I am contemplating on buying some speakers. I currently have the logitech Z5300 THX surround sound speakers. They are good but its time to upgrade. I am currently looking into the Logitech Z5500 Speakers. I have seen the ratings but I am not to sure if I should buy them or not. What do you guys think?

Also anyone here have the Logitech Z5500 Speakers?

I don't have the Z-5500 but I will as soon as I get the bank account back to sanity. I had a demo recently and loved them.

What's bothering you about the Z5300? Just wondering if you'd gain enough from the upgrade to justify $300. From what I hear the Z5300 is very nice too.

You may want to look at Klipsch Promedia 5.1 Ultra too.

Best Speakers?

That is a bit like asking a guy if he likes Blondes or Brunettes, Big Tata's or little..... ah you get the point.

Remember Sound if very personal and your room size and conditions are going to impact the sound. I have identical speakers for my office and my home office. I can't stand the speakers at work. I would change the speakers at work, but nothing I have tried sounds worth a flip so I stay with what I got.

Z-5500 are fantastic for surround sound desktop speakers, you wouldn't want to pay any more for 'pc' speakers, but then again, I woudln't classify them as 'just' pc speakers either.

StevieD makes a good ponit too though, whenever you're buying speakers the environment they will be in is important. But also whether you like the 'sound' of the speakers too, if you aren't that fussy about such things, you shouldn't even be thinking about getting speakers over $100.

A few of my friends have the Z-5500's and I've thought about getting them myself, but I just think it'd be a waste on just a pc, if I had a few consoles and a tv tuner hooked up to the pc then sure it'd be worth it, otherwise just for pc games its a bit excessive.

Don't get me wrong, they are fantastic speakers, but do you really need them?

I would have to say that the Z-5500's are the best 5.1 surround sound system money can buy, but as long as you get a soundcard to match. The Fatal1ty XtremeGamer Pro Series with the Z-5500's create a 3-D sound envelope around you so you can hear where your enemys are before you see them. It just makes playing games that much better! All my friends online aways ask me how I know right where they are and I tell them, I heard you.

I have the extreme music I think its called. I have that version of the card you are talking about. Is this one just as good?

Thanks,

Good question, can I get the same effect on my X-Fi Xtreme Music?

X-Fi Xtreme Music can do that also, you have to use the console to put it into "game" mode so it can used advanced EAX.

I have the Z5500 and they are far by the best speakers I have. They sound better than my brother's home surround system... That's my op... I have them matched with my Xfi elite pro sound card and man, out of this world... they rock. My cousin has the Soundworks 7.1 S750's and my speakers sound better, again my op.... you could buy them on Newegg for like 250 or less??? I play my games, watch movie's and play music and Bammm, great quality..

i love all the "gamers" saying they need surround sound and an xfi to tell where a play is behind them... you dont need surround sound for this... even 2.0 sound works. how do i know? ive been doing it for years in Jedi Academy... of course that game actually takes skill... not just luck and pray.

I have the new BOSE companion system and it sounds great.
Enjoy

If muddy, over-powering bass, with a weak mid range is to your liking, then yes, they are worth getting. But personally, I think they sound like crap. I demoed them at a couple places after hearing all of the hype, but wow was I disappointed. If you are an audiophile, and you like to listen to good, clean, well-balanced music, the z5500 is NOT the way to go. But seeing as most people praise them, it leads me to conclude that they either have never heard a really good sounding system, or they just don't have an ear for good sound.

My 2 cents: Pick up a decent 5.1 receiver on ebay and a good set of speakers and you will be miles ahead, assuming you can fine tune the receiver correctly.

I would think the extreme music was made for just that music, weather it performs the same I don't know. When I bought the X-FI Fatality Pro Series XtremeGamer I knew I had the best soundcard out there. Don't let your speakers limit what you hear. Often people buy the best soundcard and skimp on the speakers, if you do that your not going to hear the best sound in my opinion.

Bose sounds great


Great compared to what?

if you have the budget, even a pair of good full range floorstandings can blow away a set of surround pc speakers... its largely going to depend on your available space too, such as, if everything is too close proximity, you wont get the full sound and dispersion... and it may not be worth investing in some though 'if' the source media is mainly just poor quality mp3s and such. but, assuming the source media is great quality (and you have the available space and budget), you really wouldnt want to go with anything less than a sound set you can assemble individually even, speakers, components, interconnects, and all, basically a DIY HT set. the room also does play a fairly large part in how things sound too, as do where the speakers are positioned... too many soft surfaces will absorb the frequencies, dulling and deadening the sound, and too many hard surfaces, will cause more echo and reverb, more of a loud headache and distraction to say the least. so at the very least its good to have a balance when possible, mostly softer surfaces on the sides and below (carpets, padded placemats underneath the speakers to reduce reflection, and other softer surfaces underneath, and sheets or something softer on the walls), and more reflective/harder/solid surfaces towards the back and ceiling, but not all one way or the other either. (some environments simply sound horrible, and others sound better, as was pointed out in another post), its basically more of the difference between how a movie theatre is designed, speakers, seats, materials, and all, and how something with absolutely no real desirable room acoustics is.

