Customer Reviews

Z-5500 Digital THX 5.1 PC Multimedia Speakers

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought this originally for my computer setup to listen to my music, play games in surround sound, as well as watch DVD's in full 5.1 surround sound. The sub on this system is UNBELIEVABLE!!! This system is so good I've transferred it to my TV and use it as a home theater system and I plan on buying a second system for the computer. This is as loud as you will ever need out of a system. The loudest I've taken it is maybe 60-70% power and TRUST ME that was loud as all hell and shook all the glassware in my kitchen upstairs. Unless you have your own house and got this system in the basement you will never set it louder or even that loud without the cops coming to your door.
I have never said this about any electronic purchase I've done, but for the first time ever I've found a product that I will NEVER have to replace or upgrade. This system serves ALL my movie, game, and music needs. I am happy with this purchase for the rest of my life and I am quite the audiophile. I will only buy another speaker system if this one breaks, and I would replace it with the same system. That's saying a lot as there is pretty much no electronic device out there that you can say you'll never have to upgrade to a better one.

This set comes with a control box that has all the volume controls and inputs. From here you control the volume individually to the center, surround, and sub speakers. It has a direct line in (Front, center, surround, and sub) as well as a digital line in and even a optical. I have the direct and the digital lines used. For DVD's I switch over to digital input and the control box does the audio decoding itself in THX surround sound. I've found that this produces the best quality sound and is much better than using the software decoder on your computer. Just set the computer as "pass-thru" no decoding.

For music for some reason I've found that it works better as a direct connection. Maybe this has something to do with the audio card decoding and processing the music. It just seems fuller, louder, and generally clearer in direct connect with music. Also you can set it at direct, stereo, stereo x 2 (uses front and rear speakers) this stereo X2 is my personal favorite for music. It also has a Dolby Prologic Movie and Music setting. I never use the Music setting, it's useless in my mind, it tries to process the music into 5.1 sound and that just doesn't fly.

The Pro Logic Movie setting I've never used until just recently (I've had these speakers for 2-3 years.) I never saw the benefit of the Pro Logic movie setting as I just watched the DVD in the control box's THX setting. I did however recently find he use for the Pro logic movie setting. If you are watching a move that has been downloaded off the internet and only has the Stereo audio then the Pro Logic actually does a pretty good Job at turning it into 5.1 surround. I watched a few movies using this setting and it did an amazing job and turning the audio into surround. Not sure how it can do this, but give it a try on video with only a stereo track and it does a great job. I discovered this by accident watching "Imax Magnificent Desolation" a DVD about the Apollo moon landings and for some reason I had it on Pro Logic Movie. When the spacecraft was landing on the moon it kicked up a bunch of dust and I got startled for a minute because I heard the dust and sound coming from behind me. The system was able to accurately surround sound this event. I watched it again in regular stereo mode and I was astonished at how well the PL made it surround. I cannot watch any video now without the PL Movie setting (unless it's a DVD with authentic 5.1 sound).

So to conclude this system rocks, it's as loud as you'll ever need it and is very multipurpose. Yes I know there will be people saying that this system sucks when it comes to a home theater setup and that you need to buy a $2000 home theater speaker set up. Well perhaps these $2000 systems are better, but I've compared this to those and honestly my ear can barely tell any difference at all, and when you look at the price difference then it's a no brainer to get this system. Oh yeah and the Sub is Huge and gives you all the bass you can handle and then some. I know having a great Sub and bass is what makes a system and to a point this is true as the sub is what makes you "feel" the music and this sub definitely kicks you. I have it about 3 feet away from me and it vibrates my pants when it's set on a pleasant "Metallica" volume '

I bought these EIGHT years ago, and they are still working as well as the day I bought them. Booming base, nice simple remote, and have not had a SINGLE problem since the day i got them in 2002. Best speakers you can get for the dollar, and you shouldn't have to replace them for years to come.

I had been hankering for the Logitech Z-5500 Digital Surround Sound Speaker System for a long time. I finally took the plunge and bought it based on the large number of positive reviews I had read about it. I've had it for over 2 years now and I've never regretted it. The sound quality from these speakers is just phenomenal.

The 4 satellite speakers and the center channel speaker is clear as a bell and can handle very high volumes so I don't have to worry about driving them too hard. I tried cranking up the volume all the way and couldn't get these speakers to buzz.

I was also blown away by amount of sonic boom the bass speaker is capable of putting out. Having used a puny 2 speaker system for the longest time, I can really appreciate how the strong bass along with the surround sound adds so much more depth and excitement to music and movies.

