Logitech Z-5500, worth the money?

Nazbit

Nazbit

Nazbit

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Hi all,

I want to buy some decent speakers, I find that I listen to music an awful lot through my pc, so I thought why not invest in something to improve the experience.

I was in an apple shop yesterday and was amazed by the power and the clarity of some of the speakers there, that only further persuaded me that I need some top of the range ones.

I have been looking at the Logitech Z-5500's and they look good on paper. Parting with £200 without hearing them for myself is hard work though.

At the moment I have some £30 creative p5800's hooked up to an x-fi.

So will I like the upgrade and is it worth £200 really?

Talk me in to it people :p
 
If it's for music, why get a system designed primarily for games and movies?

Get yourself a decent hi-fi amp and a set of bookshelf speakers / floorstanders. You can easily do it for £200.
 
I have the Z-5500's, and love it to bits. Couple it with a decent card like an X-Fi and there's no looking back.

But above poster is no doubt right that a dedicated audio solution is better, If you intend to use the DD/DTS decoding capability also though, you can't go wrong,
 
Buying a 5.1 speaker set for stereo music seems a bit odd. Really depends on whether you're going to use the speakers for DVDs and games as well. If not, then the Acoustic Energy Aego M would be a better option I think and would save you a lot of money.

Some sort of hi-fi setup would be better still. You can pick up a very decent used amp for £40-50, then £100-120 for some nice bookshelf speakers, new or used, maybe some stands (optional), plus the wires. You can certainly do that for £200.
 
Thanks for the replies.

See the thing is, although they will be used for music whenever im just browsing the internet or doing work or whatever, I will be using them in games, more and more now that I have more free time on my hands.

So I need something thats going to be good alround really.
 
I love mine, wouldnt swap them for anything really. They go well with the look of the rest of my comp related stuff which id rather have than 2 bookshelf style speakers on my desk :P

Sound is grand, especially with films and music in 5.1. Stereo music can be upped to use 4 speakers, which gives a nice effect in all honesty. Games sound good aswell, but im a headphones guy for games anyway.

Go for it, make sure you have opportunities to give them a belting sometimes :D
 
I have these, just be aware that the sub is a bit too powerfull and uncontrolled, i use an hda digital and via optical to the z5500, i've fiddled with the dsp and the equalizer and got a balance i really like now.

I have another pc which has an xfi music, i connected this via analogue out to a proper home cinema set up (yamaha amp, mission speakers etc) and an mp3 test song sounded rubbish whereas through the hda and the z5500 it sounds great, i was all set to get some nice new posh separates but i'm not going to now, i love the z5500s :D
 
Thought about wall mounting but the landlord aint too keen on me drilling holes in the wall :(

Would have a bigger desk but it would be solely to spread the speakers out so doesnt really seem worth it!
 
ooh landlord situ,


I know this might sound odd, but atm *dues to dropping thema d being lazy* my 2 frons are on the floor...about 2 meters apart from eachother facing up and pointing at me. Sounds amazing :D especially in bf2! But if your setup is fine at the mo I'm not going to barge in and complain :)
 
I was in exactly the same dilemma.

After I'd gone with Z-5500's. I seriously never looked back since.

It's awesome for Games, Movies and Music! The remote control is really handy you can practically control everything on the remote.

Slam62 said:
I have these, just be aware that the sub is a bit too powerfull and uncontrolled, i use an hda digital and via optical to the z5500, i've fiddled with the dsp and the equalizer and got a balance i really like now.
Click to expand...

After reading this I just went into hda control panel tweaked it (Equaliser and DSP) and there is a SERIOUS sound difference! Why did I never try this before!?!?! :eek:

It seriously sounds a lot more better, the base is tight and the sound is fantastic!

Here is a screeny of my equaliser set up:

hda-setup.jpg


It sounds fantastic on Rock, R&B, Rap, Drum n Bass, Dance, Trance and all other types of music :cool:
 
One tip, do NOT remove the stands from the speakers, it is an absolute nightmare to reattach them (involves opening the speaker up and there is no documentation on how to do this). I did this whilst trying to wall mount them as its very very fiddly to do it with the stand attached.
 
Psypher5 said:
ooh landlord situ,


I know this might sound odd, but atm *dues to dropping thema d being lazy* my 2 frons are on the floor...about 2 meters apart from eachother facing up and pointing at me. Sounds amazing :D especially in bf2! But if your setup is fine at the mo I'm not going to barge in and complain :)
Click to expand...

hmmm thats not a bad shout, might give that a go but would mean moving the sub somewhere else and the damn thing is so big!
 
Slam62 said:
I have these, just be aware that the sub is a bit too powerfull and uncontrolled, i use an hda digital and via optical to the z5500, i've fiddled with the dsp and the equalizer and got a balance i really like now.

I have another pc which has an xfi music, i connected this via analogue out to a proper home cinema set up (yamaha amp, mission speakers etc) and an mp3 test song sounded rubbish whereas through the hda and the z5500 it sounds great, i was all set to get some nice new posh separates but i'm not going to now, i love the z5500s :D
Click to expand...

That doesn't really tell you much btw, Mission aren't the best speakers around, plus they might have been dirt cheap ones to start with, Yamaha don't make the best AV amps at the best of times and again it could have been a budget model, analogue out on x-fi is fairly poor, you were probably using cheap cables, and AV systems aren't designed for playing music. If it was an AV receiver why didn't you use digital on that as well? A proper well setup carefully picked AV system by quality recognized hi-fi/AV manufacturers will comfortably outperform the Z5500, although for a lot more money of course.
 
