Customer Reviews

Logitech X-530 70-Watt 5.1 Surround Sound Speaker System - NEW White Box

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Don't go in expecting thumping bass or Concrete shaking volume(Though believe me, normal walls do tremble with these, they are quite audible), I'd suggest these to the guy who plays games, but isn't a "Hardcore" gamer, or the PC Movie Watcher who just wants something that works well and is clear.

Don't get me wrong, these speakers are excellent, I've found their bass so powerful by comparison to my last speakers that I had to turn the bass(Which is on the sub) all the way down.

There's hardly any static or distortion in the higher range, and none I could hear in the mid-range(Which is what these are great for). The very low range seems kind of off, as though...the bass/treble aren't equal yet, but that disappeared instantly as soon as I upped the volume.

Installation was a little more complicated than I had anticipated, but thankfully a new Soundcard which was correctly color-coded eased the confused feelings. I wasn't even aware of the way it works, the right speaker has long, very thick(Think...Thicker than a Cable cord, and softer/more moldable)cord which plugs into the sub. The L-Shaped Inputs for all the speakers come from the Right speaker instead of the Sub, which I find more convenient as my speakers are centered around me. Though I can see how this would be inconvenient to someone who wanted a much larger setup, so keep that in mind.

The controls are easy, I can't say I'm a fan of the bright green light, but the volume is just fine, the headphone jack is much more secure by comparison to my last set.

The speakers themselves are said to be wobbly, but I haven't noticed, if I jab them they DO move, so that should be something to keep an eye on, they apparently aren't very stable if you're going to be moving around them a lot and might end up jabbing them accidentally.

The sound itself I'll get into, to close it off.

I used a variety of songs to test various aspects of how strong/weak the sound is, some rock, some metal, some pop, and contemporary.

I also used games to test them out on, and movies(Of course).

I found Disturbeds' "Guarded" to be more than adequate to test faster and thumping bass reproduction, the Sub didn't choke on this song as I expected, it nailed it. The sats also reproduced the sound wonderfully and indeed it seemed as though the Bass and Sats blended better, instead of seeming separate.

I used Ozzy Osborne's "Diary Of A Madman" "No More Tears" and "Bang Bang (You're Dead)" to test out some Heavy Rock/Metal. The highs in No More Tears and Diary Of A Madman were very well represented by the center and four other sats. Bang Bang (You're Dead) did very well too, it lacked the punch the song would have on higher quality speakers but it was still quite good.

I used A Perfect Circle's "Three Libras" to test the softer melodies the speakers were capable of, it was rather great, I was surprised the speakers handled all of the sounds so well. I used Queen's "Drowse" to test a faster paced soft, melodic song, and it might be my favorite on these speakers, it was excellent.

I used various Game Soundtrack music to test other forms of music, I used Half-Life 2's "Track 34", which is the end credits theme, a very short but Techno-heavy song, and it did very well here. I used quite a few Halo and Halo 2 soundtrack songs to test the classical elements at work. I also used Track 15 and Track 19 of the Half-Life 2 soundtrack the test the louder, more intimidating music, these tracks are reminiscent of John Williams' "Imperial March", they were also fantastic.

I used Oingo Boingos "Elevator Man" to test more contemporary oriented music, and it was great as well. I used Alter Bridge's "Find The Real" to test modern rock, I was especially pleased with this sound though not wowed. I used John Poppers/Blues Travelers "Tip The Domino" and of course "Run Around" to test softer pop/country, I wasn't wowed but still impressed, the higher ranges in these were better represented than in many other songs.

I decided to use a few Limp Bizkit songs as a Rap/Hip Hop substitute and they were great, the Bass spoke well of the slower thumping Bass in these songs.

For movies I watched "A Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy", "Jurassic Park", "Blade Trinity", and "Harold and Kumar go to Whitecastle".

