Another thing I noticed is the direct analog cables are a little short for my liking. It is a little prohibitive with my placement preference. I'd like to see a few feet added to the cable. Of couse making my own is not a big deal.
Setup was a breeze, it looks much more refined than the 680/560's and I believe the sound is better over the 680's but I have only been in someone elses house and listening to it on their own setup and configuration so, while you might see reviews saying the 680's are better, don't forget that everyones setup/soundsource/tone levels & room acoustics are different. But from the 560's the one noticible difference is the bass...obviously. Shakes your britches! I haven't had a chance to play anything at high levels yet but I really am happy with my purchase.
So if you were concerned about the speaker connectors, don't worry, it looks as if Logitech listened.
I think you'll love them.
Customer Review: Does what it claims to do very well.
Summary: 5 Stars
I had a Samsung receiver with a 5.1 amp & Klipsh speakers for seven years. Very nice listening experience. It did a bunch of other stuff I no longer needed. When it went the other way in a divorce, I looked hard for a HTPC solution that was just the amp/speakers - smaller, less wires, simpler all around.
The Samsung optical digital in occasionally got tripped up by the bitstream protocol and made very loud and very unpleasant noises or distortions. I was hoping that would go away - maybe a newer device would have more robust algorithms. Yep. The Logitech is perfect in that regard. Sweet.
I could not find a big box or small box store that carried this item. So I dug hard at reviews like this one. I found that 89% of 1100 NewEgg reviewers gave it 5 stars. I wouldn't call that taking a chance, but it's a weird feeling to buy speakers without hearing them.
What I didn't expect was better sound than my Samsung/Klipsh system, but I got it. It's primarily about theater listening for me, and it clearly sounds more theater-like. I'm very pleased with the sound.
Along the way I read that the 6 feed analog hookup (in general, not this unit) could provide a superior connection - letting the sound card do the D/A and blah blah. I tried that first and was not happy with the sound. Next I simply took the optical digital from my computer straight into the Logitech Z-5500 and wow. Just go with the optical digitial.
Cons: Not much at all. It doesn't power up to the previous volumne, so I have to turn it up when I turn it on. I know why they do that but I prefer it the other way. The LCD display can be a little bright in a theater environment. Some programs or commercials are boomy and it makes you want to tweak down the equalization. But it's never a problem for real programs - TV, DVD, Blu-ray, music. Probably about the jerks mixing the local news and whatnot to compensate for most people's crappy systems and trying to grab you attention with extra bass and volume.
Customer Review: Awesome bang for the buck
Summary: 5 Stars
Logitech has always been one of my favorite brands for computer accessories, so when I began shopping for a sound system for my PC, it seemed like a great brand to check out. Of course the reviews for this product are great, which is the reason I bought it! I was debating between this and other Logitech systems, and I'm glad I chose this one. Amazon has a great price on it, unlike the $400 retail price which may be a tad high for what you get. But for under $300 this system is great.
At the moment this system is set up in my game room, and let me say that it gets plenty loud and has enough bass to fill the whole room (20 x 28 with a 14 foot ceiling). The sound from a stereo source such as my Macbook is a little lacking. But after I connected it to my DVD player through the coaxial digital input (the z-5500 has both coaxial and optical digital inputs) it sounded almost perfect. Listening to Steve Miller's "Fly Like an Eagle" album is proving very enjoyable. The bass at 1/4 volume is perfect, and performs well when turned up. The subwoofer performed well when I fed it some techno and turned it all the way up. The windows in my house were definitely slightly disturbed.
The satellite speakers perform very nicely and look spiffy with or without the cloth grills. I am still playing with them to get the best stereo image. The system comes with 3 15' foot speaker wires, and 2 25' ones for the rear speakers. These are a little short for my game room, but should be more than sufficient for my office. I know they will definitely be loud enough in my office which is tiny compared to the game room.
The remote is fine and dandy, as is the control panel. The little blue LED looks nifty at night and the knob feels very cool when you adjust the volume.
If you want a great system for your computer or TV, this is a great choice, and Amazon has a great price. If you want a super state of the art system, look elsewhere, but this system performs very well for the price Amazon has it at.
Customer Review: One Word: Amazing...
Summary: 5 Stars
I was recently searching for a new speaker system for my computer, but I was looking for something with all the specs. I looked at all the different [high quality] brands like Altec Lansing and Creative Labs. I did a lot of research for speakers [about a few months] before I decided to get the Logitech z-5500.
Pros-
-Crisp sound... AMAZING quality.
-Able to use it on your tv or home theater system.
-Able to use it for playing games on your tv or whatever you want.
-Remote.
-Nice control box.
-Bass is incredible.
-Volume for it is the best. It has 20 bars for the volume, but you can go past that... 11 more times [boost 11]. My walls begin to shake with the volume on about 4 or 5 [that's pretty loud already].
-There are different settings for the center speaker, the surround, and the sub. [Set it to what you like best.]
-There are also settings for if you're watching a movie, playing music, stereo, stereo x2, 6 channel direct. These settings will maximize your quality.
Cons-
-Too many wires - it took me a while to set it up, but it was worth it. There's a red and black wire [one of those wires that has 2 different ones but are connected] that you need to connect to each speaker. It was kinda annoying. The wires are very long, but the purpose of that is for you to mount the satellites in the corner [I haven't gotten the chance to do that so I have a whole bunch of wires sitting in 1 place]. Not a big deal for me when I get the chance to mount them.
- When you turn off the speakers, there is still a red light that glows from the control box. I don't really like to leave things "on" [even tho it's really off], so I have to put the plug into a circuit breaker and turn the whole thing off every time.
-After I set it up, it was a bit confusing to figure out how to turn on the speakers and later I found out that the switch for the whole speaker is located in the back of the sub. [Not a big deal]
Customer Review: Decent volume..weaker than sub size suggests
Summary: 4 Stars
In the world of dying computer speaker systems you have to take what you get (seems there are less and less good models to choose from than in the past nowadays.) I picked these between my top 2 choices and am not dissapointed by my choice, but not exactly thrilled by it either. The volume can go up, but not much higher than another lower cousin Logitec 5.1 that's 2+years old and 1/3 the size subwoofer that just uses the reg jacks and not the optical. I also have a 4.1 Boston set(Digital) on the same computer (making 14 speakers total now and 3 subs.)
The timing is not off though and syncs with the other 2 speaker sets that I have (conversion of electric signals to light and back again has been a claimed downside of fiber optic use.) Only slight knock on the sync is that when you FIRST start playing something or a sound kicks in it comes outa a "Sleep mode" and is later than the rest of the speakers (say a 2 second sound and you'd only get 1 second once it realizes something is coming in so you hear that back end of the sound with the front cut off.)
It is the most powerful that I have of course and the options on the "HANDY DANDY" little controller that it comes equipped with has a few good bits about it. Clarity seems to be ok, going to up my sound end on the computer soon (Intel Perl board with int Opt+Dig+5.1 sound.) Then I can really find out what I can hear from these things.
You even get a remote for these speakers..remote... for what? If it could control Media Player or iTunes or something like the keyboard (Logitec Media KB)then the remote would be something of use. The controller is a seperate unit, not being directly attached onto any speakers so you can put it anywhere so I would think it would be placed somewhere within reach making a remote pointless.
Anyway, that being said I'd have to say that the majority of my want was filled but the extra fat on it could have been better used.