Logitech Z-5500 5 Speakers

Introduction
I consider myself a quasi-audiophile, especially when it comes to computer speakers. I don't read much into specifications, but I do care whether a set of computer sounds nice while being a good value. My previous speakers review was the Creative Labs SoundWorks 2-Satallite Speaker SLIM500 which I've used for a while. I always wanted a good set of 5.1 speakers, but I've seen and heard of the "cheaper" ones out there that sounds awful or washed-out, while the more expensive ones are way too costly for a "value" consumer like me. So, here comes Logitech with their awesome THX-certified Z-680 speakers.

Features
5.1 Speakers with 500W RMS total (62W RMS satellites(4), 69W RMS center and 188W RMS Subwoofer)
DTS and Dolby Digital Decoding. Support for Dolby Pro Logic II
Digital Optical and Coaxial inputs, switchable
direct 6-channel (analog) inputs
Single 2-channel plug for auxiliary input (mixes with direct 6-channel)
Centralized Pod controls (Digital SoundTouch Control Center)
Removable grille for satellites and center channel
Infrared Remote control for power, volume, settings, and effects.

Initial Impressions

Weighing in at a little over 50lbs in a very large box, I lugged this set of speaker to my upper-story room. Upon opening the box, I'm met with very nice set of titanium-colored speakers. The finish is very fine and even. It doesn't look "cheap," a bit plus! Setting up takes a while because of all the speakers, and I found out that the surround speaker wires are too short for my speaker placement. Good thing it accepts standard speaker wires, which I had, and off I go.

Closer Inspection

Using direct analog inputs, the volume gets loud very quickly. The subwoofer is immediately felt. I noticed right away that the subwoofer delivers low frequencies quite evenly, without sudden "booms" of certain frequencies. Having a broad bandwidth is good, which helped it get the THX-certification, but I felt it did not deliver the lowest bass levels. The lowest frequency response of the subwoofer is 35Hz, normal human ear can detect all the way down to 20Hz, other than that, the subwoofer is very clean, tight sounding. The subwoofer is front-firing with a bass port on its left side. For the best bass effects, place the subwoofer near a wall, corner, or in my case, under a desk.

Next come the speakers, they come with the stands already mounted, and they can be removed with a hex key to angle it down, or angle it so it becomes a wall mount. I find the mounts too be too beefy looking if they were wall mounted, but I place all of my speakers on level surfaces. The speakers have a very elegant design, and with the cover removed, I can see the nice sharp tweeter cone and receive the higher frequencies a little better. the cone tweeter is nice so high frequencies project at a wider angle.

Next comes the pod, or what Logitech prefers to call the "Digital SoundTouch Control Center." This is where most of the "brains" lies in these speakers, and it is connected to the subwoofer via a D-sub connection. All of the analog sound amplification is done at the subwoofer, that's why it's heavy and has a large heat sink in the rear. Back to the Pod--it has a nice blue back-lit for the LCD, but the test is hard to read unless you have it closed and looking directly into it. There is no setting to set the contrast of the LCD, which is a shame. The front has a large dial for volume, and other circular buttons for changing setting and speaker levels, but the settings are best done through the remote control which is quite intuitive. A headphone jack and an auxiliary input are under the front dial. To the rear are the Optical, Coax, and direct 6-channel inputs. There are vents to rear of this pod, it gets a little warm from operations, but never hot to touch

Performance

After testing it out with a few music MP3s, I popped in a DVD for some serious testing. Instead of using the direct analog inputs, I plugged in the Coax cable to test the digital decoding of the Z-680. After changing a few setting on my computer to enable the coax output, I was ready to go. I just flip the "input" on the Pod to "coax" and it immediately detected and displayed the Dolby Digital encoding when I played the DVD. I tested 3 DVDs: The Matrix, Spider-Man, and Saving Private Ryan. All three DVDs met my expectation when I played the most intense scenes, with surround effects wrapping around during fight scenes. Bass is appropriate without muffling the other speakers, surround speaker delivered all the details. The center speaker projected speech a little softly, but it can be change in the settings, depending on your speaker placement and taste.

With non-DTS or Dolby Digital sound source, there is the Dolby Pro Logic II built into the brains of these speakers. Basically, it can take any 2-channel analog source and add some neat surround effects. The sound can be adjusted to come out the center speakers, or can be directed to the rear speakers, for a wraparound Panorama sound. This adds dimension to regular music and games, even though most of them are not 6-channel sounds.

Some things I noticed with the speakers, although there is no setting for EQ on the Pod, if you play with the EQ settings in Winamp, for example, the tweeters can deliver exceptional high frequencies. If you crank it up, it's almost overkill. I only needed to move the upper frequency bars slightly on the EQ to achieve sharper treble response.

Conclusion

I was overly trilled after I thoroughly tested out the speakers, more so than my first impressions with them. At $223, it's a good deal considering you can't even get a decent Dolby Digital/DTS receiver at the price, and it doesn't come with speakers. Also, you get all the convenience in one neat package. The street price should be a less than $300 when you read this (and a lot less than the $399 street price). The performance of these speakers is acceptable for a small to medium-sized room, but it probably would not fill a large room. The included speaker wires are sorry-looking--they almost look like jumper wires, so there is an investment to get better speaker wires. I've read other people's concerns about the "hiss" when the volume is low or off, which doesn't go away, but it's not that annoying either. But the digital decoding is what takes the cake, but make sure you have a digital source, either from your digital soundcard or DVD player, or else the potential of these speakers will be wasted. Overall, it's an excellent set of computer speakers for movies, music, and gaming