LOGITECH Z-5500 5.1 DIGITAL 500WATT RMS SPEAKER SYSTEM

[TN] Nathan · ALMIGHTY PWNER! Joined: 14 Feb 2002 Posts: 7406

It would be hard to let this beauties go.

Just an amazing set of speakers pure and simple.
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Falc · TweakNOOB Joined: 02 Dec 2004 Posts: 7

First post here. Great site by the way. Your speaker reviews linked on shacknews drew me in and now I'll be visiting regularly. Keep it up.

As for comparing these speakers to the z-680's, the 5500's have a larger subwoofer, do they not? From what I've read the 680's only have an 8 inch woofer whereas the 5500's have a 10 incher. The breakout box on the 5500's is also more robust. It has a better screen and plays 96/24. According to pricegrabber, the 5500's are going for about $50 more than the 680's ($285 vs $230 shipped). I'd have to say that two more inches of "thump" and a better breakout box are worth the extra Franklin, wouldn't you?

I've been researching the heck out of speaker systems for the past week or so and I'm heavily leaning toward the 5500's to replace my current mix-and-match HT setup. I'll also probably pick up a set of the 2300's for my PC (only room for two speakers there). I'd love to see a review of the z-2300's on Tweaknews.

- Falc

[TN] Nathan · ALMIGHTY PWNER! Joined: 14 Feb 2002 Posts: 7406

We have reviewed the Z-2200s.
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sandness · Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2004 5:06 pm Post subject: Re: only prob

sandness · Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2004 5:09 pm Post subject: Re: only prob

[TN] Nathan · ALMIGHTY PWNER! Joined: 14 Feb 2002 Posts: 7406

I do believe they are coaxial seeing the cables are very think.
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Mike89 · Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2004 4:11 am Post subject:

Well I have these speakers now. Great sound.

I do have some issues though. I have yet to figure out how to hook this up digitally to the Audigy 2.

I tried using an adapter that is a stereo 1/8" male plug on one end that goes into the Audigy 2 digital connection and the other end is a female RCA. I then hooked up a RCA coax cable to it and the other end to the RCA connection on the Z-5500.

I then swithed to digital sound on the Audigy control panel and the Z-5500 control center. No sound whatsoever! The Z-5500 control center show "no data". I tried this with both the Audigy 2 speaker check and a Digital DVD movie.

When I switch back over to analog, everything works fine.

Beats me if I can figure this out. The Audigy 2 quick start guide shows the digital connection as a 4 pin 1/8" miniplug. I'll be damned if I can find an adapter that has that on one end and and a RCA jack on the other. Reading some info on the Creative site says only a mono jack is needed to plug into the Audigy 2 digital connection since only the tip of the pin picks up the signal. So what's the deal with a 4 pin connection then? Especially when it goes into an RCA cable which only has one wire.

I have heard it said that the Audigy 2 decoder has to be disabled and also the decoder on the DVD software for the digital connection to work with the Z-5500. I have tried this combination also and still no sound when trying to go digital.

If someone has the same set up as me and has got digital sound to work, I would sure love to know what was done to do it.
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P4 2.8C @ 3.5, Abit IC7-Max3 (5/4 250/200), 4x512 Corsair PC3200 (2-2-2-5), ATI X800XT-PE, Audigy 2 ZS, Lite-on DVD/CD & 32X Burner, WD 60 & 120 gig HDDs, Leadtek TV2000XP TV Tuner, Logitech Z-5500 5.1 Speaker System, Antec 430 Watt, Windows XP Pro

Ham_fisT · Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2004 7:54 am Post subject:

You need a MONO 1/8" to RCA cable, the stereo one won't work

I don't have this set of speakers, but I have had my Audigy connected this way to my Home Theater Receiver

Radio Shack will have what you need

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Yeah....... ok

Mike89 · Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2004 1:10 pm Post subject:

A stereo plug won't work? Did you actually try one? Why wouldn't a stereo plug work? Seems like some sort of signal would get through. I get nothing.
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P4 2.8C @ 3.5, Abit IC7-Max3 (5/4 250/200), 4x512 Corsair PC3200 (2-2-2-5), ATI X800XT-PE, Audigy 2 ZS, Lite-on DVD/CD & 32X Burner, WD 60 & 120 gig HDDs, Leadtek TV2000XP TV Tuner, Logitech Z-5500 5.1 Speaker System, Antec 430 Watt, Windows XP Pro

[TN] Nathan · ALMIGHTY PWNER! Joined: 14 Feb 2002 Posts: 7406

You cannot not patch a analog signal into a digital processor.

