THX certification, Wireless rears, Tight bass, what's not to like?
Written: Mar 29 '06
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Dolby Digital/DTS decoding, Multiple input options, Excellent mounting options, CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP
Cons: No onboard EQ, but that is just SO minor.
The Bottom Line: For the $299 price tag, there's just no reason to pass these up - particularly if you like the idea of flexible rear speaker placement.
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| kweckstrom's Full Review: Logitech Z-5450 5 Wireless Speakers |
Before I start, I would like to welcome you to my 100th Epinion! Somehow I've managed to stay in the top 200 despite the fact that I took well over a year off from here to deal with "family issues". But I digress.
Now.... I've owned them all. I've had BIG home theater setups. I've had PC-based home theater setups, I've had everything in between. I remember the original THX certification and what it meant for home theater. While the THX brand has become a bit diluted, that doesn't necessarily mean a product isn't "the best of the best". My last speaker set of this caliber was the famed Logitech Z-680's. I liked those speakers a great deal, even with their shortcomings (read: no Dolby Digital or DTS decoding). But I never felt they were worth the bashing they received on many review sites regarding the amplifier hiss. In fact, I found a way to easily get rid of that amplifier hiss and ultimately found it wasn't Logitech's fault to begin with. But that's neither here nor there.
Now, you're ultimately going to be reading this for pretty much one reason, and one reason only: You're lured in by the wireless rear speakers. Let's face it, if the wireless rears weren't included, you'd just go for the balls-out Z-5500 THX set that has a bit more power. Am I right? OK. Then let's get started.
The Speakers Themselves:
Logitech is essentially going on the premise that it's easier to find a power outlet than it is to wire a set of rear channel speaker cables around a room (and quite frankly, they're right.) As such, each rear channel speaker DOES require AC power. For most modern homes, this is absolutely no big deal.
When you open the box, you'll be greeted with the following items: 2 Wireless speakers, a wired center channel, a wired left speaker and right speaker, a nice hefty subwoofer, a control center (with flip-up antenna for driving the rears), and a remote. Without overstating the obvious, i'll go over how these speakers are laid out.
First, the front soundstage (Left/Center/Right speakers) are all wired to the subwoofer. Wires are connected with standard push connectors (they are not hard-wired). The Control center that houses all of your inputs is plugged into the sub as well via a D-SUB connector. Power to the entire system is also driven to the sub via your standard 120V AC cord (non-detachable, one minor niggle. They made the speaker cables independently, why not the power cords?). The cord to the control center is quite long - I would estimate 8ft, perhaps longer. This gives you excellent placement flexibility in your setup. The rear speakers are individually labelled to tell you which is the left rear and right rear. All you have to do is place them strategically within range of an A/C outlet. The power cables to the rear speakers are also non-detachable, but I doubt anyone will care. Besides, extension cords are cheap.
Setting up the speaker system is relatively straightforward. Possibly even MORE straightforward if you read the included documentation (I didn't). If you have any experience with 5.1 speaker setups, this will be child's play.
The control center houses all of the speaker system's inputs. You have the following choices:
5.1 Direct Analog (3 sets of 1/8th inch terminals commonly used with PC applications) OR:
2x3 Stereo direct (3 sets of stereo connections in leiu of 5.1 Surround - Very interesting that Logitech gives you this choice!)
Optical 1 (S/PDIF)
Optical 2 (S/PDIF)
Coaxial
I find it interesting that Logitech would allow you to distribute the 5.1 DIRECT Analog as 3 separate Stereo inputs. For those of you looking to use this speaker setup as a stereo receiver, 3 sets of inputs is USUALLY enough.
The front of the Control Center is informative. It tells you which input you are using and the current "mode" it is in: Stereo, Dolby Digital, DTS, etc. The knob is your standard fare volume knob that also doubles as your input device for when you push any of the other front buttons (for instance, to adjust the center, l/r or rear channels.) You get an "input" button (self explanatory), a level button for setting what I just explained with setting center/surround channels, an effect button for selecting the available "effects" for any given input (stereo, 5.1, Dolby Pro Logic II, etc), settings (changing basic operating settings) and mute. All of these functions, and more, are mimicked on the remote as well.
In addition to the above, the remote has discrete buttons for setting surround, center, L/R and Subwoofer levels. It also has discrete buttons for setting 5.1 direct OR stereo1/stereo2/stereo3 (each discrete), and discrete buttons for optical 1, optical 2 and coaxial digital inputs. If you have a programmable remote that's capable of macros, you'll like those options. The ONLY option you DON'T get on the remote is discrete on/off - which to me is no big deal.
