[Review] Logitech z-5500

[plaskos]

sigh i knew it:(( well i will hear what others have to say before i make a decision.Will probably send it back after easter if i cant find out whats wrong.i will need to bear all the shipping costs wich is not too good probably costs me another 100aud to do so.well if anyone else there wanna give any suggestions im open to almost anything as long as i dont void the warranty

585650802[/snapback]

get a friend to come over and help out, there has to be something you're missing. since you're using optical as your connection, have you properly disabled your onboard decoder?

try playing a dvd, does the sound touch control centre's effect automatically change to "Digital"

are you positive that the wires to each of the speakers is 100% correct? the booklet says that everything will sound very noticebly muddy if any of the wires are not hooked up correctly.

did you make sure the subwoofer was completely unplugged from the power outlet until you finished attaching ALL the connections?

do you have a spare sound card or can you borrow one from a friend to test things out?

are your drivers up to date? try reinstalling your soundstorm software

try resetting your sound trouch control centre to factory settings, (i forget what sequence of buttons it is, but its somewhere in the previous pages)

does your motherboard have coaxial out? try that

keep playing with your software, play around with the onboard decoder as much as possible.

if you're still having problems after all this I would call logitech support (ideally on non-busy hours), if their trouble shooting also fails, RMA it.

[Adrian]

OMG just got these now and set them up and they ****ing amazing!!! just need to get a new sound card though.

[G0rd0n]

Is the center speaker supposed to work when you use 6 channel direct?

[plaskos]

Is the center speaker supposed to work when you use 6 channel direct?

585654930[/snapback]

as long as your software is set up properly, yes.

i use 6-channel direct for listening to music and all the speakers play perfectly. no simulated surround sound, just loud raw power from each of the satellites.

[jskf01]

get a friend to come over and help out, there has to be something you're missing.  since you're using optical as your connection, have you properly disabled your onboard decoder? 

try playing a dvd, does the sound touch control centre's effect automatically change to "Digital"

are you positive that the wires to each of the speakers is 100% correct?  the booklet says that everything will sound very noticebly muddy if any of the wires are not hooked up correctly.

did you make sure the subwoofer was completely unplugged from the power outlet until you finished attaching ALL the connections?

do you have a spare sound card or can you borrow one from a friend to test things out?

are your drivers up to date?  try reinstalling your soundstorm software

try resetting your sound trouch control centre to factory settings, (i forget what sequence of buttons it is, but its somewhere in the previous pages)

does your motherboard have coaxial out? try that

keep playing with your software, play around with the onboard decoder as much as possible.

if you're still having problems after all this I would call logitech support (ideally on non-busy hours), if their trouble shooting also fails, RMA it.

585651747[/snapback]

well first of all i have called logitech which were not very helpful.they just asked me to rma it.man australias support is not that good.anyway i have done pretty much all of the above especially trying a diffrent soundcard(audigy2 nx) and using my friends laptop as well.all sounded the same.the hookup is correct in terms of wiring.my mobo doesnt hav coax so im only using optical.drivers are up to date.yes i can play digital sound when movies are plugged in and stuff...all the speakers can detect the inputs perfectly.the only problem is that theyre all playing at very low volumes ESPECIALLY the sub as i said before.the only thing im worried about is abt the onboard decoder.as you can see i already posted the pic of my nvmixer etc.how do i go about disabling the decoder?thats the thing im not sure of cos from what i can see theres not much to play with on my nvmixer.thanks plaskos and everyone.

[Hypoxiaicon]

My 2nd set just packed up on me this morning.

Only had this set 1 month and 2 days.

[jskf01]

My 2nd set just packed up on me this morning.

Only had this set 1 month and 2 days.

585655500[/snapback]

damn what happened pls enlighten us

[Hypoxiaicon]

I'll copy and paste my eBuyer RMA Request:

Dear eBuyer.

I turned on my PC This morning & noticed that the Red Standby light was not lit on the Logitech Z-5500 Control Pod. I tried to turn them on anyway, Nothing.

I checked the plug, changed the Fuse with a brand new working one, Still nothing. I thought id try them on the other PC in the next room. Still nothing.

When they were working, the night before the Subwoofer (when on) emitted a slight buz. Now there is no sound coming from them at all.

I think they are complety dead. There is no power going through them all.

This a the 2nd time this has happened, I may get in contact with Logitech and mention this Problem to them as I have not mistreat them at all.

Please can you resolve this issue promtly as its a huge annoyance having no Sound for my PC.

There is newer Versions of the Logitech Z-5500 Speakers that have non wired wires that connect to speakers, whereas the last 2 previous sets from you I have had are the fully wired ones. Maybe you could try and make sure I get the newier revision.

Regards,

Bruce

[plaskos]

well first of all i have called logitech which were not very helpful.they just asked me to rma it.man australias support is not that good.anyway i have done pretty much all of the above especially trying a diffrent soundcard(audigy2 nx) and using my friends laptop as well.all sounded the same.the hookup is correct in terms of wiring.my mobo doesnt hav coax so im only using optical.drivers are up to date.yes i can play digital sound when movies are plugged in and stuff...all the speakers can detect the inputs perfectly.the only problem is that theyre all playing at very low volumes ESPECIALLY the sub as i said before.the only thing im worried about is abt the onboard decoder.as you can see i already posted the pic of my nvmixer etc.how do i go about disabling the decoder?thats the thing im not sure of cos from what i can see theres not much to play with on my nvmixer.thanks plaskos and everyone.

