Logitech Z5500's... those who own them please pimp them to me.

Richdog · 9 Oct 2007 at 18:28

Ok so i'm looking at a new 5.1 speaker set for my room to replace my serviceable yet distinctly lacklustre Creative T6100 set and one set keeps jumping out at me more than any other... the Logitech Z5500's. Reviews everywhere seem favourable but just wanted to get some user feedback form this forum...

*How good is the built-in Dolby DTX decoder?

*Do the lack of tweeters noticeably affect the mid-range?

*Anyone had the fuser go on them regularly?

*General comments on overall sound quality and performance in games, music and movies?

I will likely be running them through one of these, the The Teac DR-H300 http://johandesilva.blogspot.com/2007/01/teac-dr-h300dab-and-dr-h300-review.html so I presume the Dolby DTS decoder built into the Z5500's will turn the 2.1 system into a 5.1 system when using optical output?

Cheers guys.

PureAppleJuice · 9 Oct 2007 at 18:46

Had them and sold them. Lack of mids, bass is muddy. Good for games though, great in CSS I found and pretty badass for films as well. I thought for music they were quite poor however! I was running them via onboard optical in case you wanted to know. Never had the fuse go and they lasted me 2 years.

Richdog · 9 Oct 2007 at 18:48

jidh007 said:
Had them and sold them. Lack of mids, bass is muddy. Good for games though, great in CSS I found and pretty badass for films as well. I thought for music they were quite poor however! I was running them via onboard optical in case you wanted to know. Never had the fuse go and they lasted me 2 years.

Hmm damn... are there any non-creatives you'd reccommend as an alternative solution for PC and Hi-FI/movies etc?

willhub · 9 Oct 2007 at 18:49

I'm no audiophile or audio expert, but I do like this set, in my oppinion the Dolby Digital and DTS decoder seems to provide sufficient quality, when I watch movies the quality is far above what comes from my PC and was better than my X-Fi's sound quality.

From listning to the Z10's and then me Z5500's there is a noticable effect, Z10's are much more crisp, but I still find the Z5500 sufficient, allthough I'm sure some people have added different sattelites with tweeters in them.

I've had the fuse go once in the 10+ months of owning one, all I can say is, dont turn the set off by the switch at the back of the sub, when mine blown I never had any 4A Slow Blow fuses Logitech recommended, so I got a 5A Glass Fuse from another speaker set and its been working fine 4+ months since it blow.

As I said, I'm not an audiophile, the sound quality is really good, the sub is really usefull for in games

, I loved watching War of the Worlds on this set, the bass was amazing, and also I watched Aliens, and some of the scenes on there were very awsome and body shaking

.

Most people will tell you to go and buy a seperate system or a 2.0 stereo system that provides superior SQ to the Z5500's or any PC Speaker system for that matter.

I've retired my Z5500's from my PC now and have been replaced with the Z10's which I like very much, but still have em on standby for heavy bass.

Got it connected to my TV now with a 10 meter RCA cable, no sound difference from a £10 1 meter coax cable, the RCA cable thats 10 meter was like 1 quid.

I would not say they are muddy, allthough one time I did find the bass was very muddy and lack of mids, had to re install audio drivers, but they are a lot better on the TV, need a good soundcard like an X-Fi really, then its nice punchy bass and quite clear. My first set failed after 6 months, front left and right channel died, took about 6 weeks to get a replacement, they paid for shipping both ways.

Richdog · 10 Oct 2007 at 10:30

Hmm interesting peoples opinions are so wildly different and subjkjective... thanks for the input guys. Any more for any more?

Mansize_tissue · 10 Oct 2007 at 10:48

I've been using an old set of Creative Inspire P5800, which are similar to yours, for the past year or so, and I've got some Z-5500s on order. When they arrive, which should be Monday, I'll make a comparison and tell you what I think of them.

willhub · 10 Oct 2007 at 14:12

I'd like to also say something else.

Turning the sub up really loud can bottom it out sometimes if you like insanly loud, I would have thought Logitech would have applied some sort of limiting device to stop this from happening.

rycon1 · 11 Oct 2007 at 12:52

I use em and they are great coupled wit and xfi game

Never complained only had a small lose connection after 6hrs play time at like peak power

so they went trhu a real test and id didnt even overheat.