Analog is waves whereas digital is pulses.
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Mike89 · Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2004 7:42 pm Post subject:

You are absolutely right about the 1/8" mono plug jack. Just got one and now I have digital. Stereo jack does not work and a mono jack does. Thanks for pointing that out.
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P4 2.8C @ 3.5, Abit IC7-Max3 (5/4 250/200), 4x512 Corsair PC3200 (2-2-2-5), ATI X800XT-PE, Audigy 2 ZS, Lite-on DVD/CD & 32X Burner, WD 60 & 120 gig HDDs, Leadtek TV2000XP TV Tuner, Logitech Z-5500 5.1 Speaker System, Antec 430 Watt, Windows XP Pro

Ham_fisT · Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2004 8:06 pm Post subject:

Glad to help

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Yeah....... ok

Mike89 · Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2004 10:11 pm Post subject:

I find it troubling that neither Creative nor Logitech points out a simple thing like this that is so important. They both give information on hooking it up but don't even mention the basic thing about what connector is needed. The Audigy quick start guide shows that jack as a 4 pole 1/8" miniplug. Who would assume from that, that a single pole plug was needed. Sure not me.
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P4 2.8C @ 3.5, Abit IC7-Max3 (5/4 250/200), 4x512 Corsair PC3200 (2-2-2-5), ATI X800XT-PE, Audigy 2 ZS, Lite-on DVD/CD & 32X Burner, WD 60 & 120 gig HDDs, Leadtek TV2000XP TV Tuner, Logitech Z-5500 5.1 Speaker System, Antec 430 Watt, Windows XP Pro

Ham_fisT · Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2004 11:07 pm Post subject:

Actually, the jack IS a 4 pole, but it is used also for stereo output, when you use a mono 1/8" plug, the longer sleeve on the plug short circuits 2 of the poles, and enables the digital output.

I believe it is mentioned in the quick start guide, but VERY Briefly
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Bibble · TweakNOOB Joined: 14 Dec 2004 Posts: 1

Would this system be overkill for my 880 cubic foot (10'X11'X8') bed room?
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[TN] Nathan · ALMIGHTY PWNER! Joined: 14 Feb 2002 Posts: 7406

It is up to you.

But the power is there if you want to use it.
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Spiegel · Posted: Tue Dec 14, 2004 11:37 pm Post subject:

That's about the size of my room...probably a bit bigger. I have the Z-680's and they're not overkill. I never listen to them cranked up 100%, but who does? I'd hate to see the size room you'd need for THAT and also not go deaf

They're some great speakers, and they're only overkill if you want them to be. If you get them, I'd suggest turning the bass down to about 33% though...straight from the factory the bass can be a bit...overwhelming

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Sally · UberTweaker Joined: 31 Mar 2004 Posts: 1158 Location: WA

One really can't base overkill on wattage per square foot. I just think of the 1000w RMS I have in my car for my sub alone.

Its really a matter of how loud you want your sound to be and if you want to it be CLEAR (undistorted) when it's that loud.
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Neomatrix002 · TweakNOOB Joined: 15 Dec 2004 Posts: 2

OK, I'm a little confused. Let me see if I understand this correctly.

In order to use these speakers in digital mode with an Audigy 2 ZS, I need to attach a digital coaxial cable from the speaker's control box to a RCA to 1/8" miniplug and that into the soundcard itself?

Ham_fisT · Posted: Wed Dec 15, 2004 9:14 pm Post subject:

correct!

just be sure that the 1/8 mini plug is MONO....a stereo plug will NOT work

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Neomatrix002 · TweakNOOB Joined: 15 Dec 2004 Posts: 2

Alright, thanks! Amazon has these listed around $265, I believe, and they're my number one pick as far as speakers come at the moment.

Boegy3 · TweakNOOB Joined: 19 Dec 2004 Posts: 1 Location: USA

Am also new to the tweaknews.net. What attracted me was your awesome review of the z-5500's. I've had the z-680's for a while on analog on an Audigy 2 ZS, but i now have a buyer for them and will be buying the z-5500's.

My question is regarding hooking them up digitally. After reading the thread, it is very tempting. I looked around and found these links at radioshack for the mini plug conector and the digital coaxial cable. Will these work on an Audigy 2 ZS? Also, i'm guessing i'm gonna plug these into the digital plug on my soundcard, right?

http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&product%5Fid=274-330
http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&product%5Fid=15-2435

Ham_fisT · Posted: Sun Dec 19, 2004 3:22 am Post subject:

Welcome to Tweak News

Those are exactly what you will need for a digital connection
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