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56 of 61 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Logitech Z Cinema Advanced - High-End Speaker System for Media Player PCs - Definitely worth a look!, April 7, 2008
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Logitech Z Cinéma Advanced Surround Sound System--2.1 Speakers
Logitech's Z Cinema Advanced speaker system is an incredibly designed high performance product. I own several Logitech speaker products, as well as others by Creative Creative GigaWorks T20 2.0 Speakers, Altec Lansing Altec Lansing FX5051 5.1 powered speaker system with USB connection, Klipsch Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 THX Certified Computer Speaker System (Black), Harmon Kardon Harmon Kardon SoundStick II 3 Piece Speaker System, and others. I can honestly say, this is a very impressive unit that is well designed for its task. If you have a media center PC setup, this set will make you very happy. Not only is the speaker system ridiculously powerful, the included software is a huge improvement over previous Logitech entries. The included remote rounds out the system and puts virtually all your audio and video applications at your fingertips.
This speaker system will fill a key market niche. The integrated satellite speaker and subwoofer design has more components than meet the eye. Each one-piece satellite speaker has an integrated mid-woofer and tweeter. So these are much more than traditional 2.1 bookshelf speakers. And when you position the speakers as directed and turn on the software surround sound, the sound quality coming out of these approach that of 5.1 systems.
Pros
+ Control your media center PC with a great all-in-one solution and awesome remote
+ Great performing speakers with a ridiculous 35 watts of RMS power per channel, 180 total RMS output
+ Beautiful black and silver speaker and body design
+ Two tweeters and mid-woofers deliver surprisingly crisp sound with or without surround
+ 110 watt subwoofer is simply monstrous and easily fills large rooms with good acoustics
+ Awesome included remote with media center controls and great features
+ Nice integrated support for apps like iTunes, WinAMP, RealPlayer, Yahoo Jukebox, Pandora and Picasa
+ Remote can be configured to work with any multimedia app or to launch a different media player
+ Very sturdy cables and housing are designed to last a long time
+ Power converter integrated into subwoofer so you can connect with a regular power cable
+ Good looking orange back-lit volume and surround indicators on the right speaker
+ Very nice price point for fully integrated media center speaker system and controls
+ USB cable connection is clean and easy - requires on-board port connection
+ Included standard ports for headphones and auxiliary connections (3.5 mm)
+ Simple instructions and plug and play performance for basic use
+ Very modest hardware, hard-drive space and memory requirements for Logitech software
+ True 24 bit digital audio
+ hardware warranty
Cons
- Perhaps overly sleek minimal design could have been improved with physical power and volume controls
- Very heavy system requires extreme caution and should be installed with care and help if needed
- No simple volume controls on the remote, instead included in adjustment wheel
- Would have been ideal to include a few more ports, such as HDMI and S-Video, on the subwoofer
- Satellite speaker cables, while very thick, could have been longer for more configuration options
- No real expandability of the system is apparent; no obvious ports for other satellites or devices
- Many people still demand RF remote capability, this one is only IR
- Those who don't need the remote for Media Center PCs may opt for 5.1 systems at this price
Installation
Installing this guy is simple based upon the included quick start guide. What's cool is that even before the Logitech software is installed, once you make your connections and turn it on it's automatically recognized as a regular speaker system. You don't need Windows Media Center for this to work as a speaker system. This is awesome, and amazingly a lot of the Media Center buttons still work too.
But just note that in order to really take advantage of this guy you will want a Media Center capable PC, with either XP MCE Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 SP2B for System Builders, Vista Premium Windows Vista Home Premium with SP1 or Vista Ultimate Windows Vista Ultimate with SP1 installed.
Installing the Logitech software allows you to have desktop control of the speaker settings, including enabling surround sound. It also allows you to see the options to toggle between the different media applications, including iTunes and WMP among others. You can change settings and really get some control over your MC PC.
Physically installing this guy can be a challenge. First of all, this is a very heavy unit, mainly because of so many integrated components built into the subwoofer body. This is probably a sign of good construction, but handle with care.
The satellite speaker cables are long but could have been longer. The included diagrams give you the impression this was really well thought out for desktop or workstation installs. However, if you have a component center or cabinet for your stuff, you need to be patient and creative to get this set up.
