Logitech Z-560 speakers Bogus marketing? Not true 400Watts RMS! ??? z560 = 160 Watts RMS!!

Nefrodite

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Feb 15, 2001
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Just wondering if any of you have seen this review from dansdata.com of the logitechs ppl have been ranting about all this time. true 400watts RMS and stuff, but according to dan thats a load of bs. hmm, did marketing really it push it that far to try to compete with klipsch? i mean they sound good for the price and thats not the point, but the claims.. whats up with that?

The second piece of marketese in the Z-560 specifications has to do with the abovementioned power output issue. Logitech make a big deal about the Z-560 system having 400 Absolutely Genuine Federal Trade Commission Authorised Totally Real RMS American Watts Baby. 188 watts for the sub, 53 watts for each satellite.

This is not true.

Well, OK, it could be true. If it is, though, the speakers should all blow up.

Point one - not enough amp power. No way is that a 400VA toroidal in the corner of the box. It'd have to be a bit beefier even than that, of course, because the amp isn't 100 per cent efficient. If it were, it wouldn't need a heat sink.

Point two - insufficiently chunky drivers, with embarrassingly low power ratings printed on them.

Such things as almost-200-watt eight inch drivers exist. If you want to cheat then you can make a zillion watt speaker by putting a crowbar across its input wires; now you can pump vast amounts of power through that speaker (if you define the crowbar as being part of the speaker...), and it won't make any more noise than it would from far less power without the crowbar. In other words, its efficiency is now astoundingly poor.

That's not what Logitech are doing; it's not what any sane speaker builder does. The drivers in these speakers have perfectly OK efficiency for their size. If the eight inch bass driver had an ultra-humungous magnet around a similarly huge voice coil and a unit retail price up around $AUD200, then it'd be plausible for it to have better than 150 watt power handling.



That's not the kind of driver that's in there, though. The back of the sub driver hides behind the huge bent port, but you can peer through the gap to see the mere hundred watt rating.

Similarly, I suppose it's possible to make a three inch mid/treble driver, like the ones in the Z-560 satellites, which can handle 53 watts. I don't know whether any such product actually exists on the retail market, but I'd be happy to learn otherwise.



Once again, though, that's not what Logitech have actually used. 15 watts, people. A Tangband Speakers W3-665SC, to be exact. Which isn't listed on the Tangband site; I just linked to that site out of malice.

Exceed the rated power handling by a significant margin for a significant period and you'll kill the driver. Unless the sticker ratings are very conservative, therefore, one 100 watt sub plus four 15 watt sats is 160 watts. QED.



http://www.dansdata.com/speakersets.htm
 

Doomguy

Platinum Member
May 28, 2000
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Klipsch isn't true 400watts. Their 400watts is maximum "burst" power.

What's important is how the Logitech's perform in the real-world. Once 3DSS has a full review we'll be sure to know how loud they can go.
 

Nefrodite

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Feb 15, 2001
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Klipsch isn't true 400watts. Their 400watts is maximum "burst" power


yes but logitech going out of their way to point out the klipsch burst power and claiming their own as true rms seems a tad dirty:p i own 6 logitech mice alone so it kinda peeves me off.
 

CAMS

Senior member
Feb 11, 2000
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Maybe someone should email Logitech with a

Liar! Liar! pants on fire!
 

Priit

Golden Member
Nov 2, 2000
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Pretty good article, thanks for the link. That Logitech's 400W RMS joke isn't too bad, I have seen even more overrated "computer speakers". Damn, my home stereo speaker's midrange drivers are as big as those found form computer 5:1 speaker system subwoofers...
 

Jhereg

Senior member
Jan 23, 2000
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Watt ratings on speakers are useless from a quality of sound point of view.
Loud does not equal good

FYI 400 watt amplification does not make it 10X louder than a 40 watt rated system anyway

 

Priit

Golden Member
Nov 2, 2000
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Yeah, speaker's power handling is very relative thing anyway. You have to consider frequency range, input signal shape, THD etc. I'll bet you can totally blow up that Logitech's subwoofer with ~30Hz sinus wave and less than 50 watts of amplification...
 

SonicTron

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Oct 20, 2001
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Mmmm I like my $4.99 240W PMPO speakers from the local scummy computer store

Yeah 240W I can brag to everyone!

or maybe these are really just 5 watt speakers.....
 

knutp

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Jan 25, 2001
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Then again we got the good old pa altec lancings!! Rated for 20-60W. And used with a 2X700w amp maxed out. No problem whatsoever. Depends on what type of W they are using, but it is rms and should be ecual.
 

Nefrodite

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Feb 15, 2001
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i'm just waiting for dan to rip open a klipsch 4.1 to look at its power handling capability. i'm sure its higher then the z560's 160watts though:p 2 woofers and 4 tweet/4mid have gotta handle more power overall:p

as for pmop or whatever yes i know. i just remember thread when the z560's came out and ppl talking about how peak music power is lame and how z560's had geniune 400watts while the klipsch were bullsh*t 400watts:p sad part was i believed em:(
 

Priit

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Nov 2, 2000
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<< Then again we got the good old pa altec lancings!! Rated for 20-60W. And used with a 2X700w amp maxed out. No problem whatsoever. Depends on what type of W they are using, but it is rms and should be ecual. >>



Not killing 60W speakers with 700W amplifier? That's kinda hard to belive....
 

