2 weeks ago I was shopping around for a new speaker set, I couldn't decide really between 5.1/2.1 etc...so I had a gander at reviews and what was available to me.

It probably won't come as a surprise that the Logitech Z-5500's quickly found its way to my shortlist so on impulse I was just going to buy there and then to a website that sold them at a reasonable price. I looked around and the prices were a bit crazy...at least I thought anyway.

I then consulted ocUK to ask if they would get any in stock, since they were reasonable but obviously none in stock. A representative replied with this:

Quote :

Although the product is still current we are being told by Logitech that it will be end of life shortly and haven't seen any stock for some considerable amount of time.

Logitech increased the price of the product massively as it was costing rather a lot to ship from the far east due to the high weight.

So I decided against them.

Then I went to my uncle's, who's kind of an audiophile. He told me to look at different brands, ones specific to speakers/hifi. He even offered me an old amp of his and said buy some bookshelf speakers within your budget, however because of a space issue I decided against.

So more to the point I found a 2.1 system made by the hifi company "Acoustic Energy". Upon reading reviews they are spot on and almost half the price of the Z-5500s. I found specifically these:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/ ... p;catid=22&subcat=173

I bought them and...well....they are fantastic. Opened the box and felt the satellite speakers...noticing they are fully metal and weighty yet so small! Even the sub which is quite the opposite being huge has a metal body. Audio reproduction is simply brilliant, I mean theres so much more depth to my music...sounds I never knew existed in some songs! And they go very loud, with no sign of breaking up either.

Basically thought I would share this product to anyone looking for speakers, because they are that good

PS
If I did look even further than I did, I would have bought these, but I am far from dissapointed.

Thanks for this "review"

I need to save up a little, but I'm considering buying these.

I would recommend to stay away from logitech (including z5500) if ur into clear sound, quality and power. I owned these and well ... yeah. Sold them for now.

My 30w rms speakers eat z5500 systems for lunch

Quote from hazaky :

I would recommend to stay away from logitech (including z5500) if ur into clear sound, quality and power. I owned these and well ... yeah. Sold them for now.

My 30w rms speakers eat z5500 systems for lunch

Yea well after this experience I am inclined to agree, reviews rave about the sound quality on the Z5500s...however I haven't heard them so cannot comment, but I am willing to bet my Acoustic Energy 2.1 will sound better than them without listening to the Z5500s beforehand.

To put in perspective, I want to listen to music whenever I can just to hear them from these speakers. I wasn't bothered about the quality of MP3's I downloaded either, but now I only download high quality ones...preferably FLAC because I can hear some of the detail/depth low quality files miss.

I know there will be better sounding ones out there, but I think these and the Teufel ones I linked in my first post will be as close to hifi quality as you're going to get from 'PC speakers'.

Quote from hazaky :

I would recommend to stay away from logitech (including z5500) if ur into clear sound, quality and power. I owned these and well ... yeah. Sold them for now.

My 30w rms speakers eat z5500 systems for lunch

I find that a tad hard to believe.
30w speakers eating z5500's for breakfast?
Link these speakers your talking about.

I have the logitech x-260 (2.1)
Very good quality sound!

Quote from Migz :

I find that a tad hard to believe.
30w speakers eating z5500's for breakfast?
Link these speakers your talking about.

Possibly meaning blow out of the water in terms of sound quality. I mean the Acoustic Energy Aego M has an RMS of 80W which I can only compare to the Z2300's 200W (since its 2.1 also), I accept the Logitechs will go louder in decibel terms but I can only put the volume up on my system to 30% and its very loud for this average sized room.

I've taken a picture of a speaker in relation to my iPod classic so you can see the size (attached, bad image because crap phone). When they are very loud, they retain that same quality. I haven't tried past halfway...because unless its a party or something you just wouldn't have it at halfway. The ranges from highs, meds and lows are very clear, responsive and crisp. I like to listen to music how it was intended to be listening to so I disable equalisers etc whereas my last speakers sounded dull when I did so I had to tweak them so the bass was lower and the highs were highers.

I watched a film yesterday and also played abit of CSS and again, its very good. The soundstage they create is amazing, and because they are so small they can be placed quite far apart for an even bigger stage.

Spacedskunk, what does you audiophile uncle think of your new speakers?

You bought metal speakers? I also got an uncle, which isn't audiophile, he's in all technology, and he knows a LOT about all that stuff. And I would NEVER go for metal speakers. It was his advice, and I'm thankfull to him for it. Buy speakers made of wood. And what's the power of your's speakers? EDIT: Found it... 80W

PS: I have Genius SW-HF 2,1 2000. Pic:http://www.bug.hr/_cache/0c16d ... 79995db4d0b4c688e803a.jpg RMS 60W All other information on this page: http://www.geniusnet.com/geniu ... e&test=portlet-action

PS2: Almost forgot... (again) Here's an video filmed by ME. My subwoofer. Not even on 45%. http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1110063344147 If you can't see it, I'll upload to youtube. If you look at it very carefully, you'll see dust particles flying all over.

