I bought this system and was nothing but impressed with it! As you can see this is a 5.1 surround system, but it is unlike any other 5.1 system out there. In this review I will explain many of the features this system has.
I want to cover installation first. Installation of this system was plug and play. All you have to do to set it up is match the color on the end of the cord on each speaker with the corresponding colored port on the back of the sub! The ports are all lined up next to each other to make it easy to do. Then you connect the wired remote that has the 15-pin connector to the sub. Then the last thing you have to do besides plugging the subs power into a power socket is to connect the one end of the audio cable that has the green, black, and orange connectors to the sub and then the other end to the green, black, and orange ports on your computer. Your done, 2 minutes tops including speaker positioning.
WARNING!!! Please make sure that you turn the volume to minimum after switching on your system.
One of the many great features of the Z-5300 are the two switches on the back of the subwoofer. One is the power switch for the sub and the other is the sound select switch. The sound select switch allows you to choose from 2 channel, (Stereo) 4 channel, (surround) and 5.1 (Surround). This is useful if you just have stereo music playing and you want it to be enhanced for 2-channel surround or etc. Another feature that I like is the removable grills. Yes, you heard me right; you can remove the grills on the speakers to give your system a custom look! Even though I will admit it looked good, its not sensible if you have animals in the house where they can tear up your speakers. I also like the fact that if you loosen the screws on the bottom of the speakers, you can rotate the feet around and tighten the screws back and are ready to be wall mounted!
Another great feature is the remote. Yes the remote, the place where I can control the whole world, just kidding! The remote gives you the ability to change your systems performance. Besides adjusting the main volume, you can change the sub volume, fader, and center speaker. You can also activate matrix mode. Matrix mode is where you take a 2-channel signal and make it sound better or different. I also found this useful at other times when I could not here a thing out of the center speaker and turned on Matrix mode. I also like how the remote has a small port headphone jack! As soon as you plug in headphones, the signal to the speakers is turned off, unplug them, signal restored!
Now I would like to cover sound quality, the sound is incredible! First of all, the speakers are not just tweeters, they also have mid range. This means I was able to crank them up and never hear distortion! These speakers use aluminum phase plug drivers. But what I really want to talk about is the subwoofer! The subwoofer is a dual chamber and ported which allows for louder and deeper sound! Compared to other models where the amp is inside the sub creating heat and getting overheated, this model has the amp outside on the back of the sub, surrounded by large heat sinks to dissipate the heat. The subwoofer is bigger than most models so make sure that you have enough room.
I only had the sub volume at ½ and the main volume at ½ and the sound was really great. I tested the sub on many forms of music and none of them out did the sub. I cranked the volume all the way up with the windows set volume at ½ and could not believe how loud I got it. I was lightly shaking the walls and the floor! However, I would not recommend turning the windows volume up all the way and turning the speaker volume up all the way as you will damage your hearing and a huge possibility of blowing the sub. It also sounds better to have the windows volume at ½ because it keeps out the annoying hiss sound!
Well, there you have it. Not the best system in the world, but a very good one. I would recommend this system over the Z-680 because it’s a ported sub instead of a sealed unit. I really like the sound quality and all the good looks of this system! And you can’t go wrong with removable grills and the ability to be wall mounted! Thank you Logitech for such a great system!
UPDATE! 2009
I have owned this speaker system for at least 5 years now and I have been super impressed with it. It truly has stood up well to the test of time!
Most people usually don't think twice about which speaker system they are going to buy. They just go to Best Buy or some other outlet and buy the cheapest two speaker system they can find. Then 5 years goes down the road and they find themselves wishing they bought something better.
I have to tell you that after owning this 6 speaker system for at least 5 years, I do not have any regrets.
As far as durability is concerned, all the speakers are still in good condition. I did find however I broke a foot on one of the speakers from it falling off the desk. With a little super glue, it was fixed. Once I screwed them down to the desk, there was no more of that! lol
As far as performing ability is concerned, I find that these speakers, including the sub woofer, continue to perform as good and as loud as they did when I first bought them. They just sound so good and make all of my games and movies sound awesome.
I did a little research and found that you can still buy this sound system today. If not at places like Best Buy, you can find them sold on Ebay for half the cost that I paid for mine.
If you want a great sound system that will last you over 5 years and won't hurt your budget, I highly recommend the Logitech Z-5300!!!
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