Logitech Z-10 2.0 USB Speakers

Reviews: Multimedia

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Kurtis Kronk
Brian
Logitech
Dec. 21, 2006

Specifications

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Testing - Sound Quality

For this portion of the review I kicked back and watched a couple of DVDs and listened to some selections from different genres within my music collection. Songs were played using Winamp media player with the equalizer turned off for pure sound.

For the DVD, I chose to watch The Last Samurai. I found the sound quality to be as good as I could have expected from a set of 2.0 speakers. There is a good mix of sounds in the action scenes in this movie, as a variety of weapons are used on either side of the fight. Not many movies have guns, cannons, swords, and bow-and-arrows, but this is one of them. These sounds are all equally impressive on these speakers. I couldn't help but feel like I was listening to a good set of home theater speakers, minus the surround sound and subwoofer of course. No complaints here. Now for some music listening tests!

To kick off my music test results, I'll start with some rock music, heavy in the low-end of the spectrum, specifically a little bit of Disturbed and Korn. With a 3" woofer, common sense told me I should have low expectations, and it's a good thing because I'd have been disappointed otherwise. This type of music results in a muddy low and mid-range, there's simply too much going on for these small drivers to handle. In fact, some of the really low notes don't even make it out of the speakers, except as a low sort of hum, which can be a little annoying when you know there should be deep pulsating bass in its place. That said, if you keep the volume about halfway or lower, and don't expect the impossible, the sound quality is certainly acceptable. There isn't bad distortion at full volume; I just mean the lack of bass is more noticeable with the volume high.

I'm not sure if most would consider this rock, but next I tested some Papa Roach. One of the songs stuck out as having a weakness I hadn't noticed in any other songs yet, Obsession. What I noticed when I listened closely was that fast high hats are all muddied up together, and it sounded almost like my neighbor was using a table saw in his garage, if I had to compare it to something. The high hats were just too quick it seemed and the tweeters couldn't respond quickly enough to accurately portray them. To be honest, this really didn't bother me that much, and I don't think I would have noticed it if I wasn't specifically looking for things to complain about.

Next up is the THX Deepest Bass test. Obviously Logitech's Z-10 speakers aren't going to rattle my walls, but I wanted to see what the woofer could throw at me anyways. I must say, I was pleasantly surprised to hear some bass in certain tonal ranges. As with rock music, there are some tones that these speakers just can't reproduce, but I was very impressed at how well they handled the majority of this song.

Pop songs came through nicely, as they tend not to be heavy in low-end sounds. I didn't have any complaints while listening to songs such as Tatu's All the Things She Said. For classical music, I chose to listen to a rendition of Cal Orff's Carmina Burana O Fortuna, a suspenseful score complete with a large choir. I felt like this song was missing something, and after listening a few times, I realized that something was bass. There are a few key points in this song where a heavy bass hit signals an increase in the overall volume and tempo of both the orchestra and the choir, and there is a bit of excitement lost along with the bass.

I've saved the best for last... When I'm working I really like to listen to ambience/techno music. I recently picked up BT's latest CD/DVD titled This Binary Universe, and I've kept the DVD in my computer and the CD in my car for over a month now. I also regularly listen to DI.fm's internet radio stations such as Chillout and Trance. This is the type of music I've spent the majority of my time listening to on these speakers, and I have been 100% satisfied. At no point do I ever hear distortion, at any volume levels. And while it's already been established that they don't cover the very low end of the sound spectrum, they do a more than adequate job everywhere else, and the bass they are able to produce sounds great without being overbearing in my opinion.

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Page 1: Introduction & First Looks
Page 2: Taking a Closer Look & Setup
Page 3: Testing - Features
Page 4: Testing - Sound Quality
Page 5: Conclusion

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2 User Comments

1 - Posted by suzier on June 14, 2008 - 10:12 pm

I love so much my Z-10 Logitech Interactive 2.0 Speaker System. They are so Hi Fi and Power Full, every tonality are there and for a small system like this one it is very, very impress. There is no powered enclosure with so much dynamic. I recommended those enclosures to every body that likes music and wanted a small sound system with Lap Top an excellent compromise and portable.

2 - Posted by MrAudio on January 19, 2009 - 12:45 pm

These speakers are absolutely fantastic. I can hear things in songs that I didn't know were there- you can hear the bass guitarist in every rock song, and can easily separate different layers. They truly are different class, yet again Logitech have produced a gem of an audio system.

The bass is crisp, clean, and ample- I'd call it a nice chunky bass but not too much- just enough. There is plenty of power, even in high volume these are the most crystal clear speakers I've ever heard for a computer/laptop.

The sounds are clean, the bass is deep and tight, whilst the highs are frankly incredible.

10/10, no better 2.0 system out there. Don't hesitate.

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