Logitech Z-5300e THX-Certified 280-Watt 5.1 Surround Sound PC and Gaming Speaker System

Pros: Great sound for the price. All of the parts appear to be high quality. I purchased these speakers in conjunction with an upgrade to a Sound Blaster Audigy 2 zs sound card. The speakers arrived first and were double boxed with the typical Styrofoam protection. Since I did not receive the Audigy 2 zs I hooked them up to my old Sound Blaster 2 channel card that was missing its adjustment software. The set up was all color coded and very easy to perform and the speakers have settings for 2, 4, and 5.1 channel sound. I was very impressed with the sound as Z5300e even from two channel sources as it has a matrix surround feature which creates a form of surround from 2 channel stereo. When the Audigy 2 zs arrived two days later I was further impressed as to how that card improved the speakers even more. Everything sounded as it should. From music CD, DVD movies, Gaming, even the analog TV sound from my ATI All in Wonder video card sounded great. I grew up in an era where Speakers were everything to a sound system and in that respect the Logitech's meet their mark. A old sound card will make these speakers sound great an good sound card will make them outstanding. Cons: The speakers have RCA plug connections at the Subwoofer and are hard wired to the five satellites. The cords for the back speakers were not long enough for my installation so I had to buy RCA extensions instead of using less expensive speaker wire. The subwoofer is large and you may have trouble fitting it under a smaller desk. No inputs for other sound devices on control, or subwoofer. Other Thoughts: Due to the Matrix surround feature the Z5300e's would make a fine set of speakers for a small room when hooked to a stereo TV, CD player, MP3, or XM or FM tuner, to make a inexpensive quality sound system. Some reviewers have noted an over dominant bass. I find this to the result of the over emphasized bass that appears to be present in much of today's audio source material rather than the design of the Z5300e's. You can work around this bass problem if you wish with the software that comes with your sound card. The installation of the Audigy 2 zs presented no problems for me just make sure you uninstall all of your old sound cards drivers and software. However, I did find that after the Audigy 2 zs was installed I had to update all of the drivers for my ATI All in Wonder 9600XT, for the media center to work.

This was my first time ordering from Amazon.com Before I get into the speakers, I just want to say that I was BLOWN AWAY by the speed of shipping. I ordered this less than 24 hours ago and have already received it!!!!! This level of service, with FREE shipping no less, is just incredible. I see now why Amazon.com is such a major player in online retailers. As for the speakers, I haven't given them a thorough rundown, but after quickly hooking them up and testing them with some MP3's and Halflife 2 I can say that both the Stereo aspect and the 5.1 are just incredible. I can't believe these have only cost me $110.00 (after the rebate). I am a major BASS nut. And these things deliver. The bass is deep and full. The mids and Highs are also incredible. Logitech has done a great thing. I know that the 5500's are a little more powerful and have a built in decoder, but for the amazing price that you get these for (even without the rebate) they are a tremendous deal. I highly recommend them, and HIGHLY recommend you buy from Amazon.com, I know I will be much more often. -----Added 4/3/05----- Now that I have had some time to get aquainted with these speakers I can say that my initial review was pretty accurate. These have EXCELLENT sound all bass, mid, and highs sound great. I have found that the "Matrix" mode can be a nice thing to use. I always turn it on when I am playing MP3's or any music. It gives a nice "fuller" sound. I'm kind of mixed on using the matrix mode with games that don't have 3D audio. Sometimes I like it and other times I think it's better left on stereo, as the matrix mode isn't perfect (nor could it be, really) and the stereo sounds coming from behind you can be a little off. But it certainly serves it's purpose with music. As far as the Sub, I have heard a few people complain about the sub being to "boomy" And I could understand where they come from with that. I have had a couple of songs come up that were kind of drowned out by the bass. But with the handy-dandy control pad you can change the level of the bass. And it goes low enough that it should be able to accommodate any listening preference. After all this is a 5.1 system, and that .1 is bass! The only bad thing I can think to say is perhaps the cable length. When I was doing my permanent installation, with the place I had to put the sub (it's pretty big) the left front speaker BARLEY had enough wire length to put it where I wanted. I had to move my desk a little to be able to reposition the sub to fix this problem. I think that the 5500's or the 680's had detachable wires, this could be a nice idea, but I suppose that could add extra cost. Bottom Line: For the price of these speakers (even without the rebate) are a great buy! If nothing else I can say that playing first person shooter games (half life 2 and battlefield 1942 for instance) the sounds of the gunfire and explosions are pants-wetting! It sounds INCREDIBLE, if nothing else buy them for that reason :)

