Logitech Z3 2.1 Speaker Review

[LOC Veteran]

This is my review of the Logitech Z3 2.1 Speaker set from Logitech I posted for my website:

While most people concern themselves with how a game looks these days (take Doom 3 as an example for something recently) there is another very important aspect of a game that usually gets completely ignored: Sound.

Most games these days have many options for sound quality in-game. From normal stereo output to 5.1 surround sound to dolby encoded sound. While some people swear by headphones for the best gaming experience, the real sound only comes out with a good set of speakers. Logitech has been making consumer level speakers for many years now, they are well known for their fairly cheap THX certified speaker set and their other popular sets. Enter the Z3's. A 2.1 speaker set, with an attractive price tag and feature set, they are a terrific value and sound spectacular.

First let's see what the Z3's offer. Here are the specifications:

• Premium sound and modern design for music lovers.
  
• Polished aluminum phase plug satellites combine two drivers into one: the clarity of a tweeter with the richness and fullness of a separate mid-range.
  
• Stylish brushed aluminum face and removable grilles.
  
• Solid metal stands for stability.
  
• Award winning and patented Logitech pressure driver subwoofer technology delivers twice the bass energy for unparalleled, distortion-free bass.
  
• Convenient wired remote includes headphone jack, volume, and power control.
  
• Adjust bass level to your personal preference.
  
• Color coded audio cables for easy setup.
  

Technical specifications:

• Total RMS power: 40 watts RMS
  
• - Satellites: 17 watts RMS (8.5W x 2)
  
• - Subwoofer: 23 watts RMS
  
• Total Peak power: 80 watts
  
• Frequency response: 35 Hz ? 20 kHz
  

Drivers:

• - Satellites: 2? Aluminum phase plug driver
  
• - Subwoofer: 8? Pressure driver
  

Speaker dimensions:

• - Satellites: (H) 7.75? x (W) 3.625? x (D) 3.125?
  
• - Subwoofer: (H) 9? x (W) 8.875? x (D) 9.375?
  
• Signal to noise ratio: > 92db
  

Packaging and accessories:

• Speakers: 2 satellites & 1 subwoofer
  
• All necessary cables
  
• Owner?s manual
  
• Wired remote control
  
• Two year limited warranty
  

Now with the specs out of the way, let's discuss these speakers. First of all the subwoofer. It's a beautifully crafted subwoofer, in wood finish. It looks terrific to say the least. And it sounds even better. It has incredibly deep bass for it's size and, well frankly it sounds amazing. Now for the satellites. Both are quite sturdy and fairly large in size considering the price of the set. They have tremendous response range from what I've listened to so far.

Setting the speakers up couldn't be easier. A 10 year old could probably do it. It took me about 5 minutes to take the speakers out of the box and have them pumping out music and gaming goodness. Of course, looks and specs are one thing, but how do they perform really? One word: terrific!

Testing consisted of the following:

Mozart Piano Concerto No. 17 3rd Movement

Metallica ? Enter Sandman

Linkin Park ? Crawling

Uncle Kracker ? Follow Me

Unreal Tournament 2004

Call of Duty

Doom 3

Testing system consisted of the following:

AMD Athlon XP 2500+ "Barton" ~ 3200+

1 GB PC3200 DDR

eVGA Geforce 6800GT

M-Audio Revolution 7.1

Music wise these speakers are hard to fault. Both the Metallica and Linkin Park tracks sounded about perfect from my end. Bass was very deep as stated previously. Treble was quite responsive as well. All in all wonderful for music so far. The Mozart piece was even better, listening to the piece on these speakers was simply wonderful. The Uncle Kracker track sounded great as well. The only thing so far that I didn't like about the speakers was volume response. If you blast these speakers distortion sets in. It's not all that bad, but it is noticeable.

Game wise these speakers perform well also. In Unreal Tournament 2004, you can hear rockets whizzing by your head and explosions are incredibly loud and thunderous. In Call of Duty, the sound is very immersive. It sounds like you are really in a war zone. Now Doom 3. All I'll say is that these speakers (and the game obviously) scared the crap out of me several times. Gaming performance is top notch for the price point and size of these speakers. You won't be dissapointed.

I had a great time evaluating these speakers. If you are looking for a cheap and great sounding 2.1 speaker set, look no further than the Logitech Z3 2.1 set. They look great, sound great and best of all, at $99 they won't buPros: your pants.

Pros:

• Cheap
  
• Easy to setup
  
• Great looking
  
• Good sound and response considering the size and price
  
• Did Cons:eap?
  

Cons:

• Some distortion at high volume levels
  
• Still only a 2.1 set, and only 40 watts
  

I want to thank Logitech for sending these speakers to me for review.

NVmax is the originating review.

(P.S. there are no images, simply because I cannot link to them from my site. If you guys want I'll post some up from another source)

[stncttr908 Veteran]

LOC gets a w00t and so does nvmax. (Y)

[MrBear5587]

Nice review, although I would say that as I own the Z3s :p

Whats this about speaker drivers? o_O Where do I get them from?

Thanks.

[LOC Veteran]

It's not the kind of drivers your thinking of lol

It's not software, more like a aluminium phase plug driver type thing.

[MrBear5587]

Ahh right lol

Thanks for the info :p

[col_sandurz]

Why would you get anything other than the klipsch ProMedia series (unless you don't have the money) ??? I love my klipsch 2.1s like I would my children.