Customer Reviews

Logitech Z-5450 Digital 5.1 Speaker System ( 970181-0403 )

5 star:		(59)
4 star:		(31)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

These speakers work well, they produce good sound, and the controls and optical inputs work great too. However, if you or your neighbors have a WiFi (IEEE 802.11b or 802.11g) 2.4GHz wireless ethernet network, the wireless rear surround speakers in this speaker system will step all over the 802.11 WiFi network. I used a spectrum analyzer to see what was going on, and this speaker system appears to use frequency-hopping spread spectrum indiscriminately.

Wireless speakers are a great idea, particularly for situations when running the wires would be impractical or ugly, but this particular implementation is incompatible with 802.11b/g WiFi networks. If this is not a concern to you (you *and* your neighbors are not using other 2.4GHz wireless products), then this speaker system may work well for you.

Quite amazing small 5.1 digital system. I'm very impressed with the clarity of the bass with blockbuster movies like "Lord of the Rings" or the musical scores in the Japanese Anime (DTS) "Ghost in the Shell." Especially the opening score where there's a ton of bass, but the bass is pounding and clear, no distortion. For the price, Logitech Z-5450 system really shines and is simple to set up and use. The subwoofer is small, stylish and very capable to produce low the end sound of movies and Hip Hop songs. As compared to other small systems out there (more expensive), this digtal system will beat or sound better.

Highlights: Big sound from bass, easy set-up, wireless rear speakers (more later), good mids, not to shabby for treble either.

Lowlights: Wireless rears are yes wireless, but you do have to plug them into an outlet for power...so you still have two wires to deal with. However, the sound is excellent. The remote is okay, should of been a little bit more detailed and styled better. Come on, Logitech is known for stylish designs...the remote is plain and goofy.

Summary: Effective system for a small room with plenty of power and thumping bass. Does better than some other systems (Bose, Kplipsch)and the voice clarity is excellent. However, I do recommend that like with any system...the sound also depends on the DVD player that you use. A cheap player will give you great sound (I tried it), but a more expensive one (I use a Yamaha DVD player ~$300) sounds awesome. Then again, it might just be me.

One of the wireless speakers has a HUM, very loud, that persists even if I move it to a different electrical circuit, reset it, move it to a different part of the room. Therefore I don't use it - I leave it unplugged. Also, the volume control on the remote - which is sort of indispensable - does not work properly. The button sticks. I have never seen this before on a remote, except maybe 20 years ago with clunky TV remotes. I am waiting to see if Logitech will send replacements. A search of the web found many other people with similar problems, discussing it on tech bulletin boards.

Still, the sound is great. I would have ordered another unit, for a different room of the house, but they clearly have quality control problems. If they fix this, I will post again.

Bought my son the Z-5450 for Christmas - the speakers were DOA. Instead of the costly expense of shipping the whole set back to the retailer, I called Logitech and was assured a replacement would be sent within 2 weeks

Two weeks later i called back and was told they were on back order and would arrive the following week.

Three weeks later I called back and was told they were coming from China and were late but would arrive any day.

Five weeks later i called back and was told they weren't even making the 5450 anymore and that they knew this a few days after my previous call yet no one contacted me, so i agreed to have them ship the 5500 to me as a replacement, which I was told would arrive within two weeks. The only other alternative was a refund which I was told would take 60 more days to process.

Four weeks later I called and was told the 5500's were on back order and that I was one of 4000 customers waiting on a 5500 to replace a failed one. I suggested that should tell them something about their product right there. It should definitely tell the consumer something, don't you think?

Never had such a horrible experience with a company in my life. The last guy I talked to was Jason who said he was in charge of customer service and that no one else would talk to me about my problem from "corporate". If I called their number, he assured me they would just refer me back to him. He seemed almost pleased with that. What Jason and Logitech apparently don't understand is that for every customer who gets jerked around, another 20 will disappear through poor word of mouth.

My experience over the last three months with Logitech convinces me that I will never buy another Logitech product. Do so at your own peril. If you are lucky, it will work. Good for you, but if you have problems with it, you will never get satisfaction. Trust me.

I am in speaker heaven. The sound quality blows away other speakers 2x the price. The wireless rear speakers are beautiful - they sacrifice no audio quality and they were easy to hang and look great. To get the best sound, you definitely want to set up the speakers in a square and keep them all at the same height - when you get them in a square the sound is resonating and it's just perfect. I'm hearing detail in my music that I've never heard before. And when I play a movie it's theatre-quality. Highly recommended.

Fantastic speakers when they work. My Brother and i both have a pair, but they frequently drop out, powering off entirely. They also cause a lot of wireless interference if you have a wireless network around. It's a shame, because it's a marvelous sound for such a compact and affordable unit. Thought it might have been a lemon, but both sets have the exact same problems.

For 34% of retail price, I dont think I am allowed to complain (given that people called it a good price when it was much higher.) But I don't have anything to complain about anyways. In terms of sound quality, the speakers are great. I have mine hooked up with a digital optical cable, and sound is perfect. People say that size matters with low-wattage speakers, and in my medium-sized family room home theatre PC setup, we've got the volume about half way from the max.

While the rear speakers aren't really wireless, since they have to be plugged into a power outlet, power outlets are much easier to find than attempting to string 30 feet of speaker wire somewhere. I can just unplug one rear speaker, take it to the next floor of my house, plug it in upstairs, and listen to music there, with no loss in audio quality!

I also like the very small footprint of the receiver. Compare the z-5450's size of a cable modem to the size of an actual home theatre receiver (which is the size of a desktop computer on its side). That huge receiver is really an unnecessary eye-soar. But don't think you're losing out due to the lack of a "real" receiver. This system comes with two digital optical (toslink) inputs which is better than many receivers. It also has a digital coax input. If you are hooking this up to a computer with the 3.5 mm jacks to get 5.1 surround sound, it has an input for that too. However, if the one digital optical input is good enough, you can turn the 5.1 sound input into three stereo sound inputs- equivalent to what you would find in a huge receiver. It also has an extra stereo sound input on the side, and a microphone output. So don't worry about not being able to connect all your gear!

Overall, I highly recommend these speakers. These are Logitech's most expensive high-end speakers at the moment, at a price that cannot be beat.

I'm using this system for my home theater setup and it has more than enough inputs for what I currently need. The speakers and the receiver are all very small and discreet making them easy to blend into the living room.
The sound is very good and you would have to go to speakers in the $1000+ range for better clarity and dynamic range. The wireless rears are really convenient and I've had no problems with them so far.
One annoying this is that the status light(red on standby and blue when on) is very big and bright making is somewhat intrusive in a home theater setup. To get around it we've had to place the light behind a pillar in the TV stand.
Overall I'm really satisfied with the system, definitely the best bang for the buck and a much better alternative to those home theater in a box type offering.

This is an excellent speaker system for the small living room along with your computer. The sound is distortion free to very high volumes, and it reproduced movie sound with excellent fidelity. Listening to music on this system is good except for some complex classical or ambient works.

Chose the 5450 over the better rated 5500 because of the wireless rear speakers, and when the front right channel went out I wanted to get a replacement but was told by Logitech that they don't make them anymore. All they could offer (after waiting on hold for 20 minutes) was the 5500 which were $100 dollars less!. I requested a refund and was told to send in the control pod and remote to the corporate office and wait up to three months while they process the paperwork.

They stopped making these because of "too many problems". Too bad, it was a good option for those who can't have all the extra cables for the rear speakers.

Looking at the Bose Companion 5 as a replacement.