Logitech G51 Surround Sound 5.1 Speaker System (Black)

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Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 14.3 x 20 inches ; 25 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 25 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000UEH5HC
• Item model number: 980-000100
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (88 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #772 in Electronics (See Bestsellers in Electronics)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #2 in	Electronics > Home Audio & Theater > Speakers > Surround
  #3 in	Electronics > Computers & Accessories > Computer Speakers > 5.1 Speakers

• Date first available at Amazon.com: August 22, 2007

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Your Games have Surround Sound…Why Don’t You?

Games are meant to be experienced in surround sound. Hear your enemies sneaking up behind you or listen for the action in every direction.  The G51 brings your games to life with 360 degree urround sound.

The G51 is the first G-series speakers, designed specifically for gamers.  Besides delivering an immersive surround-sound experience and thunderous bass, it is equipped with gamer inspired features including the weighted, non-skid control pod, independent, easy-to-access mic and audio mute controls, and customizable satellite speakers.  In short, the G51 is authentic gaming equipment!

Features

		Weighted, non-skid control pod: With the control pod's silicone feet, you don't have to worry about it shifting during intense gameplay Headphone and microphone jacks are included right on the control pod for easy access and convenience Independent volume controls and convenient LEDs make controlling the subwoofer, center channel and satellite speakers simple
		Precision Mute Controls: Easily mute the game audio, or mute only the microphone  – or both
		Patent-pending Mod System: For those who love to mod their systems, you can now customize your speakers by making your own skins, or use designs from today's top games to match your gaming rigs
		Matrix Surround:  Create 5.1 surround sound from common 2-channel stereo sources like music and legacy games.  The G51 offers two matrix modes: Gaming Matrix mode boosts the rear speakers and subwoofer to provide a more intense gaming experience. And with the ported, down-firing subwoofer, explosions sound more explosive Music Matrix mode enhances stereo music, delivering a more natural surround-sound experience through all five satellite speakers
		High Performance Audio: With 155 watts of total RMS (root mean square) power, the G51 speaker system is optimized to deliver high-performance audio experiences. The ported, down-firing subwoofer rumbles with every explosion.
		Frequency Directed Dual Driver™ (FDD2): The laser-tuned satellites feature Frequency Directed Dual Driver technology sound technology creates a uniform soundfield anywhere in the room.  FDD2 eliminates the hot spots and uneven response of conventional dual-driver design.

System Requirements

PC or Mac with at least 6-channel sound capability (for discrete surround sound)

Technical Specifications

• Total RMS power: 155 watts RMS
  Satellites: 20 watts RMS x 4 (into 8 ohms, @ 1 kHz, @ 10% THD)
  Center channel: 19 watts RMS (into 8 ohms, @ 1 KHz, @ 10% THD)
  Subwoofer: 56 watts RMS (into 2 ohms, @ 100 Hz, @ 10% THD)
• Total peak power: 310 watts
• Frequency response: 36 Hz–20 KHz
• Subwoofer crossover frequency: 150 Hz
• Drivers:
  Satellites: (2) 2-inch laser-tuned drivers
  Subwoofer: Down-firing 5.25-inch high-excursion driver
• Speaker dimensions (H x W x D, inches)
  Satellites: 4.2 x 5.6 x 8.5
  Center channel: 8.0 x 3.9 x 5.6
  Subwoofer: 7.7 x 10.4 x 13.1
• Enclosure: Bass reflex enclosure with tuned port
• Inputs: 6-channel direct, stereo RCA
• Precision control pod:
  Non-skid silicone feet
  Master volume control
  Subwoofer, center, and surround level controls
  Matrix surround sound music and gaming modes
  Independent audio and microphone mute controls
  Headset jack (microphone and headphone)
• Signal-to-noise ratio: >94 dB, A-weighted

Package Contents

• Speakers: 4 satellites, 1 center channel, 1 subwoofer
• Control pod
• Color-coded audio cables
• Installation guide
• 2-year limited hardware warranty

Product Description
Bring your games to life with 360-degree surround sound. Your games are meant to be experienced in surround sound. Now hear your enemies sneaking up behind you, and listen for action in every direction. The G51 is the first G-series speakers, designed specifically for gamers. Besides delivering an immersive surround-sound experience and thunderous bass, it is equipped with gamer inspired features including the weighted, non-skid control pod, independent, easy-to-access mic and audio mute controls, and customizable satellite speakers. In short, the G51 is authentic gaming equipment!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent PC speaker upgrade, October 3, 2007

By	D. Jackson (Cookeville, TN) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I was a little reluctant to purchase another set of Logitech speakers. My first set, the Z-560, worked well, but one of the channels burned out about 16 months after I purchased them.

