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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Customers in the UK,
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Logitech Z-5500 THX-Certified 5.1 Digital Surround Sound Speaker System
Customer Review: Pretty Nice
Summary: 5 Stars
I waited several years before I purchased these. My Klipsch Promedia 5.1's bit the dust about 2 years ago, the infamous amp problem. I didn't really want to spend $300 on another set of computer speakers at the time, so I bought the Logitech G51's. They were pretty good speakers for the money. After owning them for 23 months, the rears stopped working. Logitech made good on their warranty, and I have a check coming for what I paid for those speakers, being that they don't make this model any longer. Figured now was the time to go ahead and get what I really wanted. I consider the refund a down payment for the 5500's. I saw the price here and at another retailers rise and fall, rise and fall again. One day, C*****t C**y puts these on sale here using the marketplace for a pretty good price, and even after the shipping costs, they were still cheaper than I have seen in years.
One thing I do not understand is why all of the high end sound cards for 5.1 and 7.1 speakers, when there are very few 5.1 computer speakers on the market anymore. These are the best 5.1 computers on the market now. These are not as good as my Klipsch were, but they are close. From most of the reviews that I have read, the longevity of these speakers is much better than the Klipsch ever were.
Now when these things land at your house, I hope you are strong, as the box is very large and heavy. As I was unpacking the box, I was very impressed by the quality of the speakers and the size of the sub. Holy cow, that sub is huge!! They give you a lot of speaker wire, doesn't appear to be the best quality wire, but it will work for now. Setting them up was pretty easy. I am using the RCA analog connection to my PC for now, as I am all out of optical cables at the moment.
Now for the good stuff. I have listened to these speakers at low volume listening to classical guitar, Phil Keaggy and the like to be exact. Now I am sure there are better speakers out there, but I am satisfied with the highs and the clarity of the music. I have had to turn the bass way down, and let me tell you, there is plenty of it. I love having the 5.1 speakers and being able to hear the sound all around you. I haven't had the chance to play any games on it yet, but I am looking forward to hearing things creep up behind me and raising the hair on the back of my neck just like my Klipsch used to do for me. Are they as good as the Klipsch, no, but they are pretty good.
I am not sure why more speaker manufacturers don't make 5.1's anymore. Once you have them, you don't go back to anything else.
Face it, you buy your speakers for the experience that they give you, and I believe these are the best 5.1's on the market right now. I know the price is high, and it waivers all the time. If you are on the fence, and you have the money and need quality computer speakers, wait for the right price point and jump in and get these. You will not be disappointed.
Customer Review: Amazing Speakers - Lightning Fast Delivery
Summary: 5 Stars
I ordered this speaker set on November 28, 2007 at around 5 o'clock in the evening using Super Saver Shipping ($0.00), and the box was on my doorstep at around noon on the 30th. The speakers shipped less than 3 hrs after I ordered them! I wasn't expecting to see them for 2 weeks! I am in the Los Angeles Area and the speakers shipped from Nevada, but I am still extremely impressed with the fast delivery. These Speakers are amazing. Upon opening the box, I was surprised to see how large the satellites are and they feel very solid. Even after reading ungodly amounts of reviews I cannot get over how big the sub is. I am in a fairly small dorm room, a single, that is about 7'x15' and when I watch explosions in a movie or listen to music with strong bass the entire room shakes. Its pretty ridiculous. I haven't even come close to full volume yet either. I'm not really an audiophile, but I like my quality electronics and I am more than pleased with these. I definitely didn't need the power that this system offered but I wanted the digital in. I use a tos-link cable (with a mini-adapter on one end, I bought the Belkin set for like $10.99) to connect the system to my Macbook Pro. The Macbooks and the Macbook Pros DO have optical outs (when you plug the fiber optic cable into the audio jack, red light comes out the other end, its pretty awesome. I was going to buy an external sound card and go with the Z-5300e set but I couldn't be happier with my decision to spend a little bit more and have flawless digital/optical connection. I was also surprised by the size of the control center. It's pretty big, but I don't really use it because the incredible wireless remote has every function. Its nice to be able to turn the sub up and down from my bed, especially when its Sunday Night and I don't want War of the Worlds in 5.1 Dolby Digital (which works flawlessly when playing through apple dvd player. The system automatically recognizes that there is 5.1 audio and switches modes from say the digital music mode) to wake up my dorm mates. I have read reviews, where people say they have received noise complaints. After hearing this system I would say that is completely plausible.I have been using this system for 4 days now and am completely blown away. Take the plunge you will love yourself for it.