EDIT: Forgot to say... I'm actually more then impressed with the difference between these ones, and the old ones... They have lots of basses (can be adjusted directly on speaker). Sound don't lose quality even on 50% volume (haven't tried more, I would lose my ears).

Sorry for spelling if there's any errors.

Quote from hrtburnout :

Spacedskunk, what does you audiophile uncle think of your new speakers?

Well I had the speakers delivered to his house since he was off work and offered, which is why I got them when I did. I told him to test them when they arrived if they didn't look to be too awkwardly packaged.

He said before I looked at them the speakers are very small but very good, he is going to buy some infact and this is a guy that spent £600 on his Amplifier, and even £280 on an Amplifier specific for headphones :S

Quote from matijapkc :

You bought metal speakers? I also got an uncle, which isn't audiophile, he's in all technology, and he knows a LOT about all that stuff. And I would NEVER go for metal speakers. It was his advice, and I'm thankfull to him for it. Buy speakers made of wood. And what's the power of your's speakers? EDIT: Found it... 80W

PS: I have Genius SW-HF 2,1 2000. Pic:http://www.bug.hr/_cache/0c16d ... 79995db4d0b4c688e803a.jpg RMS 60W All other information on this page: http://www.geniusnet.com/geniu ... e&test=portlet-action

PS2: Almost forgot... (again) Here's an video filmed by ME. My subwoofer. Not even on 45%. http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1110063344147 If you can't see it, I'll upload to youtube. If you look at it very carefully, you'll see dust particles flying all over.

EDIT: Forgot to say... I'm actually more then impressed with the difference between these ones, and the old ones... They have lots of basses (can be adjusted directly on speaker). Sound don't lose quality even on 50% volume (haven't tried more, I would lose my ears).

Sorry for spelling if there's any errors.

There are differences over wood/metal bodied speakers, but for speakers as small as my system I don't think wood will have worked as well. If they were bigger...yes. Still though, some very expensive speakers out there are made of metal...it's just there a few ways each material can help reproduce sound, with metal it can help emphasize the high notes, but you are going into serious audiophile stuff.

I think your speakers are damn overprices... Just got to the price... They cost £122.99. I found a price of 1099HRK in Croatia. 1£~8,5HRK (before the world crysis it was more then 10).
Anyway... I bought my speakers for 250HRK (the price was lowered... Original price is 350HRK). So, you could buy speakers like mine for 40£?

Genius do alot of products all fairly well priced, I cannot comment on how your speakers are but mine are made by a company specific to HiFi solutions which I would now trust alot more for the sound quality than a company that sells a broad range, such as mice, keyboards, controllers...

Acoustic Energy do speakers that go upwards of £5,000, so £122 for a full system by them is a rather good deal.

I can tell you that the speakers that I have can easily outrun some speakers I saw and they were supposed to be good speakers... I think that you payed 80 or 90 for speakers and rest for the name... Only my opinion... Sorry if I'm cruel.

No problem mate I would know if I was paying for the name really, I spent alot of time looking at reviews before buying. I'd never heard of Acoustic Energy beforehand, 'whathifi' rated them 5 stars and this is a reputable hifi magazine and comes with good reviews.

One of the UK's specialities is making good speakers, you'll find, and each hifi company has a reputation to make good products.

I can hardly see Genius making an amazing sound product, but at the same time this is only my opinion, as their research and development will go into other products at the same time. The speakers might sound good, but they are more focused for the average PC user who likes 'boomy' bass. Even quoted from the website you linked:

Quote :

For a surprising booming effect, SW-HF2.1 2000 has a 5.25” unit in the bottom of the subwoofer for a lower and deeper bass sound responding from the ground up

While the subwoofer with my speakers can go loud (there are 3 level settings, I have it one 1)...the bass is precise and controlled. I can hear the bass properly rather than the rumbling mess of my last Logitech speakers which if you love your music is very much appreciated. I can make the bass go loud though on the level settings but it doesn't 'boom'.

Quote from Migz :

I find that a tad hard to believe.
30w speakers eating z5500's for breakfast?
Link these speakers your talking about.

Well, no link needed. Its just that today's 1000w = real 50w (example) ... Simple as that

Quote from spacedskunk :

No problem mate I would know if I was paying for the name really, I spent alot of time looking at reviews before buying. I'd never heard of Acoustic Energy beforehand, 'whathifi' rated them 5 stars and this is a reputable hifi magazine and comes with good reviews.

What HiFi are a bunch of tossers. Read any of their reviews on HDMI cables or power cables and you will see what I mean...

