Highly recommended for Gamers!
Written: Feb 23 '02 (Updated Feb 25 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Powerful amplifier, good build quality, relatively inexpensive.
Cons: No separate treble control.
The Bottom Line: Excellent speakers for the money. Logitech is not just about computer mice anymore.
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| jaymend's Full Review: Logitech Z-560 4 Speakers |
My old Altec Lansing 3 piece set gave up the ghost last December after a prolonged session with Return To Castle Wolfenstein. I needed a replacement immediately so off I went to my favorite computer retailer. I was actually looking to buy the Cambrige Soundworks FPS 1500 when I spotted a solitary Z560 sitting on the shelf. One look at the 8" subwoofer, with its output doubtless enhanced more by a flared port on the sub's side, and I thought I got to check these speakers out.
Testing in the store, I was pretty happy at the fullness of the bass coming from the subwoofer and upon further inspection, I was surprised to see the massive heatsink of the amplifier located at the back of the sub. This is one big heatsink which means Logitech is not kidding about claims of 400 plus watts RMS coming off the satellite-subwoofer combo. RMS more or less stands for continuous power unlike PMPO which is power for very short period of time and which is used by a lot of manufacturers in their power output claims for their respective speakers. I was also glad to see that the satellites had real binding posts to connect the speaker wires to.
You find binding posts being used on higher end speakers and their advantage is that you can substitute better, higher quality speaker cables of your own choosing. The quality of the satellites with their adjustable metal stands, the massive amplifier heat sink, and the big 8" subwoofer driver convinced me that these are the speakers I gotta have.
Hooking up these puppies was pretty simple and the only thing to watch out for is that these speakers will sound better if your PC is equipped with a soundcard with separate front and rear output jacks (like those on the SB Live series) corresponding to the front and rear connection to the control module which ultimately powers the front and rear satellite speaker pairs respectively. If you have an old soundcard with only a stereo output, you can still enjoy pseudo 4.1 channel sound by switching on the M3D decoder found on the Z560's controller.
As soon as fired up the Z560 at home I was astounded by the quality of sound I got while playing games like Return To Castle Wolfenstein (RTCW), Serious Sam, and Quake 3 Arena. Note that I have a Soundblaster Live with EAX which can take advantage of the Z650's 4 separate channels.
All at once my gaming experience went up a notch! These speakers deliver the goods at high volumes (read: floor shaking) without cracking up or producing dreadful distortion. Powerful explosions and gunfire never sounded so real... as do game soundtracks. Take for example the low rumble of the bass which heightened the suspense while I was lurking in the catacombs of RTCW. I did not hear this rumble with my previous speaker. All I heard was air flapping out (distortion) of the old speakers' subwoofer cones.
I also tried listening to DVDs on these speakers using the Power DVD software with its own surround decoder. One of the DVDs I watched was The Gladiator and I swear the Z560 subwoofer approximates the power of my main system which is a set Infinity Modulus speakers with 2 12" Servo subwoofers rated at 250 watts RMS each. I have to confess my PC is in a smaller room than my main entertainment system though.
I also use these speakers to listen to Rock and Heavy Metal CDs and MP3s while riding my stationary bike and all I can say is they do a good job reproducing the music from these sources. You can clearly distinguish the sound of Kick Drums from those made by the Bass Guitar. Even at high volumes you can still hear the cymbals clearly. The only problem with good speakers like these is that they tend to highlight the poor quality of certain recordings specially many of the MP3s I downloaded using the now defunct Napster.
These speakers have been in constant use by me and my kids since the time I bought them last December. They have performed flawlessly. I don't have much to say about the M3D decoder as I don't use it, preferring instead the decoder built into the game itself, or Soundblasters EAX effects if the game does not have one. The only gripe I have about this speaker is that its control unit does not include a pot (potentiometer) for Treble.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
jaymend
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 - Top 1000 |
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Location: Toronto, Ontario
Reviews written: 19
Trusted by: 6 members
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