The speaker cables could have definitely been longer to accommodate more setup possibilities. However, in terms of durability and shielding, these are some of the thickest strongest cables I've had come with a speaker system.
The subwoofer body has a silver rimmed front-piece that is not flush with the body housing. It's not a huge deal, but you have to kind of set it up either with the front piece hanging off your component shelf or rested up at an angle. Perhaps this was intentional based upon the lower configuration location noted in the included diagrams.
Sound
The power level output of these speakers is sick, to say the least. Some will be hung up on the "simulated" surround sound feature, a gimmick that has been tried before. Still, even though I was initially unsatisfied, I learned that if you set these up in the right acoustical setting it does perform well. There are two possible setups. For the basic workstation setup where you are literally seated at your media center PC, it works awesome. For those, who like me, want to set this up at an entertainment center, you have to center the system in a somewhat square room with unobstructed walls. Then you can get the surround sound feature to properly bounce in your room.
The total RMS power of 180 watts includes a 110 watts RMS Subwoofer with each satellite speaker producing 35 watts of RMS output via the mid-woofer and tweeter pair. That means your total power output is something like 400 watts, which is really in AV power range.
But the sound is clean. The built in amplifier is well tuned for multimedia sound applications, including gaming. If you have a good on-board sound processor, you should be fine. If you experience any sound effects, definitely take a closer look at your hardware and setup.
Some may feel that you can only get surround sound out of 5.1 Logitech Z-5500 THX-Certified 505-Watt 5.1 Digital Surround Sound Speaker System or 7.1 Onkyo SKS-HT540 7.1 Surround Sound Speaker System systems. Still, I prefer 2.1 system with high quality components over 5.1 systems with small and disappointing satellites. There's a lot of nice 5.1 systems out there, don't get me wrong. I own several. Still, this system sounds better than a lot of those. Definitely have to test drive it to hear the difference.
Features
The power adapter is nicely integrated into the subwoofer, so you power up via a standard plug, no power bricks so many people hate. The speakers have right and left noted on the bottom. The right speaker comes to life when you turn it on with the remote. It has a nice orange read out that shows when it's on, the volume level and surround sound setting. The right speaker also includes jacks for headphones and auxiliary connections.
I really wished they would have also added physical volume and power control buttons and knobs. That way, when I want to hook up one of my MP3 players, I wouldn't need the remote to turn it on.
The Logitech software is actually vastly improved for them. I've not always liked some of the integrated software in the past, but this one was a huge improvement. The only minor negative I can give it is that it is automatically included in the startup folder even if you install the software with the option of not turning on at startup. So you have to manually remove it from your startup if you don't want it on all the time, a minor inconvenience.
The remote is the nicest part of this set functionally. For those with Universal remotes, you may wonder why you need this. This remote allows you to access your multimedia apps seamlessly. You can set up 4 presets, though it's less than intuitive.
You've also got some basic navigational buttons that allow you to go back to your previous app. There are included buttons for shuffle and repeat plays, and multimedia...
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25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A fantastic 2.1 sound system. No question. 4.5/5, June 27, 2008
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
If you couldn't tell by the title, this is a great setup for your computer desk. Very, very easy to put together. Sub plugs into the wall, each speaker plugs into the sub, and then one USB cable from the sub to your computer.
By bypassing any soundcard your computer/laptop has, the theory is you get a pure 24bit connection to your computer via USB 2.0. Now, I'm not technically inclined enough to know if that's true or not (I suspect it is true), but heck, what I DO have to compare with is my previous speaker set, the Logitech Z-2300 THX 2.1 sound system.
And, well, this Z Cinema set positively destroys the aforementioned. Everything is much, much clearer. A side-by-side comparison has the Z Cinema win out in pretty much everything, music, games, movies etc. The big complaint about the Z-2300 is that it has no mid-range, which is true. All the high end sounds from the speakers, and the lows from the sub. No in between! No such issue on the Z Cinema! One of the complaints about this Z set is how loud it can get. Now, for general use, about 15% volume is plenty. If you want it really loud, 50% is pretty darn loud, almost uncomfortable. At 100% volume, it's positively violently loud for a 2.1 setup. It does not go as loud as my Z-2300 set. But who cares? At full volume, my Z-2300 would distort HORRIBLY. At full volume on the Z Cinema, it sounds perfect. No distortion whatsoever. It makes much more sense to make full volume on a speaker/subwoofer set like this limited in its output. What's the point of louder volume if the speakers can't handle it? Good thinking there, Logitech, with this newer set.