If you have the (...) 22inch monitor with the (...) graphics card and the (...)computer, don't try to look cheap for 'gaming speakers'. I have to admit they are pretty decent but I ended up returning them because I am one of those people and I just thought for (...) less than a similar product, I would try these guyz out. In the end, I think the bass is too muddy, and the sound is a little distorted. The only reason these speakers get loud is because of the wall booming bass. Most basses now can boom your wall down, but none have sounded so muddy as this one did. Pros: Nice aesthetic touch with grills, wires were long enough, cute wired controller, easy to set up, work well with games with the bass on minimum, Amazon rocks. Cons: Not the best for music, Bass is awfully loud even on its quietest setting, bass is not precise, speakers are pretty big, prices are not good enough to buy in stores since returns in stores can be a pain in the butt.

This set is incredible. Don't worry about the previous reviews about too much bass. Anyone who would bother buying these speakers should have a quality soundcard such as an Audigy or X-Fi. Those components have software suites which allow you to make these speakers sound however you'd like to have em sound. You want to do some remodelling in the bathroom? Throw these badboys in there and close the door....crank the volume and wait about 3 minutes.....scrape anything that hasn't fallen off the wall......and repeat if necessary. I have this system in a 25 x 20 space. My only problem with the set is the short speaker wires. I had to buy some RCA stereo cables with gold connectors and gold couplers. You can split the stero cables into two strands thereby getting 24' out of a 12' cable. The quality will remain if you go this route. As far as practicle application? Well, if you use iTunes or other compressed music, you hear the imperfections loud and clear. Your best bet would be to use less compression or use original source material to listen to music. Games? I play a few online such as CoH and BF2142. You will be able to hear someone coming up behind you very easily!! This set rules for these games.....you will finally hear stuff that you had never heard previously....you will be amazed, and you will be pleased to find that your wallet hasn't been raped and pillaged to acquire these. Are these speakers the best on the market? Heck no!! Are they a great buy? You bet they are...worth every penny. I still haven't pushed the volume past 50% yet....it's that powerful!! You will get plenty of BANG for your buck. Get em now before Logitech stops making them.

I purchased these speakers back in 2007, and nearly 10 years later they sound fantastic. I had no idea what I was getting at the time. I saw THX in the name and my buddy had some old 2-channel desktop speakers from Logitech that sounded alright, so when I found them online for $129.99 I pounced. I am not an audiophile and I'm not a very technical person. I do know what I like, and I like these a lot. I am still using these today, never had any issues with them. They survived 2 moves, 2 PC builds and a lot of volume abuse on the weekends. They were easy to set up, easy to control and they almost always sound great. The only time they did not sound good was because of some audio issues I had in windows. I've used them as overpowered IPad/IPhone speakers, TV speakers and of course, PC speakers. In every use they worked/sounded great. The only negative I would say, is the length of the cables. If you are trying to wall mount these, you may find that you need extension cables for the speakers. PROS: Reliable Easy to Use Sound Quality Bang for the Buck CONS Cable Length It says something when people come back 10 years later to review speakers that aren't even being made anymore, simply because of the joy and experiences they received from said product. Would buy again. I will try to update my review at the 15 and 20 year mark if the internet is still around...and I am too.

