Logitech Z-5 USB Stereo Speakers for Mac and PC

by Logitech

Product Details

User Manual [1.07mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 6 x 8 x 11 inches ; 4.8 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B001F51G0W
• Item model number: 980-000168
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (125 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 8, 2008

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

From the Manufacturer

Introducing Logitech Z-5 USB Speakers, built for Mac and PC, featuring omnidirectional acoustics--an innovative speaker technology, previously found only in expensive home theater systems. Omnidirectional acoustics provide great sound at a more consistent level, no matter where you are in the room. Because they are connected via USB, there's no bulky power adapter, and it's easy to move them from room to room. These speakers also include a sleek remote control that lets you wirelessly navigate and enjoy your entertainment options.

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Key Features

Logitech's Omnidirectional Advantage: Make Any Spot in Your Room a Sweet Spot You don't sit in one spot when you're listening to music from your computer. Shouldn't your speakers produce great sound no matter where you are in your room? Most of today's speakers for PC are designed to deliver the highest-quality sound immediately in front of the speakers. If you move from what audiophiles call the sweet spot on the couch to the impromptu dance floor, the sound you hear can easily become distorted and you might find yourself out of step. The Logitech Z-5 Omnidirectional Stereo Speakers are designed to transmit sound more consistently over a wider range of space, so you never miss a beat--no matter where you are in the room. Traditional versus omnidirectional loudspeakers Most speakers are designed to radiate sound in a fixed direction. As shown in Figure 1, traditional speakers optimize sound for a sweet spot located directly in front of the speakers. In other words, the sweet spot is limited to a constrained sound field that fans outward in one direction. If you're outside the sweet spot, you'll hear unbalanced sound due to loudspeaker directionality. Logitech Audio Labs' omnidirectional speakers differ from traditional speakers. Designed to radiate sound more uniformly over a wider range of frequencies and angles, Logitech's omnidirectional speakers create a broad sweet spot that is not dependent on a fixed listening position, as shown in Figure 2. The true hallmark of omnidirectional speakers is the increased sound quality that comes from tonally balanced direct and reflected sound. The increased reverberant sound field also increases the sensation of spaciousness and listener envelopment. By designing loudspeakers to radiate sound more uniformly, Logitech delivers great sound to any spot in the room.

	USB Connectivity Delivers pure digital audio that's easily moved with your laptop from room to room.
	Sleek Remote Control Works with a Mac or PC to let you wirelessly navigate and enjoy your entertainment options.
	Mac and PC Compatible Allows you the flexibility to use with any computer.

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Check out other stylish products from Logitech

Logitech Pure-Fi Express Plus The Logitech Pure-Fi Express Plus speaker dock for the iPod and iPhone features omnidirectional acoustic technology, which provides great sound at a consistent level, throughout the room.	Logitech diNovo Edge, Mac Edition The ultra-slim profile and elegant styling of the diNovo Edge, Mac Edition are complemented gracefully by easy, one-touch controls to launch your favorite Mac OS applications.	Logitech Illuminated Keyboard Featuring bright, laser-etched, backlit keys and an ultra-thin 9.3-mm profile, the Logitech Illuminated Keyboard adds a touch of elegance to your desk--even in the dark.	Logitech V550 Nano Cordless Laser Mouse for Notebooks Featuring a Clip-and-Go dock that attaches your mouse to your laptop and a nano-receiver that's small enough to stay plugged in, you'll enjoy greater freedom of movement.

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What's in the Box

Package Contents Logitech Z-5 Sleek wireless remote with battery Logitech software CD 6.5ft USB cable 4ft audio extension cable Quick-start guide<

System Requirements PC Windows 98SE, Windows ME, Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Vista Available USB port CD-ROM drive Internet Connection (For SoftSqueeze software) Mac Mac OS X 10.3.9 or higher Available USB port CD-ROM drive Internet Connection (For SoftSqueeze software)

Product Description

Logitech Z-5 speakers are USB-powered speakers designed for Mac and PC use to feature omnidirectional acoustics ¿ providing great sound at a consistent level, no matter where you are in the room. Plus, they include a sleek remote control that lets you wirelessly navigate and enjoy your entertainment options.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

73 of 74 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Omnidirectional sound, very sleek look, a little pricey if you consider overall performance., October 29, 2008

By 

Anjana Nigam (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Logitech Z-5 USB Stereo Speakers for Mac and PC (Personal Computers)

(What's this?)