I can't say I was disappointed at all, Hitchhikers still held all of it's splendor in the sound department, and seemed very clean, Jurassic Park was a great representation of much louder, fast paced sound, it also did well. Blade Trinity did alright, I'm not entirely sure why but some sounds didn't come through as hard as I had expected. I used Harold and Kumar to test the Center channel(Comedy is after all, more Dialogue oriented than most), and found it succeeded in coming through clearly.

I used Half-Life 2, Far Cry, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn Of War, and the Star Wars Galaxies trial to test game sound.

I found Half-Life 2 to be especially fantastic, though I would recommend a beefy machine to run 5.1 as it seemed to hinder the game to have it on.

Far Cry was another favorite, it was fairly easy to detect foes movements, and was a very good representation of the directional work, it wasn't wowing, but it left a good impression.

Warhammer was great for an overall more direct sound, the thumping of Artilery and the blast of gunfire were good, the unit responses seemed to almost overpower those aspects though, but still impressive all the same.

SWG was probably the least impressive of the pack, but that's probably due to the sound work, the blasts of laser fire and weapon strikes were good, but most sounds weren't too grand, the limited dialogue didn't seem to come through as clear either. Space combat on the other hand, was extremely impressive and helped balance it out, the duplicated movie-sounds here really paid off, explosions and lasers were clear and loud, the hum of a powered engine was also very pleasing.

The negatives?

These are not for Audiophiles, nor serious music listeners.
These are not for very hardcore gamers.
The right speaker is the Control Speaker, most are left, this was very awkward to adapt to.
Lack of true sound control aside from Bass
Without the power of high quality setups
Somewhat Wobbly satellites

The positives?

Very good clarity and bass response for it's price
Generally fantastic for many genres of music
Very good for general movie watching
Very good for a variety of games(Keep in mind, Game-Sound is often a very developer oriented function as well.)

Overall 9/10

I bought these speakers to replace my ailing Logitech Z-540 40-Watt 4.1 speakers. They certainly compare favorably to the Z-540's in terms of sound and power (and the addition of a center speaker is a big plus), but they are quite a bit worse in terms of construction quality and design.

Like the Z-540's, the right front speaker has the power and main volume controls. It also has a headphone jack and an LED power indicator. There are two thick cables coming from the right speaker: a three-segment audio cable that connects to the computer's front, rear, and center audio-out jacks, and a very thick, hard-wired proprietary cable running from the right speaker to the subwoofer. This latter cable, which is just a tad short for my needs (I keep my subwoofer on the left side of my desk -- a necessity given that the subwoofer fires out of its left side), carries the audio from all other speakers to the right front speaker (from where it exits again through the three-segment cable to the computer) and the circuits to the power button and volume control. This cable ends in a proprietary plug similar to a VGA display plug but I don't know whether an extension cable can be used.

The four other speakers (left front, left and right rear, and center) all connect by generous cables to the subwoofer. The rear-speaker cables are around 14 ft long. Each cable is hard-wired to its speaker (a poor design choice, making relocation difficult and requiring you to send the whole speaker for repair or replacement should the cable ever fray) and ends in a standard male RCA plug at the subwoofer end. This arrangement does allow you to use standard M/F RCA mono extension cables if you need to extend any of theses lengths.

There is one additional control knob, for subwoofer volume, inconveniently placed on the back of the subwoofer itself.

The box also includes a rather unusual-looking adapter that has three color-coded female jacks for the audio cables on one side (the ones that are usually plugged into the computer) and two female RCA jacks on the other side. This is apparently used when connecting the speakers to a game console.

The sound is quite good, although the subwoofer is very loud even at its lowest setting. While this might be a nice thing if you live in the suburbs, it is not very desirable if you have downstairs neighbors. I was able to decrease the subwoofer volume using my sound card's software, however. (With the subwoofer volume turned up all the way, you basically get Sensaround à la "Earthquake.")