But, there are a few issues, that definitely need mentioning, and one of them isn't new.
1.) Logitech's packaging. It needs work. My speakers were a little scraped up, and I've read reviews where the subwoofer has been cracked. If the units were packaged a little better, this likely wouldn't happen. I've experienced this with my Z-2300 speakers, too, so this isn't a recent development. The remote was also loose in the box, and suffered some minor battle scars.
2.) Mac OS X compatibility. The box says the speakers are ONLY for Windows XP Media Center and Vista Home/Ultimate users. Now, these are speakers. They SHOULD work with ANY system. So, do they work with OS X? Yes, and..... no. When you plug them in for the very first time, Leopard will detect them as a keyboard (haha!), but if you close that window, you can go into Sound in your System Preferences and set the output of your sound to Z Cinema. Yay! You can adjust the volume no problems from your keyboard or from the included remote. BUT, you can't adjust the bass or treble with the speakers plugged in. You can unplug the speakers from your USB on your Mac computer, THEN adjust the bass, and THEN plug them back in. Thankfully I set my bass once, and never again. But why, Logitech, why? How hard would it have been to add a bit more support to OS X users? We're a growing bunch, you know!
2.) No faux-surround for OS X users. Yep, the biggest downside is that this SRS Surround business doesn't work in OS X at all, no matter what you do. It's software dependent. It works fine in Windows XP (Bootcamp for example).
3.) No power button on the speakers themselves. What? What do you do if you lose the remote? GOOD QUESTION! I guess you're in trouble?
Overall, though, this 2.1 set is fantastic. The clarity of sound is so far beyond anything I've heard on a computer set. Oh, and the brushed silver around the speakers matched my Apple Cinema Display quite wonderfully. Now all this set needs is proper OS X support!
4.5/5
(For those wondering, I've experienced ZERO cutouts of sound or crackling when the system is being taxed, doing LightRoom editing, heavy hard-drive use etc. I suspect this might vary from system to system, but for me it's been ace.)
*EDIT* October 1, 2008:
Having used these speakers for quite a while, I wanted to add an addendum to the review:
First, Logitech still don't officially support the Mac platform which is a little sad. And second, there's a teeny bit of bass bleed that I've detected for a while, and thought I'd make mention of this. Basically, some frequencies are being passed over to the subwoofer a little early in the range. Not sure why, but it's there. The average user won't even notice. 4.5/5 score still stands!
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53 of 64 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Huge tradeoffs in switching to USB speakers, April 17, 2008
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
First things first - users will have to make some significant tradeoffs in making the switch from standard analog computer speakers to the (supposed) conveniences of a USB based speaker setup.
To give you some backstory I'm somewhat of a computer audio power-user. Oftentimes I will have several audio applications up and running simultaneously (eg - iTunes to manage my podcast subscriptions, Rhapsody to stream audio throughout my house, a seperate cd-ripping/management program, etc, etc.). Prior to switching to the Z-Cinema speakers I had been using a 2.1 analog speaker setup that provided a powerful subwoofer with rich sounding satellites, so what I have come to expect from computer speakers is that it should function like your keyboard - something that is always there, unobtrusive and always works.
Unfortunately, due to the USB connection that these speakers are dependent upon its proper functioning is at the mercy of your computer. By default, the Z Cinema speakers becomes another application layer that your computer has to process. If your system resources are being stretched to the limits processing other applications then playing any audio through these speakers becomes another task that your computer has to deal with. The end result is that oftentimes you will hear the audio stuttering as your system strains to keep up with the multiple processes on your system, and even worse at times the Z Cinema software will crash entirely rendering proper playback through these speakers useless until you do a full system reboot. Keep in mind that my computer is no slouch either - I have ample memory and processing capability to multitask like a rockstar but for whatever reasons at times, the Z Cinema will render my audio useless and that is ultimately disappointing.
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