Replacement speakers for Logitech Z-5500

[fuzzybabybunny]

I was relocating across the country with my speakers in the trunk along with a small container of gas for emergencies. When I got to my destination I found that the gas fumes had literally eaten away at the speaker cones and now the speakers are useless.

Logitech support only sells complete sets, not components, so all they can give me is 50% off the price of the set off of their website, which is $200 after coupon. I got my Z-5500 for $200 back in the day...

So I'm looking to buy replacement speakers.

62W RMS fronts, 69W RMS center.

I realize that my replacement speakers do not have to be Logitechs.

Are there any satellites in this wattage and size range that would be better than the Logitechs? I'm hoping for $100 tops for a 3 satellite set. I just wanted to check before I went on eBay and just got more Logitechs.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

The Logitechs are 8-ohms, so you should be able to use most speakers with this set.

$100 for three speakers is pretty tough. Best Buy has Insignia 2111s for $88/pair (used to be cheaper)
Outpost/Fry's has cheap bookshelf speakers from Polk occasionally (about $50/pair) I didn't see any at the moment though.

If you go on craigslist and find some 8-ohm bookshelf speakers, those should work.

If you do end up going with Logitech speakers, you might want to go with a z-680 (5.1) or z-560 (4.1) set. From comparisons I've read from people that have switched between them, they preferred the z-560/z-680 satellites. There's a set of each for reasonable prices on ebay now.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Hmmmm... good to know about the Z-680 set. Would cheap bookshelf speakers really be better than the Logitechs?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
Hmmmm... good to know about the Z-680 set. Would cheap bookshelf speakers really be better than the Logitechs?

Well... that depends.

Low budget speakers are all going to have significant compromises to them, so the shortcomings of some might be better suited to your tastes than others. You could probably find speakers that you'd personally like better or worse than the z-5500 satellites.

In general, one thing that bookshelf speakers would have over these tiny satellites would be bass extension allowing for a lower crossover point so the subwoofer would concentrate on lower frequencies. Unfortunately, by hooking up to the z-5500 sub with its internal crossover controls, this potential benefit would be eliminated since the z-5500 sub wouldn't even send those bass frequencies to better speakers you hooked up.

Potentially you could get better performance though in terms of frequency response on-axis (and especially off-axis), lower distortion, etc.

If there are concerns about size of the speakers, and sound quality (especially for music) isn't that important, then you'd probably be fine just getting the replacement logitechs.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Ok, sounds good. I don't really have much space to begin with so I guess it's the Logitechs. Have you heard of any comparisons between the Logitech satellites and the Klipsch ones? I know that many people prefer the tighter Klipsch sub over the boomier Logitech sub, but I don't know about the satellites.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

I believe the Klipsch satellites are 4-ohms, so that wouldn't be ideal to match them with the Logitech sub that's expecting an 8-ohm load.

There are tons of Logitech vs. Klipsch comparisons with dedicated supporters from each side regarding the satellites as well.

 

[SlowSpyder]

I have the Z5500's as well. I hooked up the front speakers I use in our home theater (8 ohm Pioneer 2-way book shelf speakers) and they worked/sounded fine.