Ahh, as far as wall mounting the rear speakers (or any of them they are all identical) goes I would recommend using nails and just hanging the speakers from them. The distance from the center of one hole to the center of the other is 3". The holes on the center speaker are 4 13/16" apart from center to center I don't know if that is a standard size. That is a number that I desperately wanted to know for mounting purposes and couldn't find anywhere! Also the set I got uses speaker wire not the attached other stuff.
Good Luck in Buying your own set of the amazing Logitech Z-5500 speakers
Customer Review: Horrible for music, ok for movies.
Summary: 3 Stars
Please take in consideration that I am more of a music than a movie person, so I bought these speakers for like 80% music and 20% movies, because I didn't want two separate setups. If you are like me, then read my review, it might help. I've had them for almost 6 months, so far this is what I think about them.
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As soon as I connected them and played some music I was impressed, but not by the sound quality, but for the tons of 5 star reviews, I bought them just because I really though they will be up to my expectations, so many people can't be wrong, right?, boy I was wrong. The little speakers produce bad quality sound and the sub is not powerful enough and just rattles around, not tight and punchy as you'd expect from the big ass enclosure, when you crank the volume the little speakers will actually hurt your ears, so they are loud, but not pleasingly loud, they are missing so much definition, you cannot tell the difference between a bad quality MP3 and 24-bit FLAC, and anybody can tell by miles with my pair of Polks with the same audio files, and I am not to be considered an audiophile by any means, if I where probably wouldn't be writing this because I will be so far away from this speakers to begin with.
My advise for music lovers:
If you are looking at this system mostly for music, please go look for something else, like a pair of bookshelf Polks and some Onkyo or H/K stereo receiver, you will be glad you did, maybe you will spend a little more money or maybe twice, but trust me, it will be worth every one of your hard earned dollars. This Logitech subwoofer is made for movies, it is not accurate nor tight enough for music, same case with speakers, they lack too much definition, its so disappointing no matter what you throw at them, from 128 kbps MP3's to Apple Lossless to 24-bit FLAC, you cannot tell the difference, even with my Onkyo CD player, MP3's from my Mac sounded the same. This system is clearly not made for music fans. Also, my english may not be the best, not my main language anyways.
My advise for movie lovers:
I cannot complain too much about they sound they produce when watching a Bluray or DVD. Sounds from movies are not that complex as music instruments, usually voices, explosions, engines and sound effects will sound good enough thru this system, because the speakers and sub where made for this, they sound quite at home playing "007 Quantum of Solace", not mind blowing but enough.
Nearly as a general rule, if you want the best sounding system for your money, is to avoid bundles, it is better to research a little and buy your own receiver, speakers and subwoofer separately, you'll end up with a much better sounding system and more appropriate to your needs. I learned that a few months ago.
As I write this, my Logitech's are on sale.
Customer Review: Solid system, great value
Summary: 4 Stars
I just took delivery of the Z-5500 a mere four days after ordering, even with super saver shipping -- nicely done, Amazon.
The Good:
- Solid construction. Speakers in this price range, in my experience, are often of somewhat suspect construction in terms of materials and assembly. No rough edges here at all, that I can see.
- BIG bass. The subwoofer is nice and punchy, with no audible distortion even at high volumes (have not tried max volume; not sure my walls would hold up)
- The console is very well done. Despite the relatively short cord to connect to the sub, I far prefer this setup than having to fiddle with settings on the sub box manually. The remote is also a very nice touch. Note also that all audio inputs (optical, coax, 3x 1/8" stereo) are on the console as well.