Ok, here is a true story. Bought this thing in 2007 I think, so years later(still use it at the time) Was trimming my curtains with scissors because they were very long, but didn't realize that one of my back speaker coord was in the way and ended up cutting it completely destroying that speaker. I was like "Dang It!, that didn't just happen?" Anyways gonna make this review go fast, I Still used it because i couldn't tell the difference with a missing speaker, It was still great sounding, so a few more years passed, got some money and figured it was the time for an upgrade....lol yeah upgrade!, so bought a Logitech newer model, played it for awhile but notice it cracks when you turn volume to a certain level, also it had less bass then my old one. Well to make this story shorter I reverted back to my old one(this one) and took one of the speakers from the new one and used it with this Speaker set, gave the new one to my son...LOL, He is happy and As I write this, I'm still using this speaker setup, The woofer is heavy and clear with lots of bass even after all these years...Better than most newer set ups!. Price is kinda high, even higher than what i bought it for in 2007, I Bought it for $399, now its over $600 in 2018!, you get what you pay for!. Great Speakers!.

Currently priced at 130 dollars these speakers are pretty hard to beat. I bought these to replace my tried and true Klipsch Promedia 4.1 system, I know it's not much of an upgrade but there's good reason for the move. My complaints with the Klipsches were that they weren't very good at high volumes and more importantly low volumes, at high volume the bass started to sound flat and at low volumes the bass was too overpowering, another problem I found was that the headphone jack was useless because of hissing. I really do miss selling off my Klipsches but the Z-5300e's weren't too bad of a decision! The Z-5300e's do an awesome job at both low and high volumes, I live in an apartment right now so at night these things need to be able to be quiet, they seem to be doing a better job than the Klipsches in that regard. They sound excellent paired with the proper equalizer settings and sound card, I had a hard time at first getting them to sound right but the effort is well worth it. A useful feature of the 5300e's is the ability to take a stereo or quadrophonic signal and mix it through all five speakers, this is done by using a little switch on the back of the sub, this is also what enables the speakers to use all five channels for a TV configuration. The mids of these speakers are much brighter, it almost seems like I can hear more detail and hence better sound quality at low volumes. Be sure to use Matrix surround with your movies and music, but leave it off for the games. The most glaring problem with these speakers are in the speaker cables, first off they are integrated into the speakers, secondly the cable length is pretty short so don't expect to be able to place the speakers all over your room. The cables have RCA male ends however and finding extension cables shouldn't be too difficult. The remote buttons are also a little bit unresponsive because the buttons are stiff, this is not too much of an issue. Build quality is decent, most components are plastic but look very nice, the sub is SUPER big, the Klipsch speakers were heaver and seemed much sturdier though. At higher volumes you will probably experience hissing, the system also sounds better with some good burn-in. If digital surround is important to you, this setup does not feature digital encoding. Usually digital processing is a feature reserved for the highest end speakers that are twice the cost of these. Overall a great buy for the money... If you want the best possible configuration you may want to look into the Klipsch Ultra 5.1's or z-5500's, just stay away from those accursed Klipsch GMX speakers!! Pros: Excellent Price Sweeter looking than the Z-5300's Ability to hook speakers to a TV via adapter cable Abiility to take stereo/quad signal and mix it into 5 speakers Excellent volume scalability Can compete with Klipsch speakers (not an easy feat!) Easy setup Clean headphone output Cons: Hard to configure Short cables Analog encoding TV adapter is just a female miniplug to female stereo RCA's Not many people have em yet (or is that a pro?)

I guess I forgot to post a review for these speakers when I got em. Not such a bad thing, I guess. Cause now I can let you know that after 4 years, these things sound as good as they did the day I took them out of the box. I have enjoyed playing games, watching movies, and especially listening to music with these speakers. Of course it is not all just the speakers, a good sound card is pretty much required to get the most out of them. The subwoofer is massive and the bass can be a little overwhelming, but if your audio software has a setting for low frequency crossover, you can easily adjust the amount of bass that you want coming through. Not only do these speakers sound good. They also look good. Both with and without the grilles attached. This purchase has really sold me on the quality of Logitech products. I am the kind of guy who expects stuff to last forever and this surround sound system has certainly met my expectations in that department. I will be looking to Logitech first from now on when replacing any failing components on my overworked PC.