Now for the negative: The speakers are very cheaply made, with flimsy plastic cases. The bases are even more flimsy. Because of the speaker's high center of gravity, they topple over quite easily on their cheap bases; this is especially true of the front-right speaker, with its controls and heavy cables. You need two hands to use the power button -- otherwise the speaker will slide away from you as you try to push the button. Also, because the bases are interestingly designed to swivel 180 degrees so they can be mounted from the wall, the speakers tend to stand up at a slight angle. It's not terrible, but it's definitely something you do notice especially if the speakers are close to a vertical surface. Finally, the front of the speakers are covered with a very thin, nearly transparent black mesh cloth, which looks like it won't weather very well. You can clearly see the tweeters through the mesh, which I personally find quite ugly; I'm planning to stick some opaque black felt behind the mesh.

In summary, these speakers give good sound and are a good value for under fifty US dollars, but they're cheaply made and have some serious design flaws.

Wow! These speakers are great. I found the same speakers at Comp-USA for 80 bucks. so i looked on line and found them on amazon for 48 bucks, what a bargin. These speakers have great sound response. Sounds like a home stereo theater. The bass response is superior to anything else i've seen under the 200.00 range. I also found some speakers at comp-USA for about 200.00 that has the same setup (6 sp) with a much larger bass speaker and more watts, but the Logitech X-530 sounded 150% better. Highly recomended. Oh, the best part, Amazon deliverd them to my door step in a few days of order. Awsome Experience all around.

I was very surprised by the sound that these speakers put out. I had some cheap Harmon Kardon speakers that came with my Pc and they were junk. The sound was terrible, these speakers sound great. I am also glad that I chose to buy them from Amazon. They sell for $90.00 at Bestbuy. I saved myself money and still got a great product.

I purchased these speakers for $42 incl'd shipping off of eBay and hooked them up today. They sound very good, but the bass is always on. Not overbearing, but it would be nice to set it lower than the lowest setting that is offered. The control on the sub is also very inconveniently placed in the back, next to all the wiring.
To connect the speakers to a computer, you are provided with three 1/8" jacks for front L/R, rear L/R, and the sub. However, most computers only have a 2-channel sound card, so there is only one audio output. Without an adapter, sound only goes to the front speakers and the sub. You can get an adapter at Radioshack for $6 that has a male 1/8" plug to two male RCA plugs, and then use the gaming adapter provided in the box for the speakers.
Overall, these speakers are a dramatic improvement over regular computer speakers. They look cool and have a nice sound.

Bought these because I was tired of my factory speakers pings and tweaks, and the difference is AMAZING. If youre into gaming, movies or mp3s these are a must. Although, I did end up having to upgrade my sound card to get the full effect and range of the speakers it was well worth it. Also this is a full $30 cheaper than Bestbuy or Circut City. Get these speakers and listen to what youve been missing.

I replaced some 2.1 Creative Itrigue 3200s with this system. Benefit - 5.1 surround sound from Logitech works well. Loss - Sound quality. The Itrigues are much better sounding system.

But - I'm satisfied with what i got for the price.

The sound quality is the best I have heard in a long time but that is coming from a guy who upgraded from the horrible eMachine speakers they send with a computer. I bought this for my 360 and found my only complaint when I went to set it up.

The system itself doesn't support games, they send you a little converter thing for it but all that does is make it so you have a really good speaker system. It doesn't convert it to surround sound. It alright though, I put up with it for a while then decided to set it up to my PC which is where this was meant to be.

So unless you attach something that can tell the surround sound system it's surround sound this wont really be anything other then 2 really good speakers and sub.

Sorry if this didn't make much sense to you.

These speakers are just plain amazing. Nothing beats them for the price. When they came in the mail...i set them up, plugged them into my ipod to see how they sound, and was BLOWN AWAY !! The subwoofer has some majorrr bass. The other 5 speakers manage to fill my entire basement with ear throbbing music. Great system, great price, GET ITT !!! you won't be disappointed.

Initally I bought these to play games on my computer, however 5 speakers is overkill on a PC for me. I live in a small apt so I not use these speakers as my surround sound speaker with subwoofer. The sound is great and the bass is impressive for such a small subwoofer. When connecting to TV it can only take RCA component via a converter and split the sound back to 5 channels to the subwoofer power system. Good price, good value.