Workin'

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Jan 10, 2000
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<< Not killing 60W speakers with 700W amplifier? That's kinda hard to belive.... >>

Not really. A 700W amp doesn't put out 700W all the time, even when it is turned up all the way.

For example, my high quality home stereo speakers are rated to handle 250W. But I have seen reviews of them where the test system supplied peak values of over 2200W.

Actually, you'd be more likely to kill a "60W" speaker using a 40W amp than a 700W amp. All the speaker cares about is the energy supplied to it - which is much greater when an amplfier clips a waveform or goes into a high-THD mode than with a high-amplitude but undistorted signal.
 

Priit

Golden Member
Nov 2, 2000
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<< Not really. A 700W amp doesn't put out 700W all the time, even when it is turned up all the way.

For example, my high quality home stereo speakers are rated to handle 250W. But I have seen reviews of them where the test system supplied peak values of over 2200W.

Actually, you'd be more likely to kill a "60W" speaker using a 40W amp than a 700W amp. All the speaker cares about is the energy supplied to it - which is much greater when an amplfier clips a waveform or goes into a high-THD mode than with a high-amplitude but undistorted signal.
>>



You are right about more likely killing speakers due to amplifier clipping than over-powering. Also depends what are you listening, but 10 time overpowered speakers shouldn't last too long. Peak values doesn't matter much...
 

knutp

Senior member
Jan 25, 2001
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And not using almost all power from the amp, we were using balanced cables, and +6db on the mixer (pioneer djm500).
 

Phuz

Diamond Member
Jul 15, 2000
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opps.

very interesting article.. wow.

So.. 160W eh.
I'd like to know what the actuals are on the Klipsh systems aswell..

It appears that the technology they acquired from labtec is doing them a lot of good, because these sure as hell aren't any ordinary 15w sat's. These little things are nuts.

 

Jerboy

Banned
Oct 27, 2001
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<< Just wondering if any of you have seen this review from dansdata.com of the logitechs ppl have been ranting about all this time. true 400watts RMS and stuff, but according to dan thats a load of bs. hmm, did marketing really it push it that far to try to compete with klipsch? i mean they sound good for the price and thats not the point, but the claims.. whats up with that? >>






<< The second piece of marketese in the Z-560 specifications has to do with the abovementioned power output issue. Logitech make a big deal about the Z-560 system having 400 Absolutely Genuine Federal Trade Commission Authorised Totally Real RMS American Watts Baby. 188 watts for the sub, 53 watts for each satellite.

This is not true.

Well, OK, it could be true. If it is, though, the speakers should all blow up.

Point one - not enough amp power. No way is that a 400VA toroidal in the corner of the box. It'd have to be a bit beefier even than that, of course, because the amp isn't 100 per cent efficient. If it were, it wouldn't need a heat sink.
>>



A true 400W continuous rated speaker should have a mean of dissipating 400W of heat from the speaker.. Only way possible.. Forced cooling.


 

ed21x

Diamond Member
Oct 12, 2001
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i really don't see how anyone could actually use 400 watts?!? personally for me, 130 watts is more than enough, and even at half volume, people would already be complaining about how loud it is =\
 

RanDum72

Diamond Member
Feb 11, 2001
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Their power rating is for amp power, not actual power handling of the speakers. Even if the amp is 200w and the speaker is rated to handle only 100w, they can always install power absorbing resistors and/or glass filaments to protec the speaker. Its actual sound output is good up to a certain point where after that it will not get louder any further. And you don't need massive toroidal transformers to achieve high wattage. Theres an alphabet soup of amp classes l\right now, such as class "A" (the hottest but sonically the purest), to B, AB, H, etc.. Just look at power amps for car audio and their size.
 

Sundog

Lifer
Nov 20, 2000
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<< Thats interesting, but its not proof.

So Nefrodite, why don't you stop spreading this unconfirmed tripe?
>>



Ummm Mr. Putz..........errr Phuz......WTH are you then resurrecting a thread on 2-24-02 that had died 1-16-02
rolleye.gif
 

Phuz

Diamond Member
Jul 15, 2000
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Because I just got the Z560s the other day.

I wanted to read a bit more about what people are thinking of them (i knew I wanted them all the same).

This information is really odd though.
 

Salvador

Diamond Member
May 19, 2001
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Yes.. I agree.. These things are way underpowered. The bass has absolutely no control and the little sats really flake out easily when you turn the volume up a little bit. What do you expect from a company that makes mice and keyboards though? I guess I should've listened to that advice. Unfortunately, I got sucked into the bigger is better theory on this one.. I mean for just over $100 shipped, how could I go wrong? Maybe I've been hanging out on AT too much lately?

BTW.. More power doesn't necessarily equal better sound. One of the most marvelous sounding amps that I've ever heard was a SET tube amp that was only rated at 8 wpc. I've also heard some pretty nasty sounding high power amps as well.

Anyway..