I had to experiment with the placement of the 4 satellite speakers to get the best immersive sound experience. These speakers are perfect for a home theater surround sound system!

I'm absolutely thrilled with these speakers because they have added immeasurably to my enjoyment whether I'm listening to music or watching a movie. It is definitely money well spent (I paid under 4 hundo for mine).

As hard as it is to believe, Logitech has been selling this speaker system for over 7 years, at least I've had a set in continuous use for at least that long. In general, it has served me well. The sub-woofer has a good kick to it, and I appreciate the variety of inputs, not to mention the huge volume control knob.

However, it is a bit old, and has its limitations. I replaced it yesterday with a proper home theatre receiver (a Denon AVR-591) and here is why:
1) I happened to acquire a standalone subwoofer. Whereas you can replace all the other speakers with 8 ohm replacements, the subwoofer is integrated into the system, and contains a good deal of the electronics. This had actually been holding me back from replacing the system, as I would have had the extra expense of replacing the subwoofer in addition to the electronics. Once I was given a subwoofer, I made my move.
2) A standalone receiver includes an integrated HDMI switch which makes cable management a breeze. The Z-5500 has no video switching.
3) The subwoofer has a crossover point of around 150Hz which is a bit high; probably done to compensate for a lack of low end on the satellites.
4) The Z-5500 doesn't have support for modern audio codecs that are included on Blu Ray discs. It does have DTS and Dolby Digital which are fine, but it would be nice to have something better.
5) Because it has no HDMI, it is limited to stereo PCM, so even if your Blu-Ray player can decode Dolby TrueHD, it can't send it as multichannel PCM to all your speakers.

But as I said, I've used the system for many years. It has been reliable and sounded fine if not great. I like the fact it has both an optical TOS-Link port and a digital Coax port in addition to several analog inputs. I've rarely had cause to turn the volume over 30%, so there is plenty of room for loudness. One minor hiccup is that the mute mode does not mute the subwoofer resulting in some odd sound effects. The control unit is great. I only wished my new receiver had such a compact control module. There are separate remote codes for optical, coax, but not for any of the analog inputs requiring some inconvenient and unreliable macro-ing with my universal remote control.

And I'm still using it. I moved it back to my wife's computer desk where its convenient controls will be appreciated over the remote control only Spherex system it is replacing.

At best, the satellite speakers are mediocre, which is to be expected from a package which costs little more than my center channel speaker alone. They don't have much below 200 Khz, requiring quite a bit of aid from the subwoofer. By comparison I've two decent speakers, an Aperion Intimus 4C which my new receiver's calibration system pegs at going to 90Hz and a MartinLogan Motion 6 Center Channel Speaker which hits 110Hz.

[Update: Logitech has finally pushed out a replacement for this model, the Logitech Z906, but still no HDMI or modern codec support. It does have an extra TOSLink port, which I could have used many times over the years.]

If you could go back in time, I would say this would have been a great value in terms of longevity and future proofing. But we can't. And the simple fact of the matter is that this system has no future proofing. It doesn't have the modern codecs, support for 7.1, HDMI switching, HDCCP, or other modern means for getting audio from digital to sound waves. The immediate future of home theatre audio is HDMI, not TOSLink or digital Coax, much less analog stereo. The components that could be timeless, the speakers themselves, are cheaply made and not things you will move up from system to system. So, as much use as I've gotten out of this system, it is not a good idea to buy it now.

I have five sets of this system. I buy them for everyone and all of my locations. They are the best quality speaker system I have ever owned and I have owned a lot. However, when I logged in tonight, 11-3-11 to buy two more sets for a girlfriend and my out of town shop, I was blown away, not by the sound but by the idea that these people are trying to now sell this system for nearly 1k when I have bought them over the last four years for less than $350.00. Last system was purchased this summer, before that spring, before that last new years, two sets last summer and the list goes on. I have five sets myself as mentioned and have bought more for my daughter, friends and family. I have paid between $225.00 to $349.00. Now it seems everyone is jacking the price, before christmas is the reason perhaps? All I know is for my price, they are the best, for this price you can buy top of the line polks or a full bose system and still save money getting more power. Do not support these price changing rip off practices. Let these vendors sit and burn with these until they price them more reasonably. This is a perfect example of copy cat marketing. A friend of mine is a retailer in NY, he looked up his price for me and wholesale this system costs him $215.00 as of this posting time. I myself will wait to purchase for less or I will pay the extra shipping and have my buddy in NY order two sets for me.