if you have the money though ($200-300), a decent pair of floorstandings (~$100+, 8 ohms usually) and a surround receiver (~$100+, 5.1 minimum, also usually 8 ohms minimum per channel), would definetly be the way to go for any pc, IMO. and that way you can add bookshelves/satellites, a powered sub for additional bass (.1 LFE 'bass effect' channel for dvds mainly), and whatever else later on if you wanted.

personally, ive found that the crossover frequency for surround satellite/sub setups usually isnt the smoothest... the satellites have all the higher frequencies, and then the powered sub comes in booming from an off angle more or less (its omnidirectional, so placement doesnt matter too much, but closer to a corner is usually the best way to maximize the bass output, and vice versa). but, again, if you have the space and money, floorstandings can do a great job of taking over the whole audible frequency range by themselves, especially with more drivers usually, covering different frequency ranges (usually 3, 4, 5 or even more drivers in a single speaker, usually called 2-way, 3-way, 4-way, etc, by the amount of crossover links it has), much smoother. you can usually hear them easier without having to turn the volume up by much (excursion?), i guess the speaker cabinet usually does a pretty good job of projecting the sound from the drivers, and amplifying the bass from a passive radiator/bass chamber/bass port, etc, and filling up the room as a result, and as a whole, but not just because the volume is louder really (thats probably not an accurate description, but im sure most people probably know what i mean)

sound clarity and distortion is also something to consider, SnR, THD, etc... i guess those would be largely dependant on the actual drivers, beyond that though, not too sure... the listed wattages though dont really matter too much, you can get a set that says it offers a lot, but more than likely youll just end up with a lot of loud unclear sound when you turn the volume up (theres not much speaker excursion when it comes to satellites usually, typically due to their smaller sized drivers/mainly higher frequencies, and lighter weight/flimsier construction, and the sound is usually fairly narrow as a result, meaning you absolutely have to have them directed at you to hear things well, i guess theyre pretty much limited to on axis dispersion then, its called i think, and listening from more off to the side isnt really an option if youre wanting clarity too, which is off axis dispersion), so turning up the volume cant really compensate for that, all that would do is make things louder. however, if the satellites are heavy (at least a few pounds or so each), most likely theyll be able to project sound pretty well without additional volume, or higher wattages.

You must be a home theater Guru like me, if I use my M&K THX Ultra system on my computer would raddle. "Your speakers will only sound as good as your room." Stay away from those glass tables, they even sell wall panels to tame those highs.

yeah, i definetly go quieter when i can (not a lot of tolerance for loudness, but decent quality is always welcome), the speakers themselves though that i own are all Sonys (so not too much in the audiophile realm as far as pricing or reputation, considering they also were xmas/bday gifts at various points, so no complaints really either), 2 SS-MF650H floorstandings ($150 new), a 5.1 SA-VE445H surround set ($200 new), a JVC RX-8030VBK 6.1 A/V ($150 new), Panasonic DVD-F87 dvd-a/dvd-v player ($140 new), and 2 dual 10 band equalizers for fronts and surrounds ($70 new for one, the other was free, and the center channel is EQ'd by the receiver), so thats 7.1 then (and an audigy 2 ZS for my sound card)... but its also all in my 10'x8' bedroom, lol, so just room for a computer desk, chair, a bed (sticking halfway out of a closet), 2 dressers, and the speakers all on stands and other supports (and not much room for a lot of walking otherwise), but it all certainly makes watching dvds, listening to music, and playing games enjoyable

so... while overall it may seem expensive (for anyone else reading), you can get a pretty decent start for only a little over $200 (the things i listed are also less expensive now as well, wherever you may find them)... more for the audiophile on a tight budget, though those words usually arent seen together. and one big advantage HT setups have over pc speakers, is that they are fully interchangable between your living room setup and your pc, and are guaranteed to outlast the usefulness of pc speakers too (and even your pc as a whole), because quality HT components arent something you need to upgrade every few years, or even every year like other computer hardware, its more like once every 20 years or more, simply due to the slow progress speaker quality tends to make compared to other IT things, and the durability they have (and only replaced when they actually might start to fail, due to a rotting driver from age, shorted circuitry, or whatever), and even then you might only need to replace a single portion/component from whats there.

Good read! Thanks for the input. Im in the market for new speakers as im in the middle of a pc build. Soon I will be getting a new LCD TV and will be in the market for HT system.

Im new to all this stuff. I have a few questions. Is there a way you can keep your Speakers plugged into your pc and your TV/receiver? It makes sense to use your speakers for both if they are compatible. (I am a newbe)

And could you guys recommend a decent 5.1 brand? That will work for PC and TV/receiver.

(grrr I hope i made sense) lol

Thx