[Review] Logitech z-5500

By Liquid
in Member Reviews

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Mentor

mrogers

Posted
Posted
.. great

they were $239.99 earlier this month, anyways, this is all moot.

I want to know if oddcrap is lying or not, i suspect hes lying because nowhere on dell are they $250 (or $240, like he said in his PM back to me, which still didnt contain a link).

no, it doesnt exist, i dont even know why i questioned myself, i scour slickdeals and deals of america all day, i would know of all the deals myself.

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Wow, aren't you arrogant...you don't believe oddcrap and you don't believe me just because YOU can't find the deals.

Here's the thread that I started on FatWallet when the $245 with free shipping deal was going on:

http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/messagevie...yword1=Z%2D5500

Collaborator

smash1820

Posted
Posted

I just bought these speakers and mounted them on my wall and have just a few questions. First of all, you should know that my set of speakers uses the RCA input.

So, I am wondering:

1) Why my back 2 rear speakers are VERY quiet in PLII Music mode? I can hardly hear any sound coming out of them.

2) Why ONLY the front 2 speakers are working (getting any sound) in 6 Channel Direct mode?

3) Why my center channel does not produce any sound in Stereo x2 mode?

I am assuming this is just a configuration problem, but I don't know how to fix it. I have the three wires going from the Console to my sound card in their matching colors -- green to green, orange to orange, and black to black.

Can anyone please explain why this might be, or how I can fix this?

PS: I have an Audigy 2 sound card.

Mentor

MikeCoz

Posted
Posted
I just bought these speakers and mounted them on my wall and have just a few questions. First of all, you should know that my set of speakers uses the RCA input.

So, I am wondering:

1) Why my back 2 rear speakers are VERY quiet in PLII Music mode? I can hardly hear any sound coming out of them.

2) Why ONLY the front 2 speakers are working (getting any sound) in 6 Channel Direct mode?

3) Why my center channel does not produce any sound in Stereo x2 mode?

I am assuming this is just a configuration problem, but I don't know how to fix it. I have the three wires going from the Console to my sound card in their matching colors -- green to green, orange to orange, and black to black.

Can anyone please explain why this might be, or how I can fix this?

PS: I have an Audigy 2 sound card.

585983682[/snapback]

ok im no expert but i'll try to help since i got a set of these speakers...

1.my speakers are louder in the front and echoy in the back

2.did you set you speakers advanced settings (sound and audio devices in control panel) to 5.1?

3. your center speaker isnt supposed to work in stereo x2 (hence the x2) two front and two back

hopefully that helps a little bit

Collaborator

smash1820

Posted
Posted (edited)

Thanks Mike, that helped out a little bit. I had no idea that the center channel isn't supposed to work in Stereo x2 mode.

My friend brought over the Audigy 2 CD with all the controls on it, and I installed all the programs to configure my speakers. I think I have them fixed now, because they sound great. All 5 speakers working in 6 channel direct mode now, with the front speakers a bit quiter than the rear ones to emphasize special effects and all that and to even out the tone in my small room.

These speakers are amazing!! I popped in the Lord Of The Rings: Two Towers DVD and tested out the sound with this movie; it was astonishing. It actually felt like I was in a movie theater, and that's just using the regular cables that came out of the box, no digital or Coax input like that (btw, what is Coax anyways??)

Which brings me to my next question. I know you need an extra wire to go digital or coax with these speakers. But do you guys really think it's worth setting up? I listen to a lot of music of all kinds (rap, punk, rock, pop, metal, easy listening) and I also play games like C&C Generals and Counterstrike. So, basically, is there really a big improvement in sound quality using the digital or coax inputs? And how would I go about setting this up; how much does the wire cost that I'd need to buy?

Lastly, how do I set up the built-in external decoder? Or is it already set up for me?

thanks...

Edited by smash1820
Rising Star

Gotchaforce

Posted
Posted
Wow, aren't you arrogant...you don't believe oddcrap and you don't believe me just because YOU can't find the deals.