Quote :

Its just that today's 1000w = real 50w (example) ... Simple as that

Example : A linear car amplifier labeled "500 W PMPO" but fitted with a 5-amp fuse can, at most, deliver an average power of 5 A × 14.4 V × 60%, or about 43 watts. (100% efficiency is always used for PMPO)

Besides anyone looked in Z series logitech speakers? You will fastly change your mind about theese 2.1 5.1 systems Big subwoofer with logitech logo! Maybe logitech has theyre own sub speakers factory?? Inside there is 40w speaker. No , not that speaker you are thinking about

http://www.vabolis.lt/stuff/20061231b.jpg
http://www.vabolis.lt/stuff/20061231c.jpg

Looks like somebody is cheating in way to get cheap/good looking speaker system. That was logitech Z-640

Quote from spacedskunk :

While the subwoofer with my speakers can go loud (there are 3 level settings, I have it one 1)...the bass is precise and controlled. I can hear the bass properly rather than the rumbling mess of my last Logitech speakers which if you love your music is very much appreciated. I can make the bass go loud though on the level settings but it doesn't 'boom'.

Yeah... Maybe it looks like it... Have you checked my video? But it ain't so BASS here, BASS there... I listen to metal and I need to get BASS to about 75% to even have basses in sound. If it's on 50% (it has some potentiometer lock there) I get almost no basses at all. To get a good bass you need BASS 100% and total volume at least 35-40%.

All those chips in creative products delivers max 50w , well 70w is max. If you want more power you need more A in power supply and ofcourse higher voltage

"To get a good bass"... Well i personaly dont have z or better series speakers by logitech , i have old creative 2.1 21w total and im happy. All chips in logitech requires 12v (it may be different in Z series) but its like standart. As i know , most powerfull chip is TDA1562Q. By datasheet there is TOTAL HARMONIC DISORTION ----!10%!---. So at full sound your bass will be awful

Quote from Derbis1990 :

Example : A linear car amplifier labeled "500 W PMPO" but fitted with a 5-amp fuse can, at most, deliver an average power of 5 A × 14.4 V × 60%, or about 43 watts. (100% efficiency is always used for PMPO)

Besides anyone looked in Z series logitech speakers? You will fastly change your mind about theese 2.1 5.1 systems Big subwoofer with logitech logo! Maybe logitech has theyre own sub speakers factory?? Inside there is 40w speaker. No , not that speaker you are thinking about

http://www.vabolis.lt/stuff/20061231b.jpg
http://www.vabolis.lt/stuff/20061231c.jpg

Looks like somebody is cheating in way to get cheap/good looking speaker system. That was logitech Z-640

So true, sooo true.

My bro has one pair of these speakers that have same "solution" thats shown in the first pic. Its pathetic.

More about my 30w speakers. Theyr 30w rms and 90w max @ 6 Ohms. Theyr like more than 20 years old, im the second owner of these i guess. 1 speaker has 10" woofer, 5.25" med range and 1.25" tweeter (not sure). In any terms, wether it be quality, power ... anything, this kicks Z5500 system truly. Like, really really big difference. Ive owned Z5500 and compared them side by side already and im more than sure what im talking about. Z5500 users, take a peek into your sub box ... :vomit: ... made in china - Tang Band elements is what u see in there, at my standards - logitech is far away from quality.

Edit: 10000w PMPO = 1w ... thats what ive experienced ... well, once

Quote from Jakg :

What HiFi are a bunch of tossers. Read any of their reviews on HDMI cables or power cables and you will see what I mean...

Whats wrong with them?

HDMI cables over a short run = all the same.

Power cables make no difference to sound quality, and even if it did the idea a £300 power cable can boost the SQ on a £500 amp is ridiculous (because I somehow doubt they spent £300 on the power circuitry on the inside of the amp...)

I read it at work when i'm bored but it honestly seems like they are a bunch of snobs, they may well have "well trained ears" but it just seems like the higher margin cables can deliver high margin bribes...

Quote from Jakg :

HDMI cables over a short run = all the same.

Power cables make no difference to sound quality, and even if it did the idea a £300 power cable can boost the SQ on a £500 amp is ridiculous (because I somehow doubt they spent £300 on the power circuitry on the inside of the amp...)

I read it at work when i'm bored but it honestly seems like they are a bunch of snobs, they may well have "well trained ears" but it just seems like the higher margin cables can deliver high margin bribes...

Cables put simply are more expensive because of materials/manufacturing process/development...for example pure copper or well made shielding...I don't think its fair to judge the accuracy on how they review just on cables alone.

HDMI cables I agree, as a digital signal will not fluctuate so dramatically, but in regards to speaker cables it can make quite a difference but only to an audiophile.

Logitech speakers have to be some of the most overhyped crap i've ever heard. They sound good next to $5 computer speakers, sure. But next to proper gear....not even comparable.

Quote from spacedskunk :

Cables put simply are more expensive because of materials/manufacturing process/development...for example pure copper or well made shielding...I don't think its fair to judge the accuracy on how they review just on cables alone.

HDMI cables I agree, as a digital signal will not fluctuate so dramatically, but in regards to speaker cables it can make quite a difference but only to an audiophile.

We aren't talking speaker cables here, were talking power cables. AKA Kettle Leads...