- Sound clarity is very good, using the digital coax input. No hissing, noises, or other distractions.
The bad:
- RCA-style speaker wires. This makes initial setup a snap, but makes it a little annoying to extend the factory-provided wiring. The manual does note that using extensions is OK, as long as they are designed for speakers and not for line-level inputs. As awful as regular 2-strand speaker wire can be for connections, I'd love to be able to use this mountain of spare wire I have to do the extensions.
- Somewhat muddy mid- and high-ranges. I guess this is about what you'd expect from full-range drivers on the satellite speakers, but I was fairly disappointed (based on my expectations after reading all these stellar reviews). There is also no ability to adjust output levels (other than bass) from the speaker console, so if you don't have an EQ on the source audio, there's not much you can do about it.
- Limited volume control. If you listen to music at a low volume (say, while working at night), you'll find there isn't much room for fiddling at the low end of the volume control. One setting is too loud, the next "half-click" is far too soft. I've worked around this by using the computer's volume adjustment to make finer changes. Not a huge deal, but a little annoying for me personally.
FWIW, I bought this setup to serve as my gaming audio, to replace my ancient Bose 301 bookshelf speakers and equally ancient 2-ch amplifier. Given that I paid as much for the two Bose speakers as this entire setup, I think the Z-5500 is a truly fantastic deal -- BUT, for anyone making a similar migration, do not expect the sound quality to quite measure up. Not sure why I did...maybe wishful thinking :)
That said, these speakers blow away any other "all-in-one" surround setup I've seen at the price -- and even at higher prices.
Overall rating is 4 of 5 stars -- the muddy mid and high notes cost it that fifth star in my book.
Customer Review: Electrical Engineer Review
Summary: 1 Stars
The speakers
are CRAP! I owned 2 sets of them (i.e., Logitech replaced the set
once, and argued for hours). I am an electrical engineer and began
realizing the problem with their circuitry design instantly when an
electronic device shuts off on the same circuit as the speakers. The
excuse given was that the speakers were supposed to be on a different
circuit in the house. However, my current home theater system is on
the same circuit and does not POP, like the Z-5500's do. DO NOT
PURCHASE THE Z-5500's because, bottom line, you will be upset when
you turn on or off the lights in your house, turn off your tv, etc.
THE SPEAKERS POP...this is not an isolated case because I swapped
speakers, subwoofers, switched circuits, and even contacted two of my
friends who owned the same sets (and their frustrations was also
expressed). If you purchase these and are upset, you won't get
anywhere with customer service unless you explain the technical
aspects (which the customer service agents do not understand at all).
You will need to ask for your money back, and they will say they will
refund shipping up to $25, but fail to mention that it is your
original company's shipping costs, not the $40 to ship them back to
Logitech. Remember, DO NOT BUY THE LOGITECH Z-5500'S!
I will say to get a HTIB system from Yamaha for the price. I honestly will recommend Sony over these because of the persistent problems presented by them. In addition, this model was revised, and even the revised version did not fix said problem. I paid $350 for my speaker set and receiver, and it has more functionality with no problems. There are plenty of HTIB systems that would not even get close to this terrible build quality.
With all this negativity, there were positives: The display is small and detailed, the sub is big, speakers are easily wall-mountable, and the night mode properly quiets the bass at night-time.
With those positives, the overall negatives: Popping (when a source's audio goes on and off...including AIM sounds), Popping (when electronics are turned on or off on the same circuit...including lights), Too boomy bass (subwoofer will overpower the system at high volume levels), Too light of bass (subwoofer is underpowered at lower volume levels), Too few inputs compared to a HTIB or normal Receiver, and the Subwoofer requires 5 feet of separation from all other electronics along with contributing large amounts of heat!
I spent time to write this in order to give a full perspective on the quality. I loved the speakers for the first 3 months, but finally got annoyed at the overall quality and chose to post the problems here. Hope this helps.