Logitech Z-5500 Digital 5.1 500W Speaker System

Reviews: Multimedia

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Bradford Day
Kurtis
Logitech
May. 16, 2005

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First Looks

As you can no doubt glean from the lengthy product description, these speakers aren't light on features. They also aren't light, period. When these suckers arrived, the FedEx guy was wheeling them in on a dolly. With a total shipping weight of 60 lbs., I was having a hard time keeping myself from expecting big things from day 1...plus I had played with these speakers at CES, so I already had an idea of what they were capable of. After I managed to wedge the massive box into my truck I hurried home to start playing with these babies.

Perfectly sealed in a protective cocoon of styrofoam you will find one massive 10" subwoofer, 4 satellite speakers, 1 center channel speaker, a control unit, wireless remote with batteries, loads of wire, a large instruction sheet and a user manual. After dislodging the satellite units from their lily-white foamy home I reached for the subwoofer. Promptly I discovered where all the weight was coming from. The handsome black enclosure houses one serious sub. With 188 RMS watts to play with I could almost feel my walls shake before I ever plugged them in. I finally managed to free the sub from the box...and after a quick hernia operation, I was ready to test.

The four satellite speakers are simple units each packing 62 watts of fun. A single 3" polished aluminum cone inhabits the silver cases and is covered with an easily removable screen with THX tags displayed as prominently as the Logitech logos. They even look sharp with the screens removed...like miniature jet engines. The center channel speaker is an exact replica of the satellite speakers but it sits sideways on its silver two-pronged base and possesses 7 extra watts over its four brothers. All five speakers rest atop swiveling bases that can either be set on a flat surface or rotated for wall mounting.

Each of the speakers including the subwoofer have standard spring clip cable inputs, not unlike what you might find on a typical home sound system speaker. Of course since the subwoofer houses the receiver and digital decoder it also contains the speaker and source inputs. Direct RCA, coax and optical inputs adorn the rear of the sub situated next to the rather large heatsink.

The control unit acts as a remote receiver as well as volume knob receptacle and speaker settings station. It stands about 10 inches tall on a silver base. It connects to your input device via the included 3.5mm plug wires or a coax or optical connection (neither of which is included). The control center is tethered to the subwoofer via a serial connection-type plug and wire. And while Kurtis found the Z-680's control center difficult to read at extreme upward or downward angles, I encountered no such dilemma with the Z-5500s. Logitech must have upgraded the two line back-lit LCD screen. Although viewing the screen from extreme side angles does make it difficult to read as the letters appear to vanish. An input button will allow you to cycle through the available input connections coming in from your computer, Xbox, etc.. and the effect button allows the user to choose which preset outputs sound the best for a given media. More on the settings later. You can also power down the entire set-up using the control unit's power button.

All the buttons present on the control unit can also be found on the wireless remote. The remote features volume controls for the subwoofer, center speaker and surround satellites. An audio test button on the remote will run a small speaker test to help you adjust the position of your satellites and help to make sure that you plugged the correct wires into the correct speaker...not that I need the test, mind you. The speaker test is nothing more than a series of white noise systematically played through each speaker channel. Don't expect a full on bass test. The range of this remote exceeded the furthest distance I could muster. I was standing on my couch a room and a half away and had no problems adjusting volume with the remote. Even at a near perpendicular angle the receiver picked up the remote's inputs.

In comparison to its predecessor, the Z-680s, the Z-5500s are indeed an evolution. Logitech retained the basic premises...500 watt system, Dolby Digital and Pro-Logic II decoding with THX certification and a honking big control unit. But they evolved this sound system in a major way while managing to reuse essentially the same satellite and center speakers and remote. The casings underwent a stylish make-over and the control unit was redesigned with much success. The subwoofer, however, gained some weight and the driver was upgraded from 8" to 10". From a sheer design aspect, Logitech has already leapt forward. But design means nothing if they sound like crap. For further comparison check out Kurtis's review of the Z-680s.

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Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: First Looks
Page 3: Testing
Page 4: Conclusion

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3 User Comments

1 - Posted by Guest on May 18, 2005 - 4:59 pm

Are the satelite speakers wall mountable?

Thanks.

2 - Posted by Guest on August 12, 2005 - 10:44 pm

Why does this Z-5500 have unattached speaker cables and the one they are selling on Newegg doesn't? Can someone tell me where I can get this set instead?

3 - Posted by Guest on August 13, 2005 - 12:07 am

Also, with every other review I've read:
http://reviews.cnet.com/Logitech_Z_5500_Digital/45...
http://www.thetechzone.com/?m=show&id=141
http://www.tweaknews.net/reviews/z5500/
http://www.xtremeresources.com/ modules.php?op=modload&name=Re views&file=index&req=showconte nt&id=74

the Z-5500 is marked down due to attached cables.

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