585655496[/snapback]

try hooking up a portable cd player to the input on the side of the sound touch control centre. use a male to male 1/8 inch wire to go from the headphones out of your cd player. if the speakers still sound weird id say its time to rma.

[Raikou Tch]

I have a laptop (check sig) and was looking at these speakers. I was wondering if one of Creative's PCMCIA cards put out the full range of sound and deliver as much power as the ZS desktop cards.

Also I would like to know if this would be worth a replacement for our current Cambridge SoundWorks (Creative) 5.1 speaker set.

[jskf01]

try hooking up a portable cd player to the input on the side of the sound touch control centre.  use a male to male 1/8 inch wire to go from the headphones out of your cd player.  if the speakers still sound weird id say its time to rma.

585656203[/snapback]

yeah i used the green jack provided(1 of the 3) and put it in the side of the pod and into the headphone jack of my creative zen mp3 player.still the same sound.time to rma then huh?:(

[plaskos]

yeah i used the green jack provided(1 of the 3) and put it in the side of the pod and into the headphone jack of my creative zen mp3 player.still the same sound.time to rma then huh?:(

585656514[/snapback]

ok either the setup is wrong, wiring or something, or they are defective.

if you wanna make sure, unhook everything and reattach it all very carefully. make sure its unplugged from the power source as you attach it all. triple check to make sure that the speaker wiring is correct for each satellite.

[jskf01]

ok either the setup is wrong, wiring or something, or they are defective.

if you wanna make sure, unhook everything and reattach it all very carefully. make sure its unplugged from the power source as you attach it all.  triple check to make sure that the speaker wiring is correct for each satellite.

585657099[/snapback]

ok i will give it one last try.any ideas on disabling that onboard decoder thing?

[plaskos]

ok i will give it one last try.any ideas on disabling that onboard decoder thing?

585657124[/snapback]

not sure how it is for soundstorm, this is what it looks like for Creative software

[G0rd0n]

I have to enable CMSS 3D to hear my center speaker in 6 Channel Direct...

EDIT: and also, I'm starting to hear a hum from the subwoofer and hiss from the satellites...the hissing is not audible until my head is next to them satellites...

[gsinx]

Just bought the z-5500's, had resigned myself to the hard wired speaker option. I would have got the 680's but I wanted the most recent speakers.

Imagine my surprise when I opened the box and discovered that the wiring for speakers now uses exposed wire, not the RCA hardwired option that is still in the specs and has been mentioned previously here.

I'm in Australia and rang Logitech tech support to see what they knew. They said they'd heard about it but hadn't actually seen any of the upgraded sets. They hadn't even heard anything from Logitech head office about it.

Anyway, very happy with this surprise!

Oh, and the speakers themselves are extremely impressive. No regrets about making this purchase!!

[Adrian]

I take back what I said yesterday, these speakers are now giving me a crackling noise on stereo and its really ****ing me off?

Anyone know what the problem is?

Edit: Well I just power cycled the speakers and its seem to of gone now, however i'm going to phone logitech tomorrow to see if theres anything I can do to prevent it in the future.

Edited March 23, 2005 by Adrian

[funkychicken9000]

mine are due to arrive tomorrow! Can't wait!

[Dennis]

I hope to get mine next week. Can't wait to try them out! I hope I get the new revision where the wires aren't hard wired so I can use my existing 16-gauge ones.

[plaskos]

I hope to get mine next week. Can't wait to try them out! I hope I get the new revision where the wires aren't hard wired so I can use my existing 16-gauge ones.

585661078[/snapback]

and you currently own the Pro Media Ultra 5.1's??? I'm axious to see what you think of them.

[jskf01]

ok either the setup is wrong, wiring or something, or they are defective.

if you wanna make sure, unhook everything and reattach it all very carefully. make sure its unplugged from the power source as you attach it all.  triple check to make sure that the speaker wiring is correct for each satellite.

585657099[/snapback]

well i have done everything as u said with the same results.:( i will send it back on tuesd sigh:(

[funkychicken9000]

Just got mine. They've got attatched cables (surprising, since they were out of stock initially and had to be ordered in to the UK AFAIK) but its no biggie. I'm not the type who pays through the nose for a cable anyway.

I underestimated the size of the box though. Its massive! Got the speakers running through 6ch direct at the mo, can't find a TOSLINK cable with the right connectors on both ends :p

[DigitalN.]

**** Hypoxiaicon, maybe you should just stay away from computers! :s

[Cyrana]

Just fine. I have the PCMCIA notebook Audigy 2 ZS and use it with Z-680s. Works great.

I have a laptop (check sig) and was looking at these speakers. I was wondering if one of Creative's PCMCIA cards put out the full range of sound and deliver as much power as the ZS desktop cards.

Also I would like to know if this would be worth a replacement for our current Cambridge SoundWorks (Creative) 5.1 speaker set.

585656384[/snapback]

[funkychicken9000]

Well I've finally got hold of both an RCA and an Optical cable. No discernable difference between the two, so I'm sticking with Optical.

I can't make up my mind which sounds better though, 6ch direct or optical...