A Few Months & Still Overall Impressed!

Patience is of a value,
Just like many, I'm sure you have been looking around for opinions that is not too bias on either sides. Also, if it is or not a waste of your money.
Just like many also, there is too many opinions made in a rush after an initial setups with little or no time left for a proper tuning. So you will hear a lot of negatives from these people. When is the last time, anything is great right out the box from the factory?

Christmas came early this year... (Does size matter)
The box is big. Not the size of a table, but maybe a large oven you'll get at Sears, etc. "Don't exaggerate it guy. I have seen larger boxes." 50lbs can be carried by most adults ladies also.

The thing that I must point out is the great attention to details that went into packaging and preparing this system for you. You will need to make the time and not rush, to appreciate the way those guys prepared it. It's like opening an expensive gift. You will feel so rewarded just from the start. I have been in the Marines and this is attention to details. It helps overall make installation easier also.

Wall mount...
I must say, the whole process suck. The base is U-shaped. Not a bad thing, but you can only rotate it to 180 degree one direction! Meaning that it is hard to position the speakers correctly so you can aim them. So, wall mounting really does affect the rear satellites greatly since now they aim forward and not toward the listeners for moi. Setting them up on a stand might be a better choice for some.
But, wallmounting or setting up any speakers for a home theater was never easy, since it involve alot of measuring and angling.

Wires..
are long enough for most small to med room. You can replace them if you wish. These are the standard 18 gauge, so maybe only a little more thicker gauge (lower numbers) can be used, since it is limited to the connectors size at both end (i.e. speaker and sub/amp). Should be enough even as is.

Now for the Sound..
At first, it seemed ok. I'm running a XFi Music also so I expected a lot more. It was certainly loud.
But after playing with the treble and bass, it was much much better. You will NEED to take the time to tweak your sound preference. Common sense is that the factory setting is balanced and sounded plain Jane. I currently have my treble set at about 70% and the bass at 20-30%. Remember you need to set treble high since these satellites can and will handle the med to highs. The sub can more then handle the lower ends. Med range seem to be moderate. Overall the sound is very exceptional. Maybe not a Bose, but very very close according to my ears.

What else..
I got it from Mwave.com have it for 200.00! I been buying from them for computer parts and had no problem so far, but I'm not sure about their shipping because I live nearby and always choose pickups.
My soundcard is a nice XFi music but its limited to 6 channel 3x analog 3.5mm connections (direct) to the z5500 so when I do watch movies, its limited to Dolby Pro Logic II which I assume is only okay compared to DTS. Good thing is that Creative Lab has an upgrade kit to add optical output so I can see if DTS is much of a difference. So just note, if you are planning to hook this up to you pc soundcard without optical or coaxial, DTS or Dolby Digital is a no go from the start. But most DVD players today do have those output so it will not be a problem for most.

Again..
PLEASE do take the time to setup the speakers and tune it. Don't expect to be blown off from the start with the factory setting. It is a major injustice to judge this system at a store with mojo square feets. It is meant to be setup in your house in a room. Pump the treble higher then you expected and then the sub high but try to keep it tight.

**UPDATES:
Oct. 2006: I'm still very happy with my systems. One of my cousin have a Bose system.. well atleast his plasma was nice. I have been constantly tweaking and tuning it. Working with the xfi with THX options require precise measurements and angles of the speakers. Anyway, this should be common sense, but I missed it also at first. If you need the voices/dialogue to be more prominent, tune up your center. Thus, the purpose of the center speaker. For durability, everything still works even after my toddler tests.

***UDATED OCT 2007
Everything is still working, even after a couple of moving around and the kids. The xfi soundcard does make a noticeable difference even when listening to a 320kbps mp3. So, I'm trying to say that it does depend alot on your equilizer, soundcard, etc. if any. I also switched over the stock wires (because of boredom) for the affordable Monster Cables XP speaker wires and that improved the entire frequences also, the higher-end sounded more shaper or more promient than before. The lower-end sounds became tighter and more responsive.
It seem that everything I do to it, will make the sound better, right? No, I still will admit it take a lot of tuning to your taste. Some people might be into the bass, while other enjoy the transparency of the frequencies merging to create harmony. Maybe nexttime, I'll add a sticker and see if there is any noticeable difference >> sarcasim;