I got my z5500 about 5 years ago, and they are still going strong. I got a black friday special and bought them incl. shipping for around 220 do1l@rs. Is the price here a misprint? I see them where available now for around three hundred, not 9. Do you get three sets for this 90o price?

PC Components:
ASUS Crosshair IV Formula - AM3 - AMD 890FX - DDR3 - Republic of Gamers - ATX Motherboard
Phenom II X4 965 Black AM3 3.4Ghz 512KB 45NM 125W 4000MHZ
Corsair Air Series A70 Performance CPU Cooler CAFA70
Sapphire Radeon HD 5770 1 GB DDR5 2DVI/HDMI/DisplayPort PCI-Express Video Card 100283-3L x2 in Crossfire mode
Creative Labs SB0886 PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series Sound Card
Corsair 4GB Dual Channel Corsair DDR3 Memory for Intel Core i5 Processors (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) x2, total 8gb
Western Digital WD5000KSRTL/WD5000AAKS Caviar 500 GB SATA Hard Drive x2 in Raid 0 for performance
Corsair CMPSU-750TX 750-Watt TX Series 80 Plus Certified Power Supply compatible with Intel Core i7 and Core i5
Samsung Blu-Ray Internal SATA Drive with Lightscribe 12x BD-ROM 16x DVD-ROM 8x DVDRW 8x DVD-/+R DL 48x CD-ROM SH-B123L/BSBP
LEXA S Crafted Series Black Steel Mid Tower Chassis CS-NT-LEXA-S

When I read the reviews for this system, I figured the comments were a little overboard. But once I unpacked the box I was amazed at the quality of the speakers. I also was surprised at the size of the Bass speaker. It is HUGE. Being the first Logitech component I have purchased, I was curious as to how much better this would be than the Creative products I have enjoyed in the past. Following will be a review on the individual components of this system:

-Bass Speaker: Quality of sound is superb. Rich, booming Bass without distortion or any vibration noise from the case enclosure. It doesn't take much volume to vibrate the floor because of the deep sound emitted from this speaker!!! The cooling fins on the back of the speaker are of quality material. Very eye-pleasing to look at. Totally impressed.

- Center Speaker: The clarity of the sound is amazing. With the individual volume control for the center speaker, I no longer have any issues with the surround drowning out a soft voice from an otherwise soft voice in a movie. Simply awesome.

- Surround: The only movie I have watched so far is Avatar.. I just opened the speakers yesterday. The surround is amazing and crisp. I literally feel like I am in the theater!!! I don't have the speakers mounted yet since I am just enjoying the system right now. You know how that goes. But once I do, Logitech has made the design for an easy project.

The Center and surround speakers are encased in a durable, lightweight aluminum enclosure. With or without the easily removed grill, they are very nice to look at as well.

- Control Center: the control center is larger than I expected and the cable that connects to the Bass speaker could have been longer, as well as the 6-channel harness that connects to your sound card(only because it is recommended that the Bass is at least 2' from your PC or monitor due to the size of the magnet). That being said, I was able to make it work with a little re-organizing. The features are easy to use and setup was painless. I cannot comment on the Pro-Logic effects since I use my sound card software for that.

- Remote: The remote is simple and easy to use... which is nice to see since most have way too many features that no one uses anyway. A nice feature to have at your fingertips, especially when the control center may not be easily reached when you need to mute the volume.

This was the last component I purchased for my new system build and I am very impressed with this system so far. They are somewhat expensive for a PC, however, I have a Yamaha theater system in my living room and this system sounds better than those. That is saying a lot since I love the Yamaha system.

Being a gamer.... mostly playing World of Warcraft, the total experience to the "virtual getaway" from life's aggro, the sound from this system propels the imagination and intensifies the action. Anyone that is thinking of purchasing this system should do so. You will be unexpectedly surprised once actually seeing and hearing this system. I hope this review was informative and helpful. Thanks.

i bought these babies about a month ago. i had the Logitech x-540's before these, and let me say there is a huge difference 1: there is way more bass!!! 2: the wired remote control unit is awesome 3: it has a remote 4: they are more sexy looking than the 540's. There are only a few minor set backs that i didn't like, the satalite speakers you need to screw into the wall (or if u trust 2 picture hooks), since i spent over $300 i was expecting the speaker wire to be a lil bit longer than it was(maybe 10ft), although i would guess you could use any old speaker wire. The 360degree surround sound is awesome, i can have it a lil bit more than half way up with the effect (stereo X2) and i can hear it great through out the whole house. i would recommend these speakers to anyone that wants an awesome computer surround sound system!