I have the Logitech’s and X-Plosion, My friend has a pioneer amp and B&W Speakers, My brother have the same speakers and other along with a Cambridge Amp. At the time they bought and Speaker about 2-3 years ago they were What Hifi best buys.

They both agree that My Logitech’s Kick Ass, for Music, Movies and Games, They think its great, Trust they are so worth it, especially now I have read an article where Logitech said that they would refund your money if you have problems with them popping.

I say go for it, at Quarter my Walls shake, Quality is too Good and I am comparing them with B&W 601s.

I say get them, just look around you should be able to get them for under 200.

I think that these Amp and Hifi Speaker people are so silly.

If you think about this logically, you predominantly use you system for watching movies, playing games and listening to music. For the same or similar price the Logitch would beat the Hifi Speaker and Amp hands down for Games and Movies, that is two out of the there, and they would compete in the music department, I think that they would be better myself, Please don’t say that I said that, because I cause a fight here.

Considering this the PC Speakers would obviously make the better all-round system.

I listen to mine using optical, Dolby Digital 5.1, through Musicmatch, DSP: Fidelity at 3 and Hyper bass at 5, everything else off.

AMAZING I say, absolutely great.

Now is I have the Money and when I buy my Own House, It will obviously be that Wonderful Miranz AV Amp for about 800-900 and 5 B&W Speakers and Sub for approximately the same price,

But for now is My Love Nest, LOGITECH and X-Plosion RULEEEEEEEEEEEEE.
 
fish99 said:
That doesn't really tell you much btw, Mission aren't the best speakers around, plus they might have been dirt cheap ones to start with, Yamaha don't make the best AV amps at the best of times and again it could have been a budget model, analogue out on x-fi is fairly poor, you were probably using cheap cables, and AV systems aren't designed for playing music. If it was an AV receiver why didn't you use digital on that as well? A proper well setup carefully picked AV system by quality recognized hi-fi/AV manufacturers will comfortably outperform the Z5500, although for a lot more money of course.
Click to expand...

All my stuffs on a budget but the cables are good (total cost approx £450 with a couple of very good once only deals -- still a lot more than the z5500 )
The amp and missions sound a lot better with cds and dvds, i couldnt work out how to get digital out of the xfi.
Obviously, the more you spend the better you get, but its a law of diminishing returns and i am by no means an expert.

I was surprised at how bad a job the xfi did thats all and i was surprised at how much better the z5500s were after a bit of tweaking
 
I seem to be the only one connecting my X-Fi to the speakers via analogue connection. I use analogue because I love the CMSS and Crystaliser... I know such things are disliked by 'purists' though. I'm assuming digital out basically leaves any kind of upmixing to the reciever (in this case, the Z-5500's)?
 
Kezzie said:
I have the Logitech’s and X-Plosion, My friend has a pioneer amp and B&W Speakers, My brother have the same speakers and other along with a Cambridge Amp. At the time they bought and Speaker about 2-3 years ago they were What Hifi best buys.

They both agree that My Logitech’s Kick Ass, for Music, Movies and Games, They think its great, Trust they are so worth it, especially now I have read an article where Logitech said that they would refund your money if you have problems with them popping.

I say go for it, at Quarter my Walls shake, Quality is too Good and I am comparing them with B&W 601s.
Click to expand...

Firstly id like to say that i have these speakers, and they do kick ass in movies and games. But for music they are at best average. Comparing them to the 601's is like comparing a Honda jazz to an integra type-R. The 5500's are not great for music just because the sub can shake a house, or the piercing highs that can pierce your eardrums.
Even a cheap 2nd hand separates system for ~£250 will sound far better than the 5500's for music, as they show how the music was ment to sound, with gorgeous midrange and non of this boy racer 'OMFG my bass box is like wiked and is really really loud!!!!!'


I think that these Amp and Hifi Speaker people are so silly.
Click to expand...

We are silly bcause we listen to music on far more capable systems, that sound infinately better for music than any set of pc speakers :rolleyes:

If you think about this logically, you predominantly use you system for watching movies, playing games and listening to music. For the same or similar price the Logitch would beat the Hifi Speaker and Amp hands down for Games and Movies, that is two out of the there, and they would compete in the music department, I think that they would be better myself, Please don’t say that I said that, because I cause a fight here.
Click to expand...

Your are getting there with the first 2 points, but as i said earlier they DO NOT compete with a separates system. Plus my speakers plugged into my pc through my amp and my soundcard sound bloody amazing for just stereo.


I listen to mine using optical, Dolby Digital 5.1, through Musicmatch, DSP: Fidelity at 3 and Hyper bass at 5, everything else off.
Click to expand...

Use DD 5.1 or DTS in movies using the optical or digital coaxial input, as these speakers show their truth worth with these decoders. For games, use the analog 6-channel inputs set to 6-Channel on the control pod and you will get surround sound 4.0 in games.
But for music, turn the sub level down to 2/2.5 bars (put on the stereo setting) and enjoy :)


Now is I have the Money and when I buy my Own House, It will obviously be that Wonderful Miranz AV Amp for about 800-900 and 5 B&W Speakers and Sub for approximately the same price,
Click to expand...

Some advice mate. Don't buy any audio equipment just because the hi-fi mags gave it 5-stars. These magazines are very biased in their reviews as the companies that produce the different equipment fund the magazine and are the only reason it is published.
For some great advice, pop over to www.avforums.com and people over there could help you out for choices on a home cinema or steero in greater depth. But most importantly, book a demo of some stuff at a proper audio dealership like sevenoaks, and listen to a variety of systems until you find the one you like. It takes time and patience to find out which brands of equipment go together well, and don't just look at reviews for individual parts and think that because they all have 5-start reviews then they will sound great with each other in the same system.

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