Z-5500

[tential]

Are these speakers worth it or can I get something better in this price range. I mean they are great speakers from what I heard and it will be my first 5.1 but they have been out for SO long from what I seen and have not been refreshed at all. Is it still a good buy or are there any other speakers I should take a look at.

 

[CKent]

Most people whose judgement I trust say the sub is overly boomy and the build quality is low. The satellites are one-way, which doesn't necessarily mean they don't have a good frequency response curve - but it's likely.

I'd go with the Klipsch ProMedia Ultras.

And I may be alone on this, but I think surround sound is bullshit and not worth the additional cost or hassle of finding spots for your rears and running cable to them. My next set of speakers will be 2.1

 

[tential]

What makes the Klipsch better? I mean they are both old speakers(no one has new 5.1 speakers?) but the Klipsch seems to have two ways but Logitech has a remote and digital?

Just saw a picture of the sub of the Logitech. Is the Klipsch that big as well? Either way though what is the advantages of digital and do you think there will be a successor to the Z-5500 soon?

 

[CKent]

"What makes the Klipsch better?"

Better build quality anud better sound quality. Logitech's QA went out the window a few years back, and they never made very good speakers anyway.

 

[skulkingghost]

I have he z-5500's just got them a few months ago for $200 shipped. They look and sound amazing. Especially DVD-A and HD-DVD's and Bluray content. Gaming is incredible as well. Well worth it imho.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

What's the price you'd be paying for them?

If you get a good deal on them, it's hard to find something else at that price. The Klipsch set has been discontinued.

As far as being a few years old, that's not really a big deal. As opposed to just about everything else computer related, audio performance is pretty well set rather than something that gets constantly improved. You can certainly do better than these computer speaker sets if you're after audio quality, but I don't really know what your expectations are for your audio goals.

If you want to get something better than these sets, I'd suggest not going with computer speaker sets. Check out the section on an upgrade path in the sticky thread and think about sinking your budget into a good 2.0 setup for now with the option of expanding it later.

 

[alcoholbob]

I've had both, the difference between the Promedias and the Z-5500s are exaggerated. There's a bigger difference between the Promedias and the iFis than the former. There's a reason why Logitech got big so fast--their 3" Tangband full range design was considered a ample substitute for what Klipsch was providing.

What! Surround sound is awesome. It's just underwhelming with satellite speakers since you can barely tell there's speakers behind you. And that half the population with surround multimedia setups have the satellites in a line on their desk. Terrifying.

 

[tential]

Ok I set mine up and I can't seem to figure out how to set my ipod so that it sounds good. I know it should be sounding a LOT better. I used the 6.1 but it sounded watered down. I tried stereo x2 and PLC but I'm not sure which one to use to give the best quality. How can I get music that will sound best on this thing too? will 192 lossless play in the 6.1 setting fine?

 

[erwos]

Originally posted by: tential
Ok I set mine up and I can't seem to figure out how to set my ipod so that it sounds good. I know it should be sounding a LOT better. I used the 6.1 but it sounded watered down. I tried stereo x2 and PLC but I'm not sure which one to use to give the best quality. How can I get music that will sound best on this thing too? will 192 lossless play in the 6.1 setting fine?

I've heard that iPods don't really have the greatest DACs in the world, and this might be part of the problem you're having. For now, I'd just leave it in plain old 2-channel mode.

That said "192 lossless"? It's either lossless or 192kbps, not both.

 

[tential]

I see if I have lossless on my PC right. And I have a card to hook up the surround sound to my PC. That would be better than putting the songs on my MP3 player and then using the line in right? And how do I know if it's lossless or not?

Edit: Quote from Ruckus.com's help section. "However we do rip some smaller label's CDs ourselves at 192 lossless."