Here's the thread that I started on FatWallet when the $245 with free shipping deal was going on:

http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/messagevie...yword1=Z%2D5500

585962818[/snapback]

i had a huge post explaining all of this, but then mozilla crashed

in short: that deal was on FEBRUARY 8th, mine was a LITTLE later... May 17th

i KNOW that there was a deal on may 13th for 15% off on certain electronic accessories and the speakers were $239, but that deal ENDED. it didnt really matter anyways because i had a concession coupon that didnt stack at all with the 15% off, so it was either $200 or $240 and i still have a concession coupon.

Contributor

plaskos

Posted
Posted
I just bought these speakers and mounted them on my wall and have just a few questions. First of all, you should know that my set of speakers uses the RCA input.

So, I am wondering:

1) Why my back 2 rear speakers are VERY quiet in PLII Music mode? I can hardly hear any sound coming out of them.

2) Why ONLY the front 2 speakers are working (getting any sound) in 6 Channel Direct mode?

3) Why my center channel does not produce any sound in Stereo x2 mode?

I am assuming this is just a configuration problem, but I don't know how to fix it. I have the three wires going from the Console to my sound card in their matching colors -- green to green, orange to orange, and black to black.

Can anyone please explain why this might be, or how I can fix this?

PS: I have an Audigy 2 sound card.

585983682[/snapback]

1. PL2 Music Mode is basically emulated 5.1 surround sound, and music isnt really surround sound, its stereo, most of the sound comes from the front channels, the rear's are mostly for support.

2. 6 channel direct mode is basically all up to your computer's sound card, the Sound Touch Control Centre has no say in what goes on, thats why theres no settings for that effect. So make sure your sound card is set to 5.1 output and it'll work. Control Panel --> Sounds and Audio Devices -- > Under Seaker Settings, click the Advanced button.

3. Stereo is basically left and right channel, which means only your front left and front right speakers will output. In stereo times 2 mode the sound touch control centre will basically duplicate the signal and send it to the rear speakers as well. there is no way to get your centre channel to work in this mode simply cause it has no fuction in that particular mode.

hope that helps.

Collaborator

smash1820

Posted
Posted

Thanks plaskos. I understand it now. I got my 6 channel direct mode working and I've even configured it now with Creative Audigy 2 programs, and it sounds awesome now. So, when would you recommend using Stereo x2 (I see no need for regular Stereo), PLII Movie, and PLII Music? It seems to me that 6 channel direct suits all modes, even movies and games.

Also, could anyone please answer my question(s) in my previous post:

Which brings me to my next question. I know you need an extra wire to go digital or coax with these speakers. But do you guys really think it's worth setting up? I listen to a lot of music of all kinds (rap, punk, rock, pop, metal, easy listening) and I also play games like C&C Generals and Counterstrike. So, basically, is there really a big improvement in sound quality using the digital or coax inputs? And how would I go about setting this up; how much does the wire cost that I'd need to buy?

Lastly, how do I set up the built-in external decoder? Or is it already set up for me?

Thank you.

Proficient

Nighthawk-F117

Posted
Posted

Nice review, but, looking at a THG review of the speakers:

http://www.tomshardware.com/consumer/20031...speaker-20.html

Aren't you better off getting the Creative T7700's, in terms of quality to price. Plus, you get 7.1 instead of 5.1. It might just be me, but the T7700's look a better option. I bought them without reading any reviews and am very happy.

Mentor

mrogers

Posted
Posted

And I also couldn't care less if I got 7.1 instead of 5.1. Two more speakers aren't going to do a lot other than take up space; how many things are actually 7.1 compatible? And I've just never thought Creative's sound quality was really up to par. So overall, I still think the Z-5500s are much better.

Proficient

Nighthawk-F117

Posted
Posted
if i were to buy these speakers what sound card would you recommend buying because currently i only have the one that came with my medion pc and that is a bit sh*te

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I'd probably say the Creative Audigy 2 ZS. I suppose you could splash out for the Audigy 4 if you wanted....

Rising Star

Gotchaforce

Posted
Posted
Nice review, but, looking at a THG review of the speakers:

http://www.tomshardware.com/consumer/20031...speaker-20.html

Aren't you better off getting the Creative T7700's, in terms of quality to price. Plus, you get 7.1 instead of 5.1. It might just be me, but the T7700's look a better option. I bought them without reading any reviews and am very happy.

585989462[/snapback]

no

just

no

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