- The Good: Incredible sound and tons of amplifier power (505-watt (RMS), total peak power output of 1010 watts); THX-certified; takes input from just about any type of analogue or digital source; wireless remote control, as well as a desktop control console with a backlit LCD display; bass control; independent controls for centre/surround speakers; surround processor built in.
- The Bad: High price; huge subwoofer limits placement; no treble control.
- The Verdict: Logitech's best speaker system to date, the 5500 Digital is audiophile quality and power for your desktop or game console.
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- Reviewed on: Hewlett-Packard Media Center m380n Photosmart 3 GHz Pentium 4 PC with 1GB of RAM, DVD and DVD-recordable drives, a seven-way media reader, TV-input/PVR capability, Maxtor 120GB IDE and 250GB SATA hard disks running at 7200 RPM, an HP F1703 LCD panel, a 128MB NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 video card, and Windows XP Media Center Edition.
- Also available for: Computers, game consoles, and pretty much anything with an analogue, digital or optical sound output jack.
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REVIEW:
Crave clear highs, deeeeeeeep bass and tons 'o volume for your computer or game console, but detest distortion when the dial is cranked right up? Want to be able to connect analogue, digital and fibre-optic sound sources? Have an evil urge to drive your neighbours nuts with bass they'll feel in their molars?
Then Logitech's Z-5500 Digital speaker system is tailor made for you - if you have the cash.
Right off the top, these speakers are the most expensive "desktop computer" models that have ever graced our test lab, at a suggested price of $399 (U.S.) - although you can find them at retail for as "little" as $250 (U.S.) - which puts them in the price range of entry-level home theatre setups.
Why so much?
Well, the sound is awesome (as I'll get to in a minute), which is naturally what you'd expect in this price range. But the 5500 also has a slew of built-in high-tech audio features, stuff normally found in home theatre amplifiers rather than self-amplified speaker systems made for computers and home entertainment consoles.
First of all, the system accepts pretty much any type of input. You can plug in composite (RCA) analogue or digital coaxial sources, and there's a digital-optical fibre input (audiophiles rejoice).
Logitech skimps on the actual port count, though. For high-end multi-channel computer sound cards or amps with discreet output channels, the 5500 Digital has three stereo mini connectors instead of six mono inputs. It isn't ideal, because you'll have to buy adapters if your source uses mono RCA jacks, but it means you can plug anything from a two-channel stereo to a six-channel audio source into the 5500. Alternatively, you can use each of the three inputs as a separate two-channel stereo jack, giving you ways to hook up three different stereo sources through the mini-plugs (say, a CD player, two-channel computer and a game console).
People with complicated game console or computer setups will love this feature, too: You can swap between as many as six input sources using either the wired or wireless control pads (more on those later on). Finally, there's an analogue stereo mini-jack on the side of the control centre so that you can quickly plug in devices such as portable CD or MP3 players.
Setup is easy, because there's a clearly written walk-through with pictures, all the ports are clearly labelled, and the bundled cables have colour-coded connectors.
The system also has high-end sound decoding technology built right in. That means you can plug game consoles and DVD players into the 5500 Digital, and it will process the sound directly and pump it out to the appropriate speakers (front, rear, centre and sub). There's a standard Dolby Digital 5.1-channel surround decoder which also features Dolby Pro Logic II for music and movie soundtracks, and to top it off, a full DTS decoder. The system handles DTS 96/24, meaning it can decode the extremely high-quality 96 KHz/24-bit DTS audio feeds found on DVD videos and DVD Audio albums (and in some console games).
To tweak the sound even further, the digital equalization circuitry actively adjusts frequency response in real time, tuning the sound to what Logitech's engineers have determined is the best output profiles for the 5500's drivers. You can have the 5500 play in six-channel mode from multi-channel sources, or it can up-mix stereo audio and pump it out over all 5.1 channels in simulated surround-sound.
And finally, the system is THX-certified by Lucasfilm. There are speaker company executives who would auction off their grandmothers for a THX certification, because it's one of the first things people look for in a system if they're serious about sound quality (most movie theatres use THX-certified systems). THX is basically the standard for high-end audio - the systems that carry the logo have to meet stringent performance parameters, including bandwidth, frequency balance, minimum peak sound pressure levels and the ability to play up to their rated output level.
You'll see the THX-certified logo on every speaker in the 5500 package, and you'll hear the results in the playback quality. The sound is absolutely excellent, as I mentioned at the beginning of this review. The 5500 Digital is the evolution of Logitech's original Z-560 system, but it bears about a much resemblance as homo-erectus does to Neanderthal Man.
The system has a maximum sound pressure level (SPL) of greater than 115 dB, and a frequency response of 33 Hz to 20 kHz. The signal-to-noise ratio is rated at greater than 93.5 dB (the rear satellites were clean, but the centre channel and left/right mains did have a very, very faint hiss when there was no audio signal).
There are two front speakers and two identical rear satellites, each of which is rated at 62 watts (RMS). There's also a centre channel speaker that sits horizontally, which is rated at 69 watts.
Each satellite has a tuned port and is housed in a box that is larger than a standard PC speaker, measuring about the size of the average rear-speaker units in a home theatre system. Needless to say, they take up quite a bit of space on the desktop. They can also be mounted on a wall, but if you have an extremely tight workspace, be aware that these satellites may be too bulky for you.
But what you give up in space is made up for by crisp, clean highs. Each three-inch, phase-aligned satellite has a high-excursion driver that moves along a central piston, instead of the traditional sealed-diaphragm design. This allows the driver to move much more air.
The piston in the centre is actually a polished aluminum phase plug that helps "improve tonal quality," according to Logitech. It's meant to give you the midrange response, combined with the sharp highs normally generated by a separate tweeter. I usually dislike designs that try to combine the tweeter and midrange in a single driver, because either the highs or the lows tend to suffer, but I can't fault anything in the output of these satellites.
