Logitech Z-5500 Alternative ?

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Silly Devil

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I know I know, at least 80% of people on this forum seem to hate the Z-5500 for some reason..

Well our old speaker set (2.1) died and so we need a new set, now I'm no "audiophile" so I don't know much when it comes to speakers but I have been looking into the Z-5500 for 2 reason, 1 they are in my budget and 2 there are tons of good review about them (except here)
I mainly use speaker to listen to music, but my boyfriend uses them to play video games and watch movies and so we agreed for 5.1 because we have a medium size room, so here are my questions;

1. Are there any 5.1 alternative ? (I am buying the Z-5500 for 350cnd approx 290us
not willing to pay more)

2. Why are the Z-5500 so hated on this forum, or m I wrong saying they are ?

p.s. for some reason this set is over priced in canada compared to the us per se, on
amazon.com they are 200 us which is 240 cnd but on amazon.ca they are 370 cnd
which is 310 us > . >

Thank you for replying !
 
There are many better stereos for the price than the logitech. Much prettier ones too.

Surround is not really worth it when the speakers are so small and bad sounding. It is better to spend the same amount or less on a good little 2 or 2.1 stereo.

A good 2 or 2.1 will sound MUCH better for music than a cheap 5.1.

What city are you in? I am guessing Quebec?

I can find you a good store where you live to visit and listen to some real speakers that will cost the same as the 5500s.
 
Ladic said:
z5500 are the best pc speakers
Click to expand...

IMO that doesn't really mean much given PC speakers in general tend to be...bad. At 300 USD I agree with Spaceman that 2.0, maybe 2.1 would be the way to go, even for movies and games, though he'll give you better advice on what to pick out because I'm not a speaker person compared to headphones and even then...
 
I was looking at the z-5500 because I watch a lot of movies and heard lots of good stuff about them but just decided to go for the Swan M10's from AudioInsider because I also listen to lots of music. I am in love with the swan's, I miss the surround sound but they make up for it in their beautiful sound.
 
I just sold my Z5500's looking for something with better quality. Don't get me wrong I don't hate the Z5500's but once you've heard a decent set of speakers you can notice the weakness of the 5500's.

With that said where in Canada can one find the Swan M10's I havn't been able to find them, any ideas?
 
For what it is worth, there is no new 5.1 sound system that can come close to the Z-5500 at its price or even $100 more, not even a new cheap HTIB.
 
You really can't get good sound by combining a 10" subwoofer and 3" satellites. There are audio gaps caused by that size mismatch.

Because of that gap, the Z5500 has a high crossover value, which means some localized sounds do come from the subwoofer. You need to place the subwoofer in your field of hearing (i.e. in front of you and not under your desk) or you will get even muddier sound and/or oddly located sound effects.

The benefit of the Z5500 is that it doesn't require a receiver, and features a 10" subwoofer, which is what makes it a good deal @ the price point. If you want 'acceptable' sound, the Z5500 delivers. If you are more serious about your audio, you are probably better off getting a set of powered monitors, and a dedicated 8 or 10" subwoofer.
 
Well thank you very much for the advices guys, and well, a 2.0 or 2.1 wouldn't really cut it, because our desk is the living room,but behind the sofa so I would have to move the speakers every time I want to listen to movies on the tv and listen to music on the computer..
So later today I'll go buy the Z-5500 and change the satellites on them with bigger/better ones, now I'm not sure if that's a good idea but I will give is a go, if the system doesn't sound as good as I thought I will bring it back and come back on this forum and ask you guys other advices ^_^

p.s. I live in Kingston,Ontario not Quebec and there isn't much to choose from..few
"third party store" as I call them, if anyone has advice on
good satellites I could find on bestbuy.ca
 
spaceman said:
Yes there is an alternative. The Pioneer Home Theatre System (HTP-3990) includes a receiver. This way, you can eventually change out the speakers for better ones. It is a better deal than the 5500s, especially in the long run b/c you have more options down the road.

http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/prodd...=0926INGFS10108114&catid=20311&test_cookie=1#
Click to expand...

can that system be used to listen music from my computer ?

p.s. I do have a old receiver (4 years old though) from JVC if that can be used on a Z-5500..
 
It's fairly trivial to connect a PC to a receiver. Either optical or coaxial out from the PC to the receiver (and if the mobo was made any time in the last few years, it ought to have one or the other). If you already have a receiver, you have even less reason to consider the Z-5500. If I remember right, spaceman was recommending this set from partsexpress a while ago (they do ship to Canada):

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=300-696
 
Just a note.. Parts Express does ship to Canada yes, but it's still from the states. Expect customs and duties, along with insane amount of money and shipping. I remember checking out a sub Spaceman recommended and going all the way to check out, turned to be around 300$ from a less than 100$ sub.

EDIT:

Here's a quicky on what it would cost to get to Canada.. BEFORE taxes & duties/brokerage fees.

Priority Mail International $147.17
Subtotal: $337.07 <-- Also in USD.

Look at all this shit stack up, not worth it. Canada is severely getting the shit end of the stick from these websites, I'm very disappointed..

I had the Z-5500.. they were quite crap for music.. good for gaming/movies.
 
I'm not sure if this applies to people from Canada, but you should be able to get z5500 for cheaper from Dell with online coupon and get free shipping.

If you're not too picky about the audio quality, z5500 should be more than enough. Personally, I think I would get the z5500 now, and later when you have more money, upgrade the speakers. The sub on z5500 isn't bad at all.
 
well, i dunno, but i've heard audio through some serious setups (one dude was a audio professor who built his own speakers from custom parts for example) and i think the Z5500's sound gorgeous.
Couple it with a good soundcard like the Audigy 2/4/X-Fi/Auzentech and you're in for a treat.
CMSS2 gives you that lovely, warm, spacial analog/vinyl quality by subtley upmixing to 5.1.
The subwoofer IS incredibly powerful. There's no two ways about it. In my little room i only have the sub volume set to a couple of notches and it's perfect.
Speaker placement is everything in a 5.1 setup. Once you've got that right you need to find the correct level for the sub relative to the size of the room and where you'll be sat.
If you like heavy bass then yes, you're probably better off getting studio speakers.
The mistake i think some people make is assuming adjusting bass and trebble through your cd player or Windows equalizer is the same as adjusting the bass/trebble on a 5.1+reciever speaker system. On a CD player or within Windows you're adjusting the overall output of the audio. With a 5.1 setup you're adjusting entirely different channels.
Equalizers and whatnots are disabled in Windows for me. All adjustments to bass/trebble and DSP effects are made on the reciever.
 
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