I'll break up my review into convenience, sound quality, features and finally the overall verdict.

Convenience:
These speakers are omni-directional, so you can hear them the same no matter where you may be in the room. Other regular speakers create a triangular sound zone with the "sweet-spot" at the vertex of that triangle. The advantage the omnidirectional feature gives you is that that you can place these speakers any where and still get the same sound. This addresses a problem for me as I usually sit on my living room couch while working on my laptop and don't have a place for speakers. I've tried using wireless speakers earlier but the results are sketchy.

With these Logitech speakers, I don't have to worry about placement for creating the perfect sound. So I can just put them under the end table and hook them up to my laptop when needed. Usually to play music or watch TV/movies on the net. They sound good even if I'm not sitting directly in front of them.

They can also be ported from room to room easily. Since they're tall, rectangular and sleek and not too heavy you can stack them in a bag and take them to a friend's place for a party.

However, given their price, if I was using my laptop at a desk or a desktop I would not buy this system as for the same price I could get a system with a sub-woofer and a richer sound.

Sound:
The speakers are nicely loud. I tried wireless speakers for my laptop earlier but they were only loud enough for a small room or for individual listening. These speakers are pretty loud and can be used to play music for a small party.

The sound is just ok. It's clear and mostly free of distortions unless you turn up the speakers really loud, then you hear some hiss and crackle. These speakers don't have the great sound of the Logitech Z Cinéma Advanced Surround Sound System--2.1 Speakers . The Logitech Z Cinema has crystal clear sound but it's not a portable system due to the heavy subwoofer. The sound quality of these speakers is very average considering the other systems available in the same price range.

Features:
- Setup of these speakers is easy. Just plug them into the USB port so they can be used with PCs or Macs. They can also be used with an MP3 player independently as long as you plug them into a USB port.
- The remote control that comes with these speakers is tiny and although it's a nice touch it can be lost easily. I keep misplacing mine and find that my Lenovo laptop buttons cannot lower the volume of these speakers. I have to probably download the included software for that. I already have the Z Cinema software installed and don't want to clunk up my system with more software. It's annoying that I have to unplug them every time the phone rings and I cannot find the remote.

Overall, I find these speakers a good solution for my laptop but the price is a bit too high given the average sound quality - even despite their sleek, expensive look. I still give them 4 stars as they still meet the criteria I have for my living room laptop usage.

Update June 09 - Since the price has now dropped to below 50, these are REALLY nice speakers for the price. Go ahead, get 'em!

43 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great PC Speakers; Beat Competition, December 16, 2008

By 

FreeNAS User - See all my reviews

This review is from: Logitech Z-5 USB Stereo Speakers for Mac and PC (Personal Computers)

I'm not too keen on the "oh, I just received this today and decided to comment" reviews, but I couldn't resist with this product.

My computer is a MacBook Pro running 10.5.5 (about to be 10.5.6), but this product's box reassured me it would work (instead of being Windows-centric). It did. Right after connecting it, I was impressed with the imaging these speakers provided and the frequency response. I had heard them before after hooking them up to my iPod in a popular electronics franchise, playing music which I was already familiar (having frequently played the selected tunes on a high fidelity system). They sounded great in the store, but without the background noise of Christmas-shopping customers, they sound fantastic.

The frequency response is what you'd anticipate from great quality PC speakers without a sub-woofer.

What sold me on these over other PC speakers (namely the Z10 and the V2 Logitech models) were several reasons:
1 - These speakers have an analog line-in should I ever decide to use an audio source other than my PC;
2 - The price was right (esp. through Amazon), with free shipping & no tax;
3 - The remote control.

The Z10s were impossible to find since they've been discontinued, and the V2s didn't have a line-in.

The Bose Companion 2 set were much worse than these Z5s, primarily because of their poor psychoacoustic processing. When the Bass hit hard in a song, the trebles noticeably dropped off. I'm not sure if this is a Bose "feature", but it disappointed me.