The silver brushed-metal cone resembles the cap on an aircraft propeller, which gives the speakers a high-tech look, too. If you want to show off the drivers (and you don't have youngsters around who might poke something into the speaker diaphragm), you can leave the sturdy fabric protective covers off.
The satellites have a wide, Y-shaped steel foot with rubber grips that keep them from slipping on the desktop. The support also rotates so that the speakers can be mounted on a wall, as I mentioned. Logitech gets big points for functionality and style here.
The 5500's subwoofer is big. Really, really big. In fact, it's not that much smaller than my full-size Paradigm home theatre subwoofer, and it can pretty much double as a compact coffee table. Don't put anything on it, though - when it's cranked up, anything sitting on top will literally started moving on its own and fall over the side if you aren't careful. (Seriously. I'm not kidding).
The subwoofer houses the 505-watt ultra-linear, high-capacity analogue amplifier. (Note to audiophiles: That's a rating of 505 watts root-mean-square or RMS, which is the maximum continuous power output. The total peak power output is 1010 watts...). Since the amp pushes so much power, nearly the entire back of the sub is a heat sink with cooling fins. The design works well - the fins radiated heat fast enough that they didn't get too warm, even when the volume was cranked for extended periods. The amp is protected by a thermal overload switch that cuts the power if the temperature gets high enough to cause damage, but I never managed to trigger it even with the volume maxed for extended periods (apologies to the neighbours).
The 10-inch front-firing subwoofer is protected by a sturdy steel grille, and it's well sealed. I couldn't detect any pressure leaks around the seals or screws when the sub was pounding hard, which indicates Logitech has put some extra manufacturing effort into the 5500s (hence the THX logo).
The wooden bass reflex enclosure has a large flared port on the left side that's big enough to stick your arm into (if you're corner-loading, be careful about the air flow here). The sub's driver is rated at 188 watts RMS, a stunning amount of bass power for a desktop PC system and more than enough for music and console gaming in a medium-sized room. The sub features dynamic bass equalization, too, which helps minimize bass distortion even with the volume dialled right up. The bass level is huge when the sub is placed in the middle of the room, and it becomes overkill if you corner-load it.
In fact, the sub is so powerful that you have to take care when it comes to placement. The satellites are shielded, a must for a system used on a desktop. But the sub isn't, and the magnet driving it is strong enough to damage hard drives and diskettes that get within a foot or two of the speaker enclosure.
The satellites and sub combine for great sound - the performance is decent throughout the range, from the high-end to the midrange and right on down to that sub-sonic bass that you feel more than hear. Music sounds good, but games and movies are even better. The highs are clear and the bass is huge but not overly boomy - perfect for large explosions as well as the quicker bass audio footprint of things like punches and gunshots.
The accuracy of the audio placement in games, with relation to the on-screen action, is also excellent. You have to take care to align the speakers to get the best performance, though - the stands tilt, which makes this easier. The sound is great with a general setup, but if you take care to centre your seating area in the middle of the speakers' focus, plus get the drivers aimed at ear level, the clarity is astounding.
And there's brute force behind the audio as well as finesse. Like its predecessor, if big noise is what you crave, you can crank the Z-5500 up to extreme levels where you can overpower people yelling at you from a few feet away (ask my wife), and there's still no distortion. In fact, the sound is so clean that the volume level can easily get away on you. When I was first testing the speakers, I thought to myself, "Hmm, for 500 watts, these aren't that loud." Then someone came into the room and I saw their lips moving but couldn't hear them... The 5500s are so clean and free of distortion, even at full volume, that their sound level is deceptive.
You have two options for controlling this beast. First, there's the desktop control module that's about the size of a satellite speaker. It's where you control playback, and all your audio inputs plug into jacks on the back. The module then connects to the amp in the subwoofer through a hefty custom cable (included).
This "Digital SoundTouch control center" is done in black and silver, with a large central volume knob, various controls and a power switch. Above the volume dial is a blue-backlit LCD display panel, showing things like the volume, bass and surround-speaker settings, as well as the current input jack being used and the type of surround-sound processing that's active. It looks fabulous, the volume is nice and easy to get a grip on, and the controls are logically laid out. The display could use a bit more contrast, but it's still easy to see from even several feet away.
Which is handy, because the second control option is the wireless remote. It's a pretty basic little remote, but it has controls for the volume and bass level, for adjusting the satellite and centre-channel output, and for changing the input source and type of surround processing. Everything that can be done through the SoundTouch module can also be done through the remote.
There are only a couple of things I can pick on with the 5500 Digital's design. First of all, it's only a 5.1-channel speaker system. Modern sound cards are being built with as many as 7.1 channels, and there are games that can take advantage of them. Since this speaker system is aimed at high-end users, some may be disappointed that it isn't designed for really high-end sound cards.
The speakers also have built-in RCA cables, unlike the previous model that accepted any length of speaker wire and let you choose the gauge. If you want to extend the cables beyond Logitech's preset length, you'll have to buy RCA extensions, which isn't exactly ideal from either a cost or performance point of view.
There's also a bass control, but no way to tweak the treble level. Again, considering this is a THX-certified, high-end piece of equipment, the lack of high-frequency adjustment was somewhat baffling.
Overall, though, this system is outstanding - it's easily Logitech's best speaker system to date, and it's complete overkill for your desktop (which in this case is a good thing). The 5500 Digital delivers audiophile-level sound quality and enough power to easily work as self-contained home theatre playback system in a small living room or dorm (just add TV, DVD player and maybe a game console, and you're set). It handles music and games with equal aplomb, it's easy to use and it looks great. If you have the room for it and the cash, it's the desktop speaker system to have.