I would recommend them ......bdw they are also cheap

Mansize_tissue · 11 Oct 2007 at 17:57

Well, mine arrived early (today) and I thought I'd play around with them a bit before I told you what I think. They're a huge improvement over my previous set, still lack midrange though which can be expected from a set of speakers with 3" midrange woofers. Oh, and the subwoofer is huge. So big in fact that I can't really have it under my desk without having to rest my feet on top of it. So, instead, I have to have it beside my desk and, despite what people say about it doesn't matter what position the subwoofer is in, it doesn't sound as loud. So, because it isn't pointing at me like it would be if it was under my desk, I have to increase the volume of the subwoofer so it returns back to "normal"; however, it makes quite a racket downstairs!

Overall, I'm very pleased with these speakers. The control module I especially like, and I think it would be a big improvement over your current speakers.

-Ad- · 12 Oct 2007 at 00:08

Richdog said:
Ok so i'm looking at a new 5.1 speaker set for my room to replace my serviceable yet distinctly lacklustre Creative T6100 set and one set keeps jumping out at me more than any other... the Logitech Z5500's. Reviews everywhere seem favourable but just wanted to get some user feedback form this forum...

*How good is the built-in Dolby DTX decoder?

Awesome, fantastic when plugged into the PS3.... Stealth and especially kingdom of heaven sound sensational !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*Do the lack of tweeters noticeably affect the mid-range?

OOOOO yes. Can be tinny and harsh and boomy at times, but for £200 you can't really beat an all in one setup for movies. Love em....... but see below

*Anyone had the fuse go on them regularly?

Well they refused to power up a few days ago, just sat in standby mode. Unplugged and after reconnection no power at all. Fuse might be gone so have new ones coming, but hard to tell as it's ceramic so can't see inside it. Also the continuity tester on my multimeter is dead. If it's not the fuse then the transformer in the sub has gone and they are screwed :/

*General comments on overall sound quality and performance in games, music and movies?

Music: Horrific, well i now have a nice hi-fi setup

Games: Great for css, supreme commander, HL2, and in FEAR they helped scare the living hell outta me.
Movies: see above, great !

Psymonkee · 12 Oct 2007 at 00:21

I have 2 sets

Couldn't be happier with them

1 on the PC (although a loose connection causes a but of noisy hiss unless given a wiggle) that runs via optical from an HDA X-Mystique. Sounds fine from what I can tell. Mostly listen to Rock/Metal.

2nd set is downstairs hooked up to the DVD Player/Xbox - works brilliantly and far too loud for the size of room their in

Can't fault them really....

Phil2008 · 14 Oct 2007 at 14:15

Ive got the z5500 brother the z680, and ive had them for 2yrs now I think, had no trouble with at all since the day I bought them heres my set up and they sound amazing if you can postion them correctly, Mine are a tad high but Ive got them tilting down with the sub on tho floor under the left front speaker.

Spitfir3 · 14 Oct 2007 at 21:03

I see you put you dont want Creatives.. well ill just put that my T7900's rock with my x-fi.. everything's super crisp and films are v. impressive. Really realiable too... 2 years of using them 90% of the time they havent failed me... although im having a new problems with em now.

Richdog · 14 Oct 2007 at 21:17

[SpItFiRe-Ace];10278284 said:
I see you put you dont want Creatives.. well ill just put that my T7900's rock with my x-fi.. everything's super crisp and films are v. impressive. Really realiable too... 2 years of using them 90% of the time they havent failed me... although im having a new problems with em now.

T7900's are low grade man... basically a T6100 set with an extra speaker. They're not in the same league as the Z5500's.

MTWest · 17 Oct 2007 at 15:58

Been using my Z5500 for nearly two years now and haven't had any problems. I'm no audio expert though, but nothing but praise from me!

Mansize_tissue · 17 Oct 2007 at 16:08

I just thought I'd say mine broke 2 days after they arrived. Turned out the fuse in the subwoofer had gone, so I bought 10 more for £2.50 and it's all sorted.