Logitech 5.1 Z-5450's / Z-5500 DIGITAL Speakers (Short Review)

Judas

For awhile now i've been toying around with these units.

Officially the Z-5450's are actually discontinued from what i understand, however stores are liquidating them, don't be thrown by this, they are actually a pretty damn good set off speakers, and really, considering the price and the wireless rear speakers, not a bad price either. I've found some for roughly around the $300 CAD mark.

The Z-5500's, from what i can tell looking at the orginal sets that logitech setup, and the newest i've seen, it appears there are 2nd generation models, however i cannot confirm this, very small redesigns that improve overall quality of the output, things sound much better, but that could be just in my head lol.

Reguardless continueing on.


First the Z-5450's

Packing roughly 630 Peak Wattage, the set is quite easy to setup, 15 feet (times 3) of normal 18 gauge speaker wire to setup your 3 front speakers, and 2 rear speakers are wireless (however require that you plug them into a plugin to power them). The soundside of this is that you NEED 2 available Plugins for the rear speakers, and while in some cases, this isn't all that big of an issue, i've ran into the problem that the cords just simply aren't long enough, roughly 6 feet of power cord isn't gonna cut it. But extention cords are fairly cheap and will work fine. Everything hooked up to the Subwoofer/Amp EXCEPT the audio inputs, these are all attached to the main receiver unit. The unit allows one to plug in headphones, plug in an mp3 player directly so that the audio is played back through the system, either a 6 direct analog channels connection OR using the 3x2 switch, you can run 3 Different sets of Stereo analog audio to the receiver. I must say this is by far the most interesting as not only does this allow you to hook up a computer using all 6 channels, but if you don't use all 6 or you aren't using any analog inputs from your machine at all, you can attach 3 other devices, perfect for a simplified home theater unit (plug in satalite dish, casset player, cd player or whatever you want). Also there are 2 Fiber optic inputs and 1 coax for true Digital in. Along the back there is also a single Radio attenna, specifically used to send audio to the rear speakers.

Preferably, if you have Coax or Fiber Out avaiable from your computer or any other device, this will be the source you'll want to use, most newer machines with digital out usually now have the ability to use prologicIIx to resample any audio format, mono/stereo whatever, into a 5.1 digital sound, This is definitely a must if you plan on using the digital connection otherwise when a stereo sound is presented, only the 2 speakers will operate with very very limited low tones, it just won't be as full sounding.

The remote control that comes with it is simple and actually well layed out. You can pick whatever source you want, you can on the fly independantly adjust the Surround (rear) speaker volume, the center volume, and the sub volume. Ontop of that, depending on the source and type of audio format, you can add or flip through the "effects" that can applied to get a more surround sound effect from them. I prefer to leave effects off as they usually make music or other forms of audio sound.... well, terrible imo.

The Test button is your friend. Quite often i've been around some peopels surroud units where everything is adjusted to the point of being out of wack, usually i'll offer to tune it up again and the results usually please them. With this unit, after you've got everything placed the best you can get them (wall mounting is easy, they sound much better if all the speakers are mounted at the same heigth and in the recommended oriantation ) use the test tone as well as sitting in the center to properly adjust each set of speakers. What i've found in a perfect setup, is that the surround speakers usually always have to come up in volume slightly, however center and sub stock volume is actually quite perfect i beleive, perhaps the center could be slightly, very slightly lowered but it all depends on the room your setting up for.

Now obviously playing low quality mp3s through the unit is like buying a super high quality HDTV, big screen TV and then only viewing Standard definition TV on it, pretty damn crummy, actually worse then what a SDTV would be like. So while most people (and alot of the reviews i've seen on speakers) seem to expect a set of speakers to "clean up" or make terribly low quality mp3s sound great, i think that's a bit rediculious to assume. But higher quality, say anything over 192kbps mp3s sound damn good, very little distortion from the surround speakers when using prologicIIx. Course 320kbps is the cats meow for stereo music.

Playing back True 5.1 Dolby Digital or DTS is where things really shine, pop in a DVD or HD-DVD with these formats using a DIGITAL connection, and most peoples faces will lightup, nothing but solid clear crisp and descrete 5.1 surround sound. I've had people comment on the setup comparing it to being at some of the BEST theaters, but with a more definite surround sound effect.

Being THX certified, is imo more of a gimick then really anything else, sure it passes thier critical tests, but some system without THX have sounded damn good to. But still, it's just a little more confidence in the product.

Theres only one downfall of the rear speakers being wireless, they are only capable of 48khz, 16 bit sampling. While the front three are 96/24, the rear is the limiting factor, while this isn't really noticeable, on high end audio playback, you can definitely tell if you were to listen to the Z-5500 in comparison.

Overall, if someone were to use this specifically for a computer for music and games, it's a fairly damn decent setup, someone looking for home theater, it's just as good as some of the Sony/JVC/Pioneer setups, in many cases, alot simplier and easy to use not to mention more inputs and truely surround sound capable. Top it off, much cheaper.


the Z-5500 is the top model atm from logitech, there is the occasional odd rumor that a Z-7xxx series to arrive, but who knows when that might happen. The Z-5500 has 1000 watts of peak power (500 rms) Remember, more watts doesn't equate to Volume, it is clarity. All speakers are wired, 3x15ft standard 18 guage wires for the front and 2x25ft for the rear. I'm quite pleased that they opted to put standard speaker wire hookups, not to mention the 25 foot length in the package, nothing irritates me more then running short and having to run adapters either using a special set of wire connectors OR the Z-5300e's RCA type cabling. Getting extra speaker wire is dirt cheap and damn easy, so this is a definite Big Plus. The entire design is very much similare to that of the Z-5450's however it's obvious that each speaker is a little larger and heavier due to the capabilities of the system. The main receiver has pretty much identical options as well, however it's only got 1 Fiber Optic input unlike the 2 available on the Z-5450's. To most people, this isn't a concern, but for myself and anyone wanting to hook up several independant digital sources, 2 is likely not enough. Setup is a little longer for the system mind you when it's up and runing, it's definitely worth the time. Like the Z-5450's , the remote is simple, easy to use, setting the volumes and everything is a snap. The real advantage is litterly heard when at much lower volumes, just a whisper of volume and you can clearly understand and hear the notes and sounds, voices/vocals, even in a noisers area as well, this is where wattage really shines. Crank it up, and while some people will initially think it's not all that loud, the clarity and quality of the system is evident when you try to speak to another person only a few feet away, and your own voice gets lost in the exceptionally powerful sound. Distortion at this level of volume is non excistant, the subwoofer is usually the highest concern IMO, however using stock sub volume, at max volume, it's got a very solid non distorted thump. Some people have however thought it was distorting when it wasn't, the resulting vibrations produced by it would litterly rattle the surroundings to the point that they would make an audioable sound that would obviously sound bad, NOT the fault of the system lol.


On all 5.1 systems, placement of the subwoofer is fairly critical. It's best to trial and error depending on the room, sometimes placing it dead center with the port facing away from the wall is best, other times if things are solid enough, setting the sub so that the port is facing the wall but 8-12 inches away will give you a much more evident thump, putting it in the corner will tend to also give a little more thump as well.

Would i recommend the Z-5450 or Z-5500's for a home theater entertainment surround sound package? Definitely, the 5450's i'd consider a good starter kit, fairly cheap considering the quality and clarity, but shouldn't be put into large rooms IMO, the Z-5500 will definitely fill a larger room though. The Z-5500's tend to go for roughly $400CAD Definitely a much better alternative to that of some of the known brand names own 5.1 units.