It should also be noted that you get a "test" button on the remote that sends the usual "white noise" test to each channel - including the sub.
Power to the speakers is admirable. RMS specs for each speaker are as such: Left and Right get 38 watts, Center gets 42 Watts, Rears get 40.5 watts. The Subwoofer gets 116 watts. These are RMS values, folks. I paid $299 for this speaker rig, and I'm getting a full 315w RMS, multiple analog and digital inputs AND Dolby Digital/DTS/DTS24-96 decoding in hardware. OH, and a THX certification. And wireless rear speakers.
Game Console Users take note: This speaker system will decode Dolby Digital and DTS. You don't find this every day.
Now really. How much better do you want these speakers to be for the price? While the MSRP is $499, I paid $299 at J&R. I couldn't get this technology for under $1000 just a scant few years ago.
Well, the proof is in the sound quality. So let's judge that.
But before I do, I'm going to cue you in on a little secret. I initially bought these speakers for my computer system. I was going to pretty much use them for nothing but gaming on my computer. But after setting this system up, I decided I had to give it a go with my home theater to see how it would hold up.
I was not disappointed.
Some prior reviews I've read before purchasing these speakers have stated that the small speaker size was incapable of "filling a room". I disagree completely. The trick to filling a room with sound is to hide the source. What I did with my Z-5450 front soundstage was hide them under my Plasma TV's cabinet. Doing this allowed the front/center drivers to reverberate a bit within the cabinet. The cabinet gives these speakers an adequate soundstage while offering JUST enough separation.
So what about the famed Wireless Rears?
Well, here's where we hit one of the nice little innovations that Logitech has given us. While all the speakers sit on standard "tabletop" stands that APPEAR to be fixed, there's a nice fat screw in the bottom of each speaker stand that allows you to easily turn the speaker stand into a "wall mount" position. You have no idea how handy this is. With just a couple of turns of a screw, the standard "tabletop" speaker stand becomes a wall mount - allowing you to quickly and easily slap these suckers right up on your wall. The same is true of the front/center channels. But for me, it was far more useful for the rears.
With my front and rear soundstage exactly where I wanted them, I cranked up some critical material. I was amazed.
Bass: Tight. Not overbearing, and when it WAS overbearing, I was able to easily bring it under control with the remote. The standard drivers in the front/rear soundstages were still capable of decent bass, believe it or not. Granted, you're not going to 35hz on the satellites, but you still get adequate bass reproduction here. The sub definitely rounds things out nicely.
Mids: No problems here. Horns sounded like horns, vocals were fairly crisp with lower end mids being reproduced quite faithfully.
Highs: Here's the only mixed bag. While the speakers are rated at a high end of 20k, I still feel there's more they could have done here. Highs are "there", but the lack of an onboard EQ with this speaker set will be immediately apparent. While highs aren't "missing", they are a bit anemic. The irony here is that if you hook these speakers up to a decent PC-based soundcard - like the X-Fi, you can crank these up to the point where they ARE present. All Logitech REALLY had to do was include a "Treble" setting. Bass is all but taken care of.
Now, don't shoot me, I'm not an audio purist. I think equalization is a GOOD thing. I like tuning audio to my taste. Some prefer hearing everything "flat", which essentially means "the way it was recorded". I personally want things to sound the way *I* want. The speakers alone do not give me these configuration niggles. But that's ok, they still sound awesome.
So let's recap.
These speakers give you:
5.1 channel output
Wireless rears (and I've yet to hear any interference)
Dolby Digital decoding
DTS decoding
THX Certification
A remote(!)
Flexible Analog inputs
3 Digital inputs (2 optical, 1 coax)
Excellent layout potential
These speakers DON'T give you:
A rudimentary EQ (bass/treble alone would have been nice)
If your source is 24/96, the rear speakers are downsampled to 48khz (you'll live.)
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Conclusion: If you don't want to run speaker cables all the way around a room to get to your rears, what other choice do you have? Buy these speakers. They will NOT disappoint. With its low street price, flexible input support, onboard dolby digital and DTS decoding and THX certification and $299 street price, just what the heck are you waiting for? Go get 'em!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
kweckstrom
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Member: Karl Weckstrom
Location: Emerson, NJ
Reviews written: 100
Trusted by: 99 members
About Me:
Voted "Most Likely to be Photographed as a Bigfoot Sighting" by his senior class.
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