My second set, the Z-680, sounded great but had a fatal flaw: HISSSSSS. I had to have a box fan going in the room to drown out the constant hissing. It finally drove me to seeking another set, and I desperately sought out a non-Logitech set of speakers. Sadly, in my narrow price range, there were no alternatives that I can find.

With some relucatance I ordered the G51. I set them up yesterday, and so far I'm very pleased with them. The soul-searing hiss present on the z-680 is mercifully gone, and the system sounds excellent. The bass is sufficient without being overpowering (provided you turn it down a notch or two from the default setting), and the control pod is sensibly sized and sports a great, logically laid out interface. Mids and highs are perfectly acceptable for a relatively cheap computer speaker set.

The matrix mode works surprisingly well (though I think it's likely nothing that revolutionary, just a re-imaging if their existing stero x2 mode) for both games and music.

I don't have plans to use the silly 'patent pending mod system' (pretty much just a piece of transparent plastic to slip printed designs into), but if you do want to 'pimp your rig' then I suppose the option is there.

Here's a couple of tips for the new G51 users:

1) Take off those grills on the speakers! They are *not* acoustically transparent, and in my ears the highs opened up a bit after removing them. Just be careful not to poke anything into the exposed speaker drivers!

2) BE CAREFUL if you mount the center channel on your LCD screen; I cringed when I read the instructions to 'tighten the hinge screw' - this is applying pressure to your LCD monitor. If you over tighten you might experience the pleasure of cracking your LCD screen in half. I simply placed mine on top and used a little double sided tape on the base - I'd rather have a slightly loose center channel than a pair of non-functioning 11" flat screen monitors.



PROS:
+ great sound
+ easy installation
+ excellent control pod
+ simple center-channel LCD mounting option

CONS:
- front speaker wires a bit too short
- hard-wired speaker cables

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nice system, October 1, 2007

By	Al (Florida) - See all my reviews

Received these a week ago, gave them to the daughter of a friend of mine as a gift, she took them into her room as me and my friend were chatting, by the time we went back to her room to set them up for her she had already installed them and was online playing WoW and telling her friends about her "awesome" new speakers, I think this speaks volumes about how easy they are to install.
The speakers allow you to use RCA plugs to hook your stereo into them and switch between the computer and the stereo at the push of a button, a feature for which my friend curses me every day when his daughter wakes him to 200db music in surround sound, seriously though these are loud I can hear her music in the driveway, distortion free.
In summation, I feel if you are in the market for speakers these are the best in their price range.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great value!, November 3, 2007

By	R. Stanway - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

These speakers are a lot smaller than I thought they would be as shown on the product image. Still, they pack high quality sound and the bass is good, despite the subwoofer being almost half the size of my last one. My one huge complaint though - these are surround sound speakers Logitech - why are the cables so short! I'm unable to mount the rear the satellites anywhere - currently with the sub/amp under my desk, the maximum distance the rear cables will reach is about 6 ft behind me, and the satellites on my desk have no further slack on the cables either. Really, the cables were quite a big disappointment as it severely limits where I can put the speakers. I don't think having the rear satellites sitting on the floor partially obscured is what these speakers were designed for. The cables seem to be some kind of RCA plug and are hardwired into the satellites, so I don't know whether it's possible to try and extend them.

Besides the cables, everything else is great. The default bass level was way too high for my liking, it took a fair bit of playing around to find a good spot where it wasn't too boomy. The matrix mode works somewhat well, although I'll probably be leaving it off since having to adjust it constantly is not really worth it. For those like me who were somewhat worried that matrix mode could only be set to "Gaming" or "Music", the button is a push-button that toggles between None, Gaming and Music, it's not a sliding switch as the pictures may make it seem.

Overall these speakers are excellent value for money - sure they won't go as loud as some of the higher end models, but they are perfectly loud enough for movies, music and games. I would not hesitate to give these 5 stars if it weren't for the issue with the cables. If you're looking for compact 5.1 system, you won't get much better value than the G51.

Update (2007-11-16): I purchased some 25ft RCA F/M cables for the rear satellites and they have much better positioning now. One additional issue I have noticed is whenever the system is powered on and not muted, the subwoofer driver is vibrating and causing a very low but discernible hum that is audible over my system noise. Raising or lowering the volume has no effect on the loudness, and the hum only stops 2-3 seconds after muting or immediately on power off, which leads me to believe it's some internal component causing it and not noisy output from the sound card or interference. We do get slightly higher than usual utility voltage, so it could be something that goes away if you have clean 120v power.