The Creative Gigaworks T40 were a bit too big for my setup, unfortunately. Had they been shorter with a smaller footprint, I may have considered them. The Gigaworks T20 model was a disappointment. Sampling once again with my handy iPod, they distorted at higher volumes. When I know the iPod on max volume on the tune I was sampling doesn't distort directly out of the iPod on a higher fidelity system, why were the T20s distorting? That was not appealing.

A nice surprise to these Z5s is the fact that I can use my Apple Remote and control my MacBook Pro through the speaker! In other words, the IR Receiver on the speaker acts as an IR extender. I suppose I should've realized this beforehand, but I didn't think of it. Works out spectacularly for me since my Laptop is tucked away while I drive it w/ an external monitor.

Overall, a great buy. I'd highly recommend them.

40 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Sleek design, but falls short in bass response, October 23, 2008

By 

Charlie (MI, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Logitech Z-5 USB Stereo Speakers for Mac and PC (Personal Computers)

(What's this?)

Logitech Z-5 USB Speakers for PC/Mac

The Logitech Z-5 speakers are advertised as providing Omni-directional sound via multiple drivers per speaker. The drivers use a primarily polymer-like material and provide outstanding high-frequency audio. The mid-range is above average since it still sounds somewhat muffled, but the low-range audio / bass response is non-existent. It sounds like you are listening to songs out of a tin can. I played GTR Evolution (racing
simulator) using the Z-5 speakers and it detracts from the overall experience. The Logitech Z Cinema speakers I normally use have much better mid-range and bass (due to the huge subwoofer) but lacks the high-end response of the Z-5. The Omni-directional feature is interesting but I did not really find an application for this. On each speaker, there is one driver that faces you while the other driver is right behind it on the other side. If you are moving around, then you could detect a difference in the direction of the sound but for the most part, people tend to stay at their desks working on their computers.

The installation of the speakers is painless. The right speaker has the USB cable, and by the way, the right speaker is the only speaker marked for orientation. I found that I did not even need to install the drivers. Windows XP Pro SP-2 and XP Media Center Edition recognized the speakers right away. It is a tiny sticker underneath the speaker. I had some problems with intermittent connections on the audio jacks. There is a 3.5mm jack for an auxiliary input like an iPod or Discman, and the 2.5mm jack is for the left speaker connection. There is a rubber cap for the 3.5mm aux input port that would be easy to lose, so keep an eye on it. I had a USB AC adapter that I used to power the Z-5 (no PC required) and used it to play music from my iPod shuffle without any problems. The speakers are very lightweight, sleek, and compact. The lack of an AC adapter allows for a clean installation since it draws power via USB. I used an un-powered USB hub for the Z-5 and noticed it draws about 500 mA of current. The white LED power indicator was a very nice touch. Logitech appears to use white LEDs more often. My Logitech Driving Force GT steering wheel uses a dimmer white LED for the center button. Logitech also used Velcro tie-wraps, the re-usable type, for all of the wiring. This is a nice touch and a welcome change over the black plastic tie-wraps that one frequently loses. I have switched to Velcro for my wiring setups and liked how Logitech adopted this strategy on its own product line. The remote control was very small and I could imagine it being easy to lose. The remote uses the same rubber texture on the back as the Z-Cinema remote and is good for increasing traction.

I tested the Z-5 with iTunes 8, Windows Media Player 11, and Win Amp 5.541. The remote control functions fine with ITunes and Windows Media Player, but it cannot skip between tracks using Win Amp. My Logitech Z-Cinema remote control worked fine with Win Amp, so I am unsure why they decided to change things. I found that if I am loading certain applications or websites with Firefox, the audio can break up or pause, but I discovered this to be prevalent with the Logitech Audio Hub (another USB speaker system) as well. Overall, I have to give the Z-5 only 3 out of 5 stars because of average audio quality. Almost any pair of speakers will be better than laptop speakers, but the Z-5 provides soft bass response and average to above average mid-range reproduction. It shines with the high-frequency notes though.

Pros: Sleek, lightweight, and compact design. There is no AC adapter required due to the USB connection. The remote control is very nifty. Aux input is a nice feature. Painless installation.

Cons: So-so audio quality, Omni-directional feature is not that useful. The remote does not allow track skipping with Win Amp or some of the less common programs. It works with iTunes and Windows Media Player on a limited basis.

Overall: Not a bad design